frequency difference to make noticeable difference in a CPU?

[loraalkhara]

hello everyone,



how much frequency difference does a CPU need to make it faster/noticeable than one another?



like for example how much of a "real world" difference does a 300MHz difference make in a processor ?



please elaborate in your answers.



thank you all

 

[CountMike]

If you are talking about same processor or from same family, than 300MHz starts to be noticeable. However, comparing processors from different families even from same manufacturer, comparing by frequency only is not enough. To some extent frequency difference can matter in single core/thread applications while in other, core/thread count and architecture has more effect.

 

[Rdslw]

You need to look in percentage, not MHZ. 10% Mhz increase is mostly ~7% of CPU power and ~15 % more Vattage. This will differ with each CPU, but that's what you can expect. This is not linear, it will stop around ~30% then it will burn.
http://www.nagorak.com/imagedump/R7-1700-Efficiency.jpg

 

[loraalkhara]

If you are talking about same processor or from same family, than 300MHz starts to be noticeable. However, comparing processors from different families even from same manufacturer, comparing by frequency only is not enough. To some extent frequency difference can matter in single core/thread applications while in other, core/thread count and architecture has more effect.

the CPUs we are talking about are core2quad Q9100 vs core2extreme Q9300, i will not be overclocking neither of them and i will be using the laptop for general heavy multitasking and workstation stuff. the laptop is acer 8930g 1066 FSB

 

[CountMike]

Yes, between those two you should start to see some difference at 300Mhz. specially in heavy applications and some games providing good GPU is used.