If you are planning to buy a new PC or laptop, then the first and most important component you to choose is the processor. This isn’t just about choosing between an Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9, though The thumb rule here is that the higher the number, the more powerful the CPU. Besides this, there are various factors in a CPU that impact your PC’s performance. These include clock speed, number of thread and cores. So while choosing, some of these specifications will be more important than others depending on your computing requirements. Let’s understand this better.
Where Cores are important – For daily productivity, a CPU with dual or quad-core processor is good enough. Remember that more cores are not always better, but if you choose less, then it can result in slower performance. Being a professional, you need a processor that can handle all the tasks of a business’s computing needs. But depending on the software you would perform, you should go for higher numbers of cores.
When you need to process a lot of information in a short span of time, you need higher cores to handle multiple tasks at once. More cores enable your CPU to handle more commands. So applications for video editing, graphics designing, 3D rendering, sound editing, etc can benefit from higher number of cores.
Role of CPU Frequency – Though frequency isn’t the only thing that defines the speed of a processor, it does have a significant impact. Like cores, you can determine required frequency with the software you will use. For instance, if you are using Adobe Suite, then you need at least 2 GHz. As a professional, you will go beyond Adobe Suite and use multiple software. It’s therefore better to have higher frequencies of 4 or more GHz depending on your processor.
Importance of Hyper-Threading– You can’t ignore thread count. Its an important factor to consider. Threads of CPUs will determine exactly how much data your CPU can process at any given time. Ideally, you should look for a CPU with hyper-threading capabilities. Meaning it would deliver more processing power than the cores alone can provide.
Conclusion
So while choosing a CPU for your laptop, first list out all the software suites you will use, then find out how many of them will you be running together, and finally how much data will be processed. OEMs like HP understand the requirements of every professional, and therefore use the right combination of hardware components in their laptops.
