Is the System Req. of 2.5 GHz for a dual core? If the PC has 4 cores & the i7 chip then can the GHz be less if the speed can be boosted to 4GHz? Need clarification.

[ElizabethL]

I plan on buying a new laptop and the 2.5 GHz is hard to find in the new ones.  I'm seeing 1.8 GHz with up to 4 GHz with 4 cores.  Hesitant to buy because of the 1.8GHz but sales people tell me because it has 4 cores it can handle data equal to a 2.5 GHz dual core.  I'm not tech savvy so want to make sure I'm okay with this laptop.

[qbteachmt · Accepted solution]

"Cores" = the term used for the computer brain that does the actual work. The i5 (and some i7) Intel chips have 4 cores on them. Most i7 have 6 cores. You don't want a dual core; that is old technology. Think of Cores as "how many sprinklers are running at the same time?"

GigaHertz = Speed. Think of "how fast is the water coming out or those sprinklers?" High pressure or low = speed.

Memory and Disk and graphics card memory = Space = how much Room is there to store and process how much data? Graphics cards also have a speed consideration = how fast does the screen handle image refreshes, moving the mouse, opening a new window, etc.

I see this System Requirements page has Minimum and Recommended:

https://accountants-community.intuit.com/articles/1859689-system-requirements-for-2019-proseries-and...

You want to shop for i5 or i7; I am currently sitting at a laptop with i7 rated as 2.20GHz speed, for instance. Look for 8th or 9th generation; it's part of the Coding, as in "Intel® Core™ i7-9750H 6-Core Processor 2.6GHz" shows this is 9th and 2.6GHz. But, not this: "10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Processor 1.3GHz" because that isn't up to the minimum speed of 2.20 GHz. If you want to try 1.8GHz, you might not notice any issues; I would never go as low as 1.3GHz, when Intuit recommends at least 2.20GHz.

Hope that helps.

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

FWIW My home system (desktop) is 1.9 GHz and it will run the programs, but its so slow, if I had to use it daily for clients it would be a huge burden.

[ElizabethL]

Spoke to someone at ProSeries Support and they confirmed with their "tech" specialist that 1.8GHz with quad cores will be fine.  I'm looking at the HP Pavillon with 8th generation i7 chip (1.8GHz, up to 4 GHz, 8MB Cache, quad cores), 16GB memory, 512GB SSD.  So even though it's 1.8GHz it can speed up to 4 GHz.  My 8 year old Dell laptop with a 2nd generation i5 chip with dual cores and 2.4GHz has gotten really slow and tends to overheat if I have too many windows open plus it's on Windows 7 so it's time to get a new computer.  Trying to stay under $1,000 because I will need to buy Office Home & Business (don't want the subscription service). I just don't want to buy one that I'll regret.

[qbteachmt]

A computer can be Optimized = cleaned, and would run like new. I just recently updated an HP i7 W7 running a 2nd generation CPU to W10. I cannot believe the difference; it's like it got a heart and lung transplant.