I'm using a laptop with an i7 processor (can't remember the specific model #)
I'm almost always in the top 2 or 3 in games with more than 8 players (sim speed).
I don't know if I've ever been below -2, except for maybe on the giant wave games.
My point is: You will rarely (if ever) slow the game down. There is a very large chance that in larger games that there will be numerous players slower than you.