[Solved] Understanding Processors - help please....

[joddle]

I recently bought a scanner which comes with some pretty nifty SW which corrects problems like bent pages etc but on my PC the SW runs painfully slowly. On contacting the company support I was told my processor needed to me min 2.4 Ghz and min i3 - but mine is pentium dual core running at 3.3 ghz

 

OK so my machine does not meet the min spec and I am going to have to get a better machine but why should a pentiium 3.3 be so much slower than an i3 2.4 when both are dual core? Can anyone explain that please?

[KenB]

Hi,

 

Software relies on more than just the CPU to run properly.

 

Can I ask how much RAM you have in your machine ?

 

Can you provide a link to the scanner - in particular the software ?

[joddle]

Hi, Software relies on more than just the CPU to run properly.Can I ask how much RAM you have in your machine ?Can you provide a link to the scanner - in particular the software ?

 

Hi Ken - there are two PCs that I have been using - one has 3.3 ghz processor and the other a 3.0 ghz - and both have 6ig memory.The scanner is a Czur MT16 and the software can be downloaded from their site but wont work without being connected to the scanner and the serial number used to trigger it. Czur support have already connected to my PCs via Teamviewer and seen the problem directly but said that the old processors I am using are simply too slow and the minimum spec is for an i3 running at 2.4Ghz with min of 2GB memory. (see product details from the link)

 

I have found a workaround by using a freeware package to do the processing for me - (it is plenty good enough for what I do) but it would be good to have the proper SW working correctly so I will need to invest in a machine with a better processor - so I am thinking of an i5 quad core 3.1 ghz which should keep me "up to date" for a while at least!!!

 

The scanner was bought via Amazon and I must say that the seller has been more that helpful in trying to find an answer to the issue and also had good response from Czur support in China.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N7IHPXL

[KenB]

The specs suggest Win7 minimum - I assume that you have this too ?

 

i3 CPUs support DDR3 RAM.

Lesser spec RAM will run slower.

 

I think I can explain why i3 CPU has been specified.

Although your CPU specifies 3.3 GHz an i3 at 2.4 GHz may well be faster.

 

Let me try to explain.

3.3 GHz is actually the clock speed.

The Clock Speed is the number of cycles [ calculations] made in a second.

 

The CPUs do not carry out the same number of calculations in a cycle.

The i3 will perform more.

 

Imagine I had a spade and was digging a hole and I was removing a spadeful of earth each second.

If you had a much bigger spade and you were removing 1 spadeful per second .....

In a given time you would have removed far more earth - even though our "Clock Speeds" were the same.

 

Although the i3 Clock Speed is slower it actually gets more done in the same time period.

 

This is very much simplified but I think it explains :)

[joddle]

Hi again Ken

 

You are a star - your illustration makes very good sense to me and gives a really perfect explanation as to why I am experiencing what is happening.

 

For information my systems are all W10 64 bit.

 

I am assuming if I now get a machine with an i5 running at 3.1ghz with 4gb or more of memory I may enjoy much better performance even than that specified! Seems no point just aiming for an i3 and an i7 is beyond my budget just now - and really would only be used in earnest for this particular software. Everything else I use runs fine on my aged Pentium duals!

 

Thanks once again - Joddle

[KenB]

your illustration makes very good sense to me

Glad that the explanation was of some use. :)

 

if I now get a machine with an i5 running at 3.1ghz with 4gb or more of memory I may enjoy much better performance

You should do - yes.

Everything else I use runs fine

With some software you may not notice a significant difference.

 

really would only be used in earnest for this particular software

If you are buying a new machine just to run the scanner software this may not be the best reason for a considerable outlay.

 

If you do any graphics intensive work then an i5 CPU [ plus a decent Video Card ] would show a significant difference from what you have now.

 

Happy computing :)

[joddle]

If you are buying a new machine just to run the scanner software this may not be the best reason for a considerable outlay.If you do any graphics intensive work then an i5 CPU [ plus a decent Video Card ] would show a significant difference from what you have now.Happy computing

 

Hi Ken - I do need to get a more modern machine - some of my old Dells (especially the 755s) are now showing their age despite having been faithful and reliable machines over many years. They were all used in my wife's language school but she is now semi retired so they have become less used and less - and having 6 PCs in a household is a more than one each for our family!

 

Will get a more modern machine soon - not sure whether to get a laptop or desktop though and I don't need any fancy graphics. Meanwhile for the scanning I am able to "borrow" my son's laptop which does have an i5 and 8gb of ram and runs the scanner software pretty well and I also have the freeware package which does most of what I need anyway so I think case closed now. Thanks again,

[KenB]

You are welcome :)