2GHz Processor Necessary?

Hi all I'm new to this forum and it looks like there are a lot of very helpful people here!

I've got a 1.66GHz Core 2 Processor on my laptop and I really want to buy Adobe Creative Suite 4. Their system req's say 2GHz processing speed is necessary. But I guess my question could be expanded to all software - would software run on a slightly slower processor than it apparently requires? Is Apple playing it safe in this case or will Creative Suite refuse to run?

Thanks so much!

 

I do no think it will refuse to run, and actually you've got 2 cores at 1.66ghz, which is 3.33ghz....

 

Welcome to the forums, achick777!
The problem with processor requirements nowadays is that they can sometimes be based on the Pentium 4 processor, which had high GHz ratings but are still slower than today's Core 2 processor, especially when you consider the Pentium 4 was a single-core. Thus, a "2.0 GHz processor" requirement can be fulfilled by slower Core 2 systems. I would personally contact Adobe to double-check that your Core 2 processor can handle it.

And pcharouz, you can't simply add the two cores' speeds together. The two cores can only be utilized simultaneously by software specifically coded to do that. Otherwise, you'll have one core working on the program, and the other handling background tasks or sitting idle.

 

spot on. it's pretty lol seeing some sellers on ebay claiming their quad-core clocks. q6600 running at 9.6ghz!!!

 

Few things you should check:

1) Check how much RAM you have. If you have like 1 GB of RAM I don't think it will be a problem. Remember it is not only the CPU, the RAM matters as well.

2) Is the 2 GHz processor a 'minimum' requirement published by Adobe? If it is minimum, then yes you better have a 2 GHz processor. If it is a 'recommended' requirement, then I reckon you don't need 2 GHz.

3) You can also email Adobe the specs of your current machine to see what they say.

 

I know you cant simply add them, but the new adobe creative suite is coded for multiple cores

 

Shouldn't be a problem...

 

Huh? You can't equate the performance of two cores to that of one core by adding the clock speeds of the dual-core CPU together.

Most requirement ratings for programs nowadays are based on the clock speed of a Pentium 4, as somone above noted. The trouble is, during those days clock speed was advertised by Intel to be the only indicator of performance; of course AMD proved Intel wrong with their lower-clocked Athlon CPUs.

What matters more in processor performance nowadays is the number of cores (since software is being optimized to multi-thread) and the architecture; so I would say that a 1.6GHz Core 2 should be more than enough for Adobe's program - its a matter of efficiency per clock, not clock speed alone.

 

I ran CS3 on my 1.8GHz Sempron desktop. It seemed to do OK though I wasn't doing anything high end.

 

The 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor in my 3 year old laptop is still more powerful than 98% of all computers I work with on a daily basis. It performs flawlessly in all but the most CPU-intensive of chores.

 

Oh god... you don't know anything about processors, do you? Stop posting if you don't know what you're talking about.

To OP: It will more than likely run, but it will not run like a champ.

 

lmao.
I saw a listing on ebay --> Dual Core T9300: 2.5GHz (*2 = 5.0GHz !!!!!!!)

 

^ You can thank Intel for spreading this kind of nonsense.

 

I'm running CS3 on my laptop no problems. Anyway I thought the requirements for CS4 were PowerPC® G5 or multicore Intel® processor. I think you should be fine.

 

It was sig worthy.

 

cmon, its not that stupid! I know it doesnt always mean its double, but he asked specifically for adobe creative suite, which SUPPORTS using more than one core efficiently at the same time

edit: and you cannot say that a single core 1.66ghz is the same as a dual core 1.66ghz

 

Of course the program is multi-threaded, but 1MHz of a Core 2 Duo does not equal 2MHz of a Pentium 4 in performance. Furthermore, multi-core CPUs have to share all the same pieces of hardware outside of the cores, such as the front side bus and L2 cache (in the case of Intel CPUs). Multi-threading an application doesn't mean that it'll run twice as fast with a dual-core system.

 

I would actually say that 1mhz on C2D is faster than 2mhz on a p4 in a multi threaded program!!!!

I admit that my first post in this thread is wrong, but it is not as bad as people make it to be here, I did answer the OP's question, and I was just trying to give him a simple explanation why.. it is a lot simpler to say its double than explaining that newer intel processors are more efficient per mhz

but I am sorry for the misunderstanding

 

I would say more since a pin modded Celeron M 340 (@ 1.86ghz) is as fast as a P4 3.2Ghz to P4 3.5Ghz (in models without HyperThreading)
I did the test myself using Sandra Sys.

I think that a faster CPU in Adobe Suite will make applying filters and the like faster. It will also speed up altering big files. Apart from this, a slower CPU, and a single core one can do the job fine if the user is not in rush.

I recommand that you try the new Adobe Suite 4 with your laptop as it is. If you think afterwards that's too slow add more ram. If after that you still think that it slow, then consider a CPU upgrade

 

does anyone have the link to the website which combines dual core mhz into a total cpu speed?

 

no website can do that since almoast every cpu has a different efficiency, all those low voltage, ultra low voltage, celerons, they are all different