Dual vs Single core question

[Jumpingmedic]

I currently have an Athlon XP2400 which has done well for me up till now, but neverwinter nights 2 is kicking its ass. So it's upgrade time and I'm not really sure how dual core cpus work.

I realise that 2 cpus would be great for multitasking, one cpu for each program, but it's not like I play games whilst using any other applications.... who would? So do both cores go to work on the one running program or does the second cpu just sit there and do nothing?

I notice the clock speeds for dual cores are quite low, round about 2ghz so I's certainly hope both cpus work on one program otherwise there'll be no performance boost for me at all. Would I be better off going for one of the higher clocked single cores?


Any help appreciated!

 

[Will_3rd]

The two cores are clocked at the same speed and share the workload.

 

[Jumpingmedic]

so 2 cores at 2ghz will function just like one core at 4ghz on a single application then? even if the program isn't designed for dual cores?

 

[Paul11]

with 2 cores, there are programmes there are written to make use of both cores. Needless to say these programmes run very fast. More and more games are/will come out the make use of more than one core ie. one core to do phyisics and another to do AI for example.

also, having more than one core should speed up day to day tasks as windows can utitilse things like, anti virus and other apps that run in the background to run more efficiently.

dont worry about clock speeds any more. the new cpu's are much quicker than older ones that have faster clock speed because of their design.

Core2Duo is where its at if your thinking of upgrading

 

[Will_3rd]

so 2 cores at 2ghz will function just like one core at 4ghz on a single application then? even if the program isn't designed for dual cores?

Nope but still very fast, Windows or whatever OS you use will work out how the processor will handle the workload

 

[Paul11]

so 2 cores at 2ghz will function just like one core at 4ghz on a single application then? even if the program isn't designed for dual cores?

no.. not for programmes not designed for dual/ (or more) cores.

even if they are, i dont think you get double (will look for some benchmarks)

i dont know the rest of your spec, but a new core 2 due/ 2 gig ram/ new graphics card will probablly spank your current systems back side til its black and blue

 

[Jumpingmedic]

Thanks for the reply, it sounds promising, but I just need it spelled out for me before I hand over my cash:

Will there be a massive (hopefully double?) increase in performance if I go from a single 2ghz to a dual 2ghz system in a game that isn't designed for 2 cores.

Multitasking isn't a big deal for me I want all my power focused on one application at a time

(heh damn, you replied to me before I even posted ^_^)

 

[Paul11]

i would say that if your going to be buying/ upgrading now there makes no real sense not to go dual core. (its the way everything is going, they even have quad cores out now)

obviously depends on your budget but im sure that you would not be disappointed with an upgrade to coreduo.

post a budget in GH and im sure some nice people with spec you up the best beast for your money.

 

[Jumpingmedic]

Thanks. I'll head over to GH and see what people think.

I guess I will go dual core. The new gfx card should take care of improved performance for non dual core games.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Ace Modder]

to put this clearly

I had a 3000+ venice - Windows Vista rating it at 3.7 as stock speed

my 3800+ dual CPU (running at same stock speeds) gives it 4.9 at stock


So thats a good comparision.

You dont get double

 

[~>Dg<~]

should notice nice boost but dont expect your wig to be blown off.

 

[Street]

I notice the clock speeds for dual cores are quite low, round about 2ghz so I's certainly hope both cpus work on one program otherwise there'll be no performance boost for me at all. Would I be better off going for one of the higher clocked single cores?

A 2GHz Conroe would be miles faster than your current setup.. You can't really judge a processors speed by its GHz anymore.

 

[jm240]

I must be honest here, I have not noticed any difference between my P4 1700mhz to my AMD x2 3800+ (939) my computers seem exactly the same in terms of speed.

I don't know if windows 2000 has anything to do with it but it should'nt do.

 

[smsmasters]

Basically, dual core is like having two processors in one which both run at the same clockspeed.

So if you have a Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz, it has two cpu cores which both run at 2.4ghz.

It depends on the software if it will utilize both cores at once.

 

[P90]

All i can say is big diff and the speed is well mint BUT there r a lot of older games that wont work with dual core cus of the timing! so ask i thing have u got a lot of older games? do what ive done keep my P4 just for the older games and got an 512 agp card with 2 gig.see sig.

Stay away from vista for now wait an year!