In today’s article, we’re going to look at why RAM Clockspeed and core counts are useless gaming specs.

Konami put out RAM size, Clockspeed and core counts as requirements for eFootball. It has backfired.

Tencent did the same for PUBG and Epic did the same for Fortnite. Needless to say that these “requirements are very inadequate”.

Many phone companies also use these specs. They will tell you that “Our phone has 2GB RAM, Octa core and 2.0GHz“, but they won’t tell you anything else.

This information is not only meaningless but it is very misleading. Very very misleading and harmful.

Why?

Because it doesn’t say anything about how a phone is truly going to perform. It’s just nice for the spec sheet. That’s all


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCpkhedO-Xw

Many people do not know what an SoC is, but if you mentioned any of the following:

RAM
Clock speed or
Core count

They’ll immediately come alive and partake in the discussion.

Many people around the world strongly believe that RAM size, clock speed and core counts are what determines a phones CPU performance.

This is because many smartphone companies over the years, have brainwashed people into thinking that only RAM, Clockspeed and core counts that matter. This is why we have a problem on our hands.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF-O6TGYLNg

Why RAM Clockspeed and core counts are useless gaming specs


1. RAM

Which is short for Random Access Memory is a type of high speed memory block that sits in between the SoC and the internal storage.

The RAM acts as a worktable, where the CPU keeps apps that it is processing.

The primary function of RAM is multitasking. That is providing the platform for the CPU to process several apps at the same time.

Think of it like tyres. The function of a tyre is to help a car move. The tyres plays a huge part in the movement of a car but it is not the tyre that generates the movement.

It is the engine that generates the movement. The tyres help to translate the movement from the engine into actual motion that we can see.

I have seen many people argue that it is the size of RAM that makes a phone powerful.

That is as stupid as arguing that it is the type of tyres on a car that makes it move.

I don’t know if you’re getting the point here.

Thankfully, no one makes that kind of stupid argument about car tyres and engines.

But sadly, they make that silly argument about RAM and SoCs.

It’s the SoC (CPU + GPU) that determines how much processing power that a phone has or can be able to generate for apps.

RAM has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Where RAM is important is that it provides the environment for the CPUs + GPU to do their job.

That’s all.

If you have an Gionee S11 (Snapdragon 430) for example with 4GB RAM VS a Redmi Note 7 (Snapdragon 660) with 3GB RAM.

Which one do you think would perform better?

The simple answer of course is the Redmi Note 7 with the Snapdragon 660.

The SD660 uses A73 CPUs while the SD430 uses A53s. There’s simply no contest there.

But many people are ignorant of the fact and will pick the device with the bigger RAM.

They would then start complaining, “I don’t understand, I have 4GB RAM and I cannot play xyz game while someone with 2 or 3GB RAM is playing it.”

The simple answer is the processor, the same way tyres won’t move without the force from an engine is the same way RAM is useless without a decent SoC.

So anyone that tries to talk to you about RAM size without telling about the underlying processor, is either very ignorant or is simply trying to fool you.

This is why talking about RAM alone without any kind of context is a pointless endeavor.


2. Clock speed

This is the speed at which an SoC can complete one clock cycle (fetch-decode-execute).

That is, the speed at which an SoC can fetch an app or task from storage, decode it, execute it and send the result to your screen is what we call clock speed.

Let’s use this simple analogy.

A 13 year old boy in many cases is faster than a 55 year old man.

But does it mean that he (the 13 year old) has more strength that the 55 year old? Absolutely not.

If you drop a load of 50kg and ask both individuals to carry it, the 55 year old man despite being the slower of the two will carry that load to the finish first before the boy can even think about reaching the halfway point.

A very good example of this is if we compare the Helio G35 (A53) with 2.3GHz speed against the Helio G90T (A76) with 2.0GHz speed.

People who do not know anything about processors will say that since the Helio G35 had the faster clockspeed, therefore it is better.

This is also another very stupid argument that people use till today and it greatly saddens me sometimes.

Especially due to the fact that many of them are stubborn and usually scream the loudest in a room only to go on and mislead others.

See: How to read smartphone SoCs

3. Core count

Core count simply means the number of CPUs on the SoC in a phone.

An SoC with two CPUs, is called a Duo core SoC
SoCs with four CPUs are Quad core SoCs
If it has six CPUs we call it a Hexa core SoC
If it has eight CPUs we call it Octa core SoC.
Quad core and Octa core for Android while iPhones use Hexa core.

Many companies will tell you that our phones have eight (Octa) CPU cores so it is more powerful than phones with 2 or 4 CPUs.

What they will not tell you is the name of the so called eight CPUs that are there.

The term Octa core is not the name of a processor. There is no processor named Octa core. Zero.

I have never seen it in my life.

What Octa core refers to is the number of CPUs on the processor which is 8.

They do this because they’re trying to lie to you. The CPUs there could be eight A7, A9 or A53 CPUs, but they don’t want you to know that.

Take this away, it is not the number of CPUs that matter. It is the name/type of CPUs that matter.

A15 Bionic only has 6 cores but it is beating SD8 Gen1 with 8 cores on Geekbench.

The specs that actually matters
It is the name/type of CPU cores that truly matter, not some meaningless number.

If you wanted to carry a heavy load, would you rather have 2 men or 10 children?

Having learned all of this, I’m sure that you’re now starting to see that eFootball’s minimum specs such as

Octa core
1.5GHz
2GB RAM

Mean absolutely nothing.

It’s like talking about the fastest car and someone says that for a car to drive really fast, it must have

4 tyres
2 side mirrors
A boot (trunk) to keep stuff

So that’s it. It’s why these so-called minimum requirements are utter bullshit and Konami knows.

That’s why they put the neat little disclaimer at the bottom. Your device may not play the game even if it meets the requirements.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaMFxziDk3Y

When RAM Clockspeed and core counts are useful
Now should you throw these specs away. No absolutely not.

Specs such as RAM, Clock speed or core count only make sense if you are describing an SoC or a phone.

For example, the SD720G and the Helio G90T both use A76 CPUs as their main CPUs.

So how do you tell them apart?

The SD720G runs at 2.2GHz which is faster than the Helio G90T which clocks out at 2.0GHz.

In this context, using clock speed makes a lot of sense to use.

So that’s why PES system requirements are trash. I am guessing they used it because it’s what smartphone companies are using as well.

Which by the way should be filed under false advertising.

With that, we’ve come to the end of this post on why RAM Clockspeed and core counts are useless gaming specs.

https://inquisitiveuniverse.com/2022/06/15/why-ram-clockspeed-and-core-counts-are-useless-gaming-specs/

Nice

Tecnophone:
whao. Free premium lecture. Salutes.

You're welcome

Onyeka90210:
Nice

Thanks

Very informative...though i don't still get...
So what's the minimum for efootball?

judatech:
Very informative...though i don't still get...
So what's the minimum for efootball?

A 64-bit capable processor/phone

So either go with high end budget phone/lower midrange phone

Or go with anything that houses a Cortex A73 CPU and above.

atheistandproud:


A 64-bit capable processor/phone

So either go with high end budget phone/lower midrange phone

Or go with anything that house a Cortex A73 CPU and above.

Suggest the high end phones and lower midrange phones that are ideal

Your analysis is informative.
I want information on the following:
A phone that has a very stable minimization tab (whereby apps won't restart themselves even though it takes many hours) what specs do you look out for because sometimes some phones with low rams have a very stable minimization tab.

atheistandproud:


A 64-bit capable processor/phone

So either go with high end budget phone/lower midrange phone

Or go with anything that house a Cortex A73 CPU and above.

Making mention of high or lower midrange phones is too generic, and not conclusive tips.
And some phones within such range even underperform. And while some phones below such range perform better. E.g infinix hot 4 did better than its contemporaries then and even phones 20k costlier, and also better than its successors like hot 5 and 6 in real-life performance. It rarely lagged, and had nice minimization tab of some apps.
In recap, the appropriate combination of some specs are needed for the right phone performance.

Core counts does count. More cores means shared CPU load. It means less stress on the cpu which actually saves power and is more efficient.

If I remember correctly, the a8x in the iPad air 2 had a GPU with an extra core which performed better solely because of the extra core when compared to the a8 on the iPhone 6s. Remove that extra core and you have an iPhone 6s with a big screen.

However, core counts doesn't matter if the cpu isn't great.

judatech:


Suggest the high end phones and lower midrange phones that are ideal

Nah bro.

Since I stopped recommending phones, Transsion marketers have left me alone. I'd like it to stay that way.

StAmbrose1:
Your analysis is informative.
I want information on the following:
A phone that has a very stable minimization tab (whereby apps won't restart themselves even though it takes many hours) what specs do you look out for because sometimes some phones with low rams have a very stable minimization tab.

Multitasking

A phone with LPDDR4x RAM with at least dual 16 bit channels and 6GB space.

Also look out for operating system track record as well.

StAmbrose1:

Making mention of high or lower midrange phones is too generic, and not conclusive tips.
And some phones within such range even underperform. And while some phones below such range perform better. E.g infinix hot 4 did better than its contemporaries then and even phones 20k costlier, and also better than its successors like hot 5 and 6 in real-life performance. It rarely lagged, and had nice minimization tab of some apps.
In recap, the appropriate combination of some specs are needed for the right phone performance.

No one mentioned brand here.

Please remove that brand from this discussion, thank you because if I start now, una go say I don start.

Don't come here to market that brand.

ObvslyNotBanana:
Core counts does count. More cores means shared CPU load. It means less stress on the cpu which actually saves power and is more efficient.

If I remember correctly, the a8x in the iPad air 2 had a GPU with an extra core which performed better solely because of the extra core when compared to the a8 on the iPhone 6s. Remove that extra core and you have an iPhone 6s with a big screen.

However, core counts doesn't matter if the cpu isn't great.

Cores are important my G

But it is not the number of cores that counts, it is the quality of the cores.

Many dishonest brands, like the one someone is trying to push here only want to tell you the amount of cores, rather than the quality of the cores.

If the number of cores, rather than the quality, was important then Deca core Helio X series SoCs would still be kicking today. Where are they now?

Selling the term Octa core to people does not mean jack if it's 8 A53 CPUs that are in there.

atheistandproud:


Cores are important my G

But it is not the number of cores that counts, it is the quality of the cores.

Many dishonest brands, like the one someone is trying to push here only want to tell you the amount of cores, rather than the quality of the cores.

If the number of cores, rather than the quality, was important then Deca core Helio X series SoCs would still be kicking today. Where are they now?

Selling the term Octa core to people does not mean jack if it's 8 A53 CPUs that are in there.

Redmi note 4 mediatek with helio X20 is not good then...I Was busy counting the cores plus it's cortex A75....

Youngpo413:
Redmi note 4 mediatek with helio X20 is not good then...I Was busy counting the cores plus it's cortex A75....

Hmmm...

I read a few paragraphs but it's quite educative.

So what is the major determinant for good gaming performance?

atheistandproud a well done job here.

Also,

When you've to decide between two phones, you can use gsmarena to get details about the phone and then Google the processors on the two phones to know which is later and more powerful.

A few processor around include Snapdragon, Exynos, Mediatek, Unisoc, etc. There are more. A current generation of Mediatek will definitely be better in all regards than a 5/6 year old generation of Snapdragon of the same level.

However, a current generation of Snapdragon is powerful enough for you needs depending however on the type of Snapdragon.

Briefly: there is SD 8 Gen 1 is Snapdragon's most powerful processor currently. Dimensity 9000 is Mediatek's most powerful processor and so on. These brands also have processors for mid-powered phones as well as entry level phones.

Great post by the OP!

Eyanbahose:
I read a few paragraphs but it's quite educative.

So what is the major determinant for good gaming performance?

The truth is that if you intend to start gaming with an android phone, it's just better to get a phone with a recent snapdragon processor.
This is because most games created on android are usually optimized to work on phones with snapdragon processors.

Been reading your post for a while though i knew most of the things you posted but i still gain one or few things, kudos bruh.

Apple bionic chips still baffles me how they manage 6 cores cpu with two clusters still beating latest SD back to back even with three clusters CPU and even in GPU. Its like android flagship cpu's are 2 years behind. Just that apple is restrictive in their user interface.

Nice and well written

But you clearly undermine the role and duties of a RAM.

A RAM is as important as CPU and GPU in any processing system

For you to illustrate it's usefulness to that of a tire is all shades of wrong..


A RAM does not provide just the environment for a processing movement it is part of the process that accelerate the movement..

Refer to the tyres as ROM but not a RAM..

atheistandproud:


You're welcome

I would’ve believed your research backed and factual article if you believe in god.

I don’t see how I can believe an Atheist’s lectures because he doesn’t believe in my god and is going to hell.

atheistandproud:


No one mentioned brand here.

Please remove that brand from this discussion, thank you because if I start now, una go say I don start.

Don't come here to market that brand.

I am not a marketer of any brand. I don't use such device presently.
I made mention of the model to drive home the point I was making.
Your full contribution is needed.
Only those with low mentality are antagonistic to acquisition of more knowledge.

What specs to look out for when you want a phone that doesn't lag, and has a high multitasking ability?
I think memory cache is also important.

Very educative.


If you need information about any phone just go to
[url]devicespecifications.com[/url]
they always state the type of GPU and CPU the device is using.

Tochilynx:
Nice and well written

But you clearly undermine the role and duties of a RAM.

A RAM is as important as CPU and GPU in any processing system

For you to illustrate it's usefulness to that of a tire is all shades of wrong..


A RAM does not provide just the environment for a processing movement it is part of the process that accelerate the movement..

Refer to the tyres as ROM but not a RAM..

Au contraire my friend

I think you're the one who has underestimated the importance of tyres.

Edit:

Besides it's just an analogy. If you've got a better one. Please kindly share.

StAmbrose1:

I am not a marketer of any brand. I don't use such device presently.
I made mention of the model to drive home the point I was making.
Your full contribution is needed.
Only those with low mentality are antagonistic to acquisition of more knowledge.

What specs to look out for when you want a phone that doesn't lag, and has a high multitasking ability?
I think memory cache is also important.

Already replied you up there

This is very informative and well written
Sadly a lot of people will fail to see the points and will want to argue
If I talk say t(ansion) company is brain washing people, them go rush me

Illusionale:
This is very informative and well written
Sadly a lot of people will fail to see the points and will want to argue
If I talk say t(ansion) company is brain washing people, them go rush me

Thank you jare.

hello bro is umidigi A11 ND A13PRO processor good enough ?
also camera wise

mod please front page
op welcome