dual/quad core CPUs?

jl255

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Have been reading up abit on the new quad core CPU and thought that u guys might be interested in a short summary of what these dual/quad core CPUS mean (if u don't already know).... :)

Basically, whether it is dual or quad or single core CPU, it refers to the number of processors found as part of a packaged CPU, i.e. a CPU that behaves like many CPUs.

Before dual core CPUs emerged, it was realized that there was no practical way of continually increasing the speeds of processors without incurring excessive heat and power consumption, beyond that which is reasonably tolerable. As such, this gave birth to the first dual core processors from Intel, think its about 2004-2005. It means that they packed 2 Pentium-4 chips into a single CPU.

AMD followed suit subsequently with the release of its Athlon 64 X2.

So, what is so good about have more than 1 processors in 1 CPU?

Well, the benefits can only be seen for software that support multi-threaded processing like WinXP. This means that the software is able to split tasks into separate workloads that can run on the different processors. This would allow enhanced speeds and performances if this parallel computing was efficiently managed, meaning you cld potentially perform a task X-times as fast assuming the workload of the task can be spread out evenly between X processors.

Fast forward to the present, Intel has announced the release of the first quad core processors, which as u can guess, is 4 chips packed into 1 CPU, called Core 2 Extreme QX6700. AMD has also announced its own version of quad-core CPU due for release in the later half of this yr.

With this in mind, we are poised for a revolutionary improvement in our CPU processing speeds if the quad core works out as it preaches. But for me, perhaps a dual core will be sufficient for now.......
 
thanks m8 very good information but how would you compare dual and quad cores to single core in terms of speed ?

for instance the main thing i used to look at on processors was clock speed how would you work out the equvalent clock speed for say a C2D running at 2.13Ghz and a P4 runnin at 3.2Ghz

obviously i know the c2d is faster than the P4 but how much what would be the equiv clock speed ??

very greatful if u knew would solve alot of my confusion
 
Core 2 Duo is fastrer than a P4, because the P4 is single core, has a lower FSB and cache than the C2D.
The Pentium D is the same as the P4, just with another core. Pentium Ds are very ghood and C2D are the most advanced Dual core CPUs...well....no. The Xeons are, with their FSB of 1333MHZ. That's my AMD system's stock speed :eek:

Quad cores is like a C2D, but with two extra cores.
Good information thanks!
Yeah id love to have a dual core processor in my pc

Nate, aren't you getting the Dell you shown us?
 
I think that the biggest issue with dual core processors is getting coders to learn how to multi-thread programs so that they can take full advantage of the new cores. Once they get that down, THEN the fun begins.
 
Core 2 Duo is fastrer than a P4, because the P4 is single core, has a lower FSB and cache than the C2D.
The Pentium D is the same as the P4, just with another core. Pentium Ds are very ghood and C2D are the most advanced Dual core CPUs...well....no. The Xeons are, with their FSB of 1333MHZ. That's my AMD system's stock speed :eek:

Quad cores is like a C2D, but with two extra cores.


Nate, aren't you getting the Dell you shown us?

I want it but i cant make up my mind i think i'm going to save up some more money Idk its confusing lol
 
I cant see the point in buying these until they start making software that can handle them.
 
has there been any improvement with games from the dual core?

Not yet, as of now most games aren't taking advantage of the dual-core properties that many PCs have today. We should see alot of them coming out soon though as dual-core systems become more available to society in terms of cost, which even now really isn't terrible. A 3800+X2 system can be purchased at dell for less than 500 dollars, this even includes a 17"+ LCD monitor.
 
This sounded like it was as if quad cores aren't on the market yet... But they do scream. However, since not much is able to utilize it, there isn't taht big of a jump between that and a dual core.

I think games are starting to utilize multi-threading more now since dual core is becoming more mainstream. It should increase game performance a little bit, or alot, depending on the programmers that work on it.
 
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