Pentium M Desktop Comparison?

Question

Hi, I currently have a Sony Vaio VGN-FS315M laptop with the following specification:

100GB Seagate 7200rpm hard drive
Intel Pentium M 740 1.73Ghz Processor
128MB Nvidia Geforce Go 6400 Graphics
1.5GB RAM

I am looking to play football manager 2007 and was wondering if my CPU was ok to play it on? I am aware I have enough RAM (or at least I think I do), but I have read somewhere that my CPU is equivalent to a desktop 2.2-2.4Ghz CPU, can anyone confirm this or does anyone have any help and advice?

Thank You.
Gareth.

Answer 1

The Intel Pentium M 740 uses 2MB of cache memory as opposed to only 512KB used by a desktop Pentium 4 (2.4Ghz).

This more than compensates for any performance loss due to having a slower clock speed.

The equivalence you are quoting is accurate & justified.

CPU specs obtained from :

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4/specs.htm

http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/chart/pentium_m.htm


regards,
Philip T

Answer 2

When you say it's equivalent to 2.2 - 2.4ghz you're referring to the FSB (front side bus) that comes with that chip:

"The processor that we'll be looking at specifically is the 479-pin Pentium M 740 model. It has a default clock speed of 1.73 GHz, runs on a 533 MHz (Front Side Bus) FSB and comes with a large 2MB of L2 cache."

Although some people will say FSB is like adding extra CPU speed, it's not that accurate. Wikipedia explains it properly:
These secondary system buses usually run at speeds derived from the front side bus speed. While a faster CPU can execute individual instructions faster, this is wasted if it can't fetch instructions and data as fast as it can execute it, when this happens the CPU must wait (do nothing for one or more clock cycles until the memory returns its value). Further, a fast CPU can be delayed when it must access other devices attached to the FSB. Thus, a slow FSB can become a bottleneck slowing down a fast CPU.
The frequency at which a processor (CPU) operates is determined by applying a clock multiplier to the front side bus (FSB) speed. For example, a processor running at 550 MHz might be using a 100 MHz FSB. This means there is an internal clock multiplier setting (also called bus/core ratio) of 5.5; the CPU is set to run at 5.5 times frequency of the front side bus: 100 MHz x 5.5 = 550 MHz. By varying either the FSB or the multiplier, different CPU speeds can be achieved.

You should look at the system requirements for Football Manager 2007 and consider your CPU what it is: a 1.73ghz with 512mb FSB. Not a 2.2ghz or 2.4ghz CPU.

Answer 3

it prob will play on tht spec