Sorta noobish CPU question regarding multicore

[Nickyyy]

Just to keep the maths simple.

Say I had a 4 Core 2Ghz CPU.

Does it equate to 2 Ghz x 4 cores = 8Ghz speed.

Or does it mean that the speed is 2Ghz, however 4 cores so programs can run faster as one core can see to one program and the other another program?

without getting into CPU architecture and FSB etc etc.

Cheers

 

[KelDG]

Nope - Does it equate to 2 Ghz x 4 cores = 8Ghz speed.

Nearly (some programs make use of more than one core) - Or does it mean that the speed is 2Ghz, however 4 cores so programs can run faster as one core can see to one program and the other another program?

 

[Nickyyy]

Ah thanks for clearing that up, always see adverts on ebay for "ultimate gaming pc!!!!111one" with like 4x4GHz for 16GHz Powarr!!!

So obviously they are talking out their backside!

Cheers, KelDG

 

[eddiew]

Ebay sellers like that should be banned for false advertising as much as if they promised a 100mpg car that actually does 30 (except on their all-downhill test run).

Multiple cores is all about running multiple things simultaneously - although happily many modern games are taking advantage of them and will split their workload across all available CPUs

 

[needforspeed]

Is it the motherboards with the 4 CPU sockets?

 

[Gashman]

Ebay sellers like that should be banned for false advertising as much as if they promised a 100mpg car that actually does 30 (except on their all-downhill test run).

Multiple cores is all about running multiple things simultaneously - although happily many modern games are taking advantage of them and will split their workload across all available CPUs

+1 to that, same goes for all these companies that go on about more MHZ = more speed, or more MB (on graphics card!) = better performance. because of this tripe (and because of a lack of trust) my mate ended up getting a terrible PC for the money he paid, was a 'gaming' PC but it had crossfire X1600 Pro that can't run anything to say the least.

and OP, gotta think of it in a simple and non-complicated manner. imagine you are driving down a motorway right? the speed limit is 70MPH, just because the road has three lanes, it doesn't mean the speed limit is effectively 210MPH (even though some total tossers in German business cars seem to think so!), its all about the parallel running of programs not faster running of one item.

was desperately trying to try to explain this to my mate (the one who bought that shocking computer!) in a way he'd comprehend, sorry to everyone but the whole 'motor vehicle and roads' analogy works better than any other, even helps to explain what a bottleneck is as well, imagining bottlenecks are like roundabouts or other sorts of junctions or even toll booths.