Technology Slice

The Dual Core Question

Most of the buzz in the computer industry is centering around dual core processors. But what advantages do they actually give and is it worth it in terms of price?

All CPU’s have a core. A core contains some memory, often referred to as cache, either L1, L2 or L3, depending on how close it is to the core, and the core itself. The core is the processing part, it does all the big calculations that are required for the many things a computer does. Клиника варикозное расширение вен. Косино-Ухтомский.

Computer cores have been increasing in speed, and getting increasingly faster. Manufacturers were in a race to have the chip with the fastest speed, measured in GHz. One surprise is that despite massive speed increases, software has not been able to keep up and utilize this speed in it’s entirety. Клиника врач уролог Сокольники.

As modern programs make a lot more use of other computer parts like RAM, and there are often many running at the simultaneously, a different approach was required.

In comes the dual core processor.

By putting two cores into the processor, you can run two programs on seperate cores, without putting a big load on either. This means the computer will be able to handle running 2 or more intensive programs without getting put under too much stress. documentaries, ag.

One disappointing factor is that gaming does not take a major advantage of this. Unlike multitasking that is usual for a computer whether your at home or at the office, games rely on the power of the processor to help them along. So far games, and most programs, have not been engineered to be able to take full advantage of two cores.

The two major players in the processor game are AMD and Intel.

Intel offers two processors at two different speeds. The lower priced of the Pentium D processors costs roughly $250. This price is fairly reasonable considering how much you would pay for the top of the line single core processor.

The Pentium D is based on the same core as it's single core brothers, just with two cores. Its increase in performance is very noticeable, and can be very advantageous when multi-tasking.

The AMD Athlon X2 is AMD's dual core solution. Unlike the Pentium D its lowest priced model costs a whopping $400. It's a lot cheaper than the FX series, which cost in excess of $1000, but compared to Intel it's expensive.

It too is based on the same core as its single core brothers and also offers similar performance increases.

As always I think I will be sticking with AMD. The dual core solution offered by AMD might cost more than it’s Intel counterpart, the athlon processor offers a much larger performance increase from multi-tasking to gaming.

The most important question is will you need the extra core in your day to day use. If your day to day use includes video encoding and gaming simultaneously then yes, a dual core processor would be best for you. If you do not do such CPU intensive tasks then a mid-range single core CPU will be more than enough.

If price is not an issue and you wish to “future-proof” your computer then go down the dual core path.

Last updated: 07/04/06.