Why do you not understand that "computing power" is an integral part of "hardware" in the hardware/software optimization? No matter how well optimized your software is for your hardware, the hardware still has to have adequate processing power to make it go. If you do a good job with optimization, you can get away with less processing power while still having a smooth, hiccup-free experience. If you do a poor job with the optimization, you can still get smooth, hiccup-free performance if you throw enough power at it.