# Why has CPU speed growth slowed down so drastically? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917 "2008-11-09T17:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/61 "2008-11-17T20:19:12Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > I’m rusty about this stuff since it’s been 20 years since college (8086 or 80286 anyone?) > > Power consumption was also reduced when the supply voltage was reduced on the CPU along with other peripheral chips. For example, Intel’s x86 chips operated @ 5 Volts, then 3.3V, and what, 1.2 volts for Vss? Things I’m working on are getting down close to a volt. And noise and crosstalk are getting to be a bigger and bigger issue. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/62 "2008-11-17T20:34:47Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > … > So no matter how much smaller you make the transistors the switching time cannot get much lower than g_e/d. We are starting to get to the point where g_e/d is noticable so shrinking the area does not help as much as it did before. Would Intel’s introduction of HfO gate insulator affect the above equation? ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/63 "2008-11-18T10:01:19Z")
**SenorBeef** This is turning into a pointless hijack. Can your system or can it not run Crysis at a decent resolution with the settings at “very high”? You’re starting to sound like someone claiming that a Daihatsu is the same as a Porsche because it has four wheels and takes you to the supermarket perfectly well. If I set the resolution to 640x480 and settle for low or medium quality I can probably run Crysis on my work notebook - so what? Grab the VHQ config file from [here](http://forum.i3d.net/modifications-crysis/22559-crysis-mod-very-high-quality-config-1-3-a.html) to enable VHQ on XP and see how high your resolutions can go before the GPU bogs down. Chances are you’ll get up to at least 1280x1024, since that file is also performance optimised, but I’d be amazed if you can hit HD resolution. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/64 "2008-11-18T10:41:45Z")
I already told you what I can do. The game won’t let you set “very high” without directx 10. So high is the highest I can possibly do. And at that, at 1600x1200 I get a pretty smooth 30-40 fps. Why are you resorting to extreme hyperbole of my position? You’re being absurd. Anyway, anytime anyone ever says “needs thousands of dollars of PC gaming hardware”, they’re wrong. They just don’t know what they’re doing and assume you have to buy something from alienware or something with crappy price/performance hardware. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/65 "2008-11-21T13:46:08Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I already told you what I can do. The game won’t let you set “very high” without directx 10. So high is the highest I can possibly do. And at that, at 1600x1200 I get a pretty smooth 30-40 fps. Why are you resorting to extreme hyperbole of my position? You’re being absurd. Jesus wept. You can run Very High on XP using DirectX 9. I said so in my previous post and provided you with a link to the relevant tweaks. While you’re looking through my previous posts, you might also take a look at the one that caused you to jump in with your two cent’s worth. [QUOTE=me] with all the options turned right up. [/QUOTE] Not some of the options turned right up, not most of the options turned most of the way up - all of them right up to the maximum. I’ll give you a pass on the resolution, purely because the game engine can handle resolutions up to 5000x3000 or something equally silly - I don’t think that will fit on even a 30" monitor. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > Why are you resorting to extreme hyperbole of my position? You’re being absurd. Riiight. I’m being absurd, when you clearly don’t read the posts you’re responding to. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/66 "2008-11-21T15:25:57Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > Jesus wept. You can run Very High on XP using DirectX 9. Wow, my argument totally falls apart on the grounds of some obscure tweaking you can do if you predict in the future some internet tough guy will challenge the nerd power level of your computer system. > [@](#): > > Riiight. I’m being absurd, when you clearly don’t read the posts you’re responding to. Let’s break it down. > [@](#): > > You’re starting to sound like someone claiming that a Daihatsu is the same as a Porsche because it has four wheels and takes you to the supermarket perfectly well. Porsche because it has four wheels and takes you to the supermarket perfectly well. If I set the resolution to 640x480 and settle for low or medium quality I can probably run Crysis on my work notebook - so what? The actual situation is that I ran it at 1600x1200 high settings, which were the maximum settings I could use by changing the in-game options with the OS I ran it on. Your implication is that this is closer to running it at 640x480 on medium than 1920x1080 on “very high”. You don’t see the ridiculous hyperbole? Besides that, I can guarantee you if I were building a new system today, getting it to run well on those settings still would not cost nearly “several thousand dollars” so your basic assertion is still wrong. Besides that, you act as if unless you get a 24" monitor then you’re not even really playing it anyway. I’m not actually willing to guy out and buy a 24" monitor, reinstall a game I don’t particularly care for, and put work into tweaking it to satisfy your demands. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917/67 "2008-11-21T16:39:47Z")
So… you’re admitting that your computer is weaksauce? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-cpu-speed-growth-slowed-down-so-drastically/471917.md?page=3)