It isn't that different though. You still look at clock speeds on the CPU, as well as the burst speed for what it can ramp up to. So that's the 233/300/450 comparison done.
Then perhaps look at whether it is i3/i5/i7 - the higher ones are better.
But then instead of just thinking that your processor is one CPU, count how many logical processors are in there: dual core, quad core etc.
It's still the same - the higher numbers are better :-)
Of course, other things to take into consideration (like it has always been) are FSB speed, RAM clock speeds, disk cache size, disk type, amount of RAM, GPU processing capability (use the same rules as the CPU - count the RAMDAC speed, the amount of RAM, the number of cores), and so on.
I don't think it's changed that much. Just there are more brand names and model names on things now, perhaps?
Not sure why I was downvoted for my comment above?
Surely you just look at the numbers for everything - higher numbers of cores, higher numbers of model numbers, high numbers of CPU speed, higher numbers for RAM speeds and capacity, higher disk speeds etc. etc. etc. etc. ???
Realistically, consumers choose based on the clear numbers, disk space and memory. 1 TB disks and 8 GB of RAM have recently hit the low-ish end of laptops so at least there's that to go on.
Then perhaps look at whether it is i3/i5/i7 - the higher ones are better.
But then instead of just thinking that your processor is one CPU, count how many logical processors are in there: dual core, quad core etc.
It's still the same - the higher numbers are better :-)
Of course, other things to take into consideration (like it has always been) are FSB speed, RAM clock speeds, disk cache size, disk type, amount of RAM, GPU processing capability (use the same rules as the CPU - count the RAMDAC speed, the amount of RAM, the number of cores), and so on.
I don't think it's changed that much. Just there are more brand names and model names on things now, perhaps?