1991 MHz

[Hgrove]

I would be grateful if somebody could explain to me this: My very old computer (I have in fact just bought a new one) has a processor speed of 1991 MHz. It is very old. Can somebody tell me what is 1991 MHz - I have noticed that now computers have processor speeds of 1, 2, 3 or 4 GB. So - how little is 1991 MHz?

Thank you very much

[Buenchico]

'GB' stands for 'gigabytes', which is a measure of memory capacity, not of processor speed. I assume that you mean GHz (gigahertz), not GB.

1 MHz means 1 million Hertz.
1 GHz means 1 billion Hertz.
So 1GHz = 1000 Mz.
i.e. 1991 MHz = 1.991 GHz

Chris

PS: I've used the SI definitions of 'mega' and giga'. Computer technology often takes the definition of 'mega' as 2 to the power 10 (=1024, instead of 1000) and of 'giga' as 2 to the power 20 (= 1048576, instead of 1000000). The 'computer' definition of your processor's speed is thus actually 1.944 GHz

[Buenchico]

Mathematical correction!!!
Never trust a maths graduate to get anything with figures right!!
(Especially when he's trying to prepare a meal, open a bottle of wine and answer the phone at the same time as posting his answer!).
Ignore the incorrect 'computer' definition of 'mega' above. That's the definition of 'kilo'.
'Giga' is also incorrect above

However the essential point (i.e. that you should really divide by 1024, not by 1000, when converting from MHz to GHz) is still valid. (So the speed of 1.944 GHZ remains true).

Sorry about posting even more rubbish than usual! ;-)

Chris

[Hgrove]

Thank you very much; well I am confused as to terminology but my new computer is described on the PC World website as Dell Studio 540/6161 Quad-Core PC with 4GB memory... and my old one (being decommissioned tomorrow) I understand, has less than half the new one's processor speed?
Thank you very much!

[ChuckFickens]

your old computer would have been sold as a 2GHz one,

Your new computer has 4 CPU's (on one chip) each running at 2.33GHz

so it's a fair bit faster!

[Hgrove]

That's absolutely fine Buenchico, I suppose what I really wanted to know is: how much more powerful is my new pc than my old one?
My new one is described as follows: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200. (2.33GHz, 4MB Cache); 4GB DDR2 memory. 500GB SATA hard drive (7200rpm).
Thank you very much for your reply!

[Hgrove]

Many thanks for all the replies!

[VHG]

It is almost impossible to say how much faster your new PC is than your old one.

A PCs speed is measured in much more than just the MHz.

In fact the Mhz of modern PCs is actually LESS than that of some older PCs.

The problem was that as the Mhz increased the PCs got hotter and hotter and soon they became too hot.

So the SLOWED the Mhz down, but increased the number of actual CPUs, making the processor run cooler.

So you actually have FOUR CPUs in your new computer, and your old computer had ONE.

But everything else in your new PC has also speeded up (hard disk, memory and so on) so it will be A LOT faster than your old one.

Domnt worry about it, just enjoy it.

[ACtheTROLL]

just to illustrate 1 task

My p4 3.6Ghz takes 4 hours to transcode 2 hours of video
my 4 core takes 1 hour to do the same job

but as chuck says - it's not easy for mortals to define

the numbers game is a moneyspinner - a 3Ghz and 3.6 Ghz p4 have different speeds - but for most tasks the difference wouldn't even be a second's difference -