[SOLVED] Why is my 1.60ghz CPU so fast? (i5-8265U)

[gggirlgeek]

Why is my CPU so fast? I'm not complaining but it seems to defy logic. I just don't understand it. Is someone willing to explain for curiosities sake?

I just bought an Acer 5-515-54 with no discrete graphics. I don't game at all but I am an extreme tabaholic (currently Firefox 78 has 200+ tabs open, 40+ active.) I also watch and download video with madvr and I use virtual machines a lot. (Yeah, I'll be getting more RAM.)

This CPU, compared to my roommate's 2.0GHz A8-6410 APU, simply rocks. For my basic tasks it's actually faster and smoother than my husband's 2.4ghz ROG g750 with discrete graphics (which, admittedly, runs Doom). The Acer boots in less than 5 seconds (no fast-startup -- from cold boot.) I don't even want to talk about my GT860's 37-second boot. 🙁

Someone explain this 1.60ghz processor to me. 4 cores/8 threads doesn't cover it. Most software can't utilize 4 or 8 threads. The DDR4 memory doesn't make much difference from what I've read.

3.9ghz turbo boost has never meant much to me in the past. My husband's ROG rocks a mean GPU, not screaming turbo boost. Have 8th generation Intel chips finally utilized turbo boost correctly? The only reason I bought the i5-8265U was because the CPU benchmark sites said it could perform, and it, surprisingly, does!

What's the deal? Is it the Smart cache? Is it the generation 8 chipset, or maybe the memory bandwidth? How do I judge a CPU for comparison shopping in the future?

 

[mdd1963]

The CPU's turbo is 3.9 GHz....undoubtedly no slouch in many single threaded desktop/Office-like tasks, far more common than folks using laptops for video/studio production.

If that one seems fast, hopefully it will last 5-6 years for your needs.

 

[Isokolon]

Why is my CPU so fast? I'm not complaining but it seems to defy logic. I just don't understand it. Is someone willing to explain for curiosities sake?

I just bought an Acer 5-515-54 with no discrete graphics. I don't game at all but I am an extreme tabaholic (currently Firefox 78 has 200+ tabs open, 40+ active.) I also watch and download video with madvr and I use virtual machines a lot. (Yeah, I'll be getting more RAM.)

This CPU, compared to my roommate's 2.0GHz A8-6410 APU, simply rocks. For my basic tasks it's actually faster and smoother than my husband's 2.4ghz ROG g750 with discrete graphics (which, admittedly, runs Doom). The Acer boots in less than 5 seconds (no fast-startup -- from cold boot.)

Someone explain this 1.60ghz processor to me. 4 cores/8 threads doesn't cover it. Most software can't utilize 4 or 8 threads. The DDR4 memory doesn't make much difference from what I've read.

3.9ghz turbo boost has never meant much to me in the past. My husband's ROG rocks a mean GPU, not screaming turbo boost. Have 8th generation Intel chips finally utilized turbo boost correctly? The only reason I bought the i5-8265 was because the CPU benchmark sites said it could perform, and it, surprisingly, does!

What's the deal? Is it the Smart cache? Is it the generation 8 chipset, or maybe the memory bandwidth? How do I judge a CPU for comparison shopping in the future?

The A8-6410 APU is ancient and all in all a bad CPU with low single-core performance.
The 4700H also is 4generations older than your CPU. also depending on the cooling it might not run at boost clocks all that long.

 

[gggirlgeek]

So you're saying it's the generation 8 that makes the difference? Turbo boost actually works now?

 

[Gerald6049]

So you're saying it's the generation 8 that makes the difference?

Of course it does.

Turbo boost actually works now?

Turbo boost is automatically active when do some heavy load.