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Questions about Quad-Core processors

S

Sengirr

n00b
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
14
I'm inexperienced in the nature of CPU's and computers in general but I'm trying to learn.
About quad-core processors such as, for example, the Intel Core i7-740QM processor which has specs of 1.73GHz (2.93GHz with Turbo Boost Technology).
Now when compared to a dual-core the GHz of the quad are lower but the quad-core is better and more expensive obviously because everyone knows that. Now for gaming in particular when a PC video game has the recommended specs of 3.0 GHz for the processor, according to just the numbers a quad-core wouldn't be sufficient enough (1.73GHz) with even a turbo-boosted 2.93GHz but I know of course that the quad core could handle it, as for easily handled or taxed that's also something I don't know.
So for a quad-core how exactly does it work? Does each core have a 1.73GHz power output and you multiply that by exactly four to figure a processor's capability? Or is there no exact science?
As you can see I'm ignorant on the matter and would appreciate an explanation, thanks for any help.
 
I will try and explain this a bit, I am sure others will do a better job. To answer one of your questions to if you just take the clock speed and x the number of core and get something like 6.92GHz from a quad that runs at 1.73GHz, then answer is no, it does not work that way. In some massively parallel situations it might seem like that though, when dealing with multicore chips we are then talking about parallel processing, the speed up of a system depends on the system/software being used and how parallelized it is able to run. This is why you see some games that only support dual cores that will run faster on a 4GHz dual than they will on a 3GHz quad (assuming all else is the same). And with the very large mixture of programs some supporting and some not, there is no one given way to know how much a quad will speed something up that will remain static across the board.

Something else that might help you understand this better is reading up on Amdahl's law.
 
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