Processing Power-Something I Never Got Throughout The Ages

[rekhyt]

I'm sorry for asking for such a seemingly obvious question, but I never got how the processing powers match up between the different Intel processors. (Intel Centrino, Pentium, Core 2 Duo, Quad Core, ...)

For example:

According to Steam, Assassin's Creed for the PC (Or Mac, I guess.) requires Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel® Pentium® D or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 3800.

I'm slightly confused if I can run it.

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz for my machine. ... 2.4 ghz ≠ 2.6ghz?

 

[Eidorian]

I would be much more concerned about your video card. Otherwise Tom's Hardware at least goes to 65nm Celeron.

 

[spinnerlys]

As you can see on that chart, CPU speed is not the deciding factor.

Intel Core2Duo CPUs are most of the times faster than older Pentium D CPUs, because they have a more intelligent instruction set than the Pentiums. Also the Pentiums are older.

 

[Dustman]

One should also note however that Pentium D's and Pentium Dual-Cores are not the same.
`Pentium D's are ancient and essentially are just two Pentium 4's fused together. They had high GHz but they were inefficient and slow in comparison.
`Pentium Dual-Cores are Core 2 Duos with a lower amount of cache
`Celeron Dual-Core are Core 2 Duos with even less cache
`Intel Centrino was just a marketing thing used when combining an Intel processor with an Intel graphics card and Wifi I do believe. Not the name of an actual processor.

It kind of sucks Intel has made this so confusing to the consumers. Especially when said customer may see requirements that call for something like.. "3.8 GHz P4 or Higher"

If your processor is less than 4 years old, just worry about ram and the video card.

 

[rekhyt]

One should also note however that Pentium D's and Pentium Dual-Cores are not the same.
`Pentium D's are ancient and essentially are just two Pentium 4's fused together. They had high GHz but they were inefficient and slow in comparison.
`Pentium Dual-Cores are Core 2 Duos with a lower amount of cache
`Celeron Dual-Core are Core 2 Duos with even less cache
`Intel Centrino was just a marketing thing used when combining an Intel processor with an Intel graphics card and Wifi I do believe. Not the name of an actual processor.

It kind of sucks Intel has made this so confusing to the consumers. Especially when said customer may see requirements that call for something like.. "3.8 GHz P4 or Higher"

If your processor is less than 4 years old, just worry about ram and the video card.

Alright, but is the processing power of an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz the total of 4.8 ghz? (2 cores x processing power?)

 

[r.j.s]

Alright, but is the processing power of an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz the total of 4.8 ghz? (2 cores x processing power?)

No, think of it as doing two things at the same time, not doing one thing twice as fast.