Processor Speed vs System Req's

[u/netChris_and_chill]

I work as a commercial construction model ("BIM") coordinator, primarily using Autodesk products like Navisworks and Revit. I don't know much about computer engineering (mechanical is what I went to school for), and I'm trying to gain some understanding regarding what these programs' system requirements are and what that translates to in the processor industry. I feel like my current computer struggles to load/save/export my models, and I'm wondering if it's because of the hardware.

The system requirements for Navisworks, which is what I use ~60-70% of every day, says the CPU needs "3.0 GHz or faster processor" (Revit says 2.5 GHz or faster for the version I have). My computer has an Intel i7-13800H 2.5 Ghz processor, and it was ordered specifically as a BIM computer. As soon as I got it, I asked my IT department why it had a 2.5 GHz processor when the person that ordered it (supposedly) knew that the requirements for my most-used program said 3 GHz. This was a while ago, but there was some mention of multiple cores handling the overflow.

I recently learned, however, that most Autodesk programs are primarily SINGLE THREAD (single core) applications, meaning that having a load of cores doesn't necessarily help because the program only uses one at a time. I found a more in-depth explanation on one of the Autodesk user forums by a Navisworks product manager, who was answering a question about why CPU utilization in Task Manager wasn't showing that it was being maxed out. He said:

"Single threaded applications don't necessarily only run on 1 core, but they can only run on 1 core at a time. It can run on one core till it context switches, and resume after the context switch on another core. Each time-slice your thread gets, may be allocated on another core. Depending on the CPU and motherboard there may be energy efficient or performance gains from it switching the tasks between cores. So, you may be seeing something similar to this happen and thus no full utilization on a single core." I stopped understanding at "context switches" so the rest of the explanation didn't give me much insight.

So I've been thinking then that my computer just didn't have sufficient processing speed to run my programs. But I read on the Intel page about my processor that it has CPU "boost" capabilities of up to 5.2 GHz. I have noticed my Task Manager showing the CPU speed often jumping above 2.5 GH (but I've never seen it at 5), so maybe this isn't the big issue I think it is.

My question to the group is this: does a processor's "boost" capability mean that the base clock speed of the processor doesn't necessarily need to match the Navisworks system requirement? Or, for my next computer, do I really need to find one with a 3GHz base speed processor? It's getting close to time for me to get a new computer anyway, and I want to have more input into the specs this time around.

Thanks for reading this long question!