Can I use Skype with this setup?

January 10, 2010 8:11 AM

I have a Dell PC from 2005 with a Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology and am interested in adding a web cam for use with Skype. They suggest a dual core processor is needed. Is my machine up to the task?
posted by Rad_Boy to computers & internet (7 answers total)

Your processor is not dual-core, no. But if they only "suggest" that you need a dual core, it'll probably be OK.
posted by Mwongozi at 8:15 AM on January 10, 2010

We have a 4 or 5 year old Dell with Skype and a webcam; dual core is not required.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:31 AM on January 10, 2010

As far as I know, dual core is only required for HQ video. Standard quality should work just fine.

(roughly, HQ is DVD quality, while standard quality is more like a crappy VHS. I suspect their HQ codec is software only, which explains the CPU requirements. There's a new generation of HD webcams with hardware codecs coming out, which have lower CPU requirements, at least for the sender, but that might be overkill...)
posted by effbot at 8:57 AM on January 10, 2010

I've used a webcam with Skype on a desktop from the late 1990s running Windows 98. Your current computer will be just fine.
posted by gum at 12:46 PM on January 10, 2010

Piling on the heap. It'll be fine. My laptop from 2005 does it without problems. (Only standard, not HQ)
posted by defcom1 at 6:22 PM on January 10, 2010

Using an external USB webcam with a ~2004 laptop, I found the limitation was the CPU time time required for webcam's driver. Skype itself didn't require too much CPU time.

I had to disable most of its post-processing options (light/color correct, head tracking, that sort of thing). I imagine this is something that would vary from webcam to webcam (from driver to driver).
posted by hAndrew at 8:33 PM on January 10, 2010

Thank you all!
posted by Rad_Boy at 12:37 PM on January 12, 2010