Newbie Guide: Multi-Core Processors

[-=N0N@ME420=-]

http://www.intel.com/technology/prod...core+body_demo

Its fairly technical at the start but it still is understandable, after what is multi-core? benefits chapter choose "for consumer" and after that it goes on to show about Direct Connect Architecture.

[Etherate]

nice find, will clarify a lot for those new to multi core processors

[lagmaster]

There is also an Intel guide, which can be found here.

[pyriX]

At the moment I'm running a PIII 800. While its acceptable for everyday stuff, its pissweak for gaming.

As a student, I'm a little cash strapped, and like most people, prefer to buy smart, i.e the product which gives me the best cost/performance ratio. So when I am thinking of an upgrade to the motherboard/CPU/RAM, I want to know which is better to upgrade too.

A Sempron (a.k.a Athlon XP) 2800+ Socket A, the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ or the cheapest Dual core processor, The Intel Pentium D 2.80ghz.

So which should it be, the dirt cheap Socket A, the more expensive Athlon 64, or the slightly more expensive Pentium D?

[Slayer9123]

That was a pretty sweet explanation of what dual core processing is all about

[-=N0N@ME420=-]

Originally Posted by pyriX

So which should it be, the dirt cheap Socket A, the more expensive Athlon 64, or the slightly more expensive Pentium D?

At the moment for upgradability you can't go past the amd socket 939 w/ nvidia nf4 series motherboard, wth sata2, pci-e, ddr ram, ide, and the ability to buy a cheap single core cpu now and then a dual core cpu in the future, its tops.

[stroggos2k]

Change your avatar back it's too confusing! I'd say go PCI-E + Venice.

[afrokiller]

Originally Posted by stroggos2k

Change your avatar back it's too confusing! I'd say go PCI-E + Venice.

Agreed!!!

[pyriX]

Thanks for the help. Will get that $175 foxconn SLI mobo i thinks - drop in second grapphics card later.

Again thanks for help, those guides are great for finding what dual core is, but there is no comparison to having someone compare different types for you.

[Jarlax]

quick question with dual core processors say you get a 3200+ x2 does that mean is has 2 3200+ cores inside or that the combined power of the 2 cores is equal to 1 3200+ processor?

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by Jarlax

quick question with dual core processors say you get a 3200+ x2 does that mean is has 2 3200+ cores inside or that the combined power of the 2 cores is equal to 1 3200+ processor?

It means that it's about as quick as a dual-core P4 running at 3.2Ghz. It's not a good idea to try to compare it to a single-core A64 - that just gets confusing.

The X2 3800+ is pretty much a pair of A64 3200+ S939 cores stuck together, but they're sharing the memory controller - so if they both need to access the RAM, each one only gets as much bandwidth as a S754 CPU would get (so they act much more like an A64 3000+ S754).

In single-processor things like most games, the X2 will tend to act something like an A64 3500+ S939 (a bit quicker than the 3200+ single-core because one core takes the background tasks and the other one runs the game). In multi-processor things, the performance really depends on just how good the software is - some things get a small gain from the extra CPU, others get up to ~80% extra performance.


Essentially, the rating compares it to a P4 dual-core, just like the single-core ratings compare the A64s to a single-core P4. Comparing the single-core to the dual-core is somewhat like comparing an A64 3200+ to a PowerPC processor at 3.2Ghz and wondering whether the 3200+ rating means that the A64 3200+ is as fast as all other CPUs (regardless of architecture) running at 3.2Ghz.

[lagmaster]

So are you saying that these are not universal performance ratings, they are just a number crunchin power related comparison to a Pentium 4?

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by lagmaster

So are you saying that these are not universal performance ratings, they are just a number crunchin power related comparison to a Pentium 4?

Of course, although I think that AMD still says they're relative to the Thunderbird Athlons (not sure if it's legal for them to rate it directly against another competitor's product).

[dmandn]

yes 3500+ x2 means two 3500+ equivalent cores or so im told. Believe this to be the case since both trusted computer store amployees/mates and amd employees have said so.

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by dmandn

yes 3500+ x2 means two 3500+ equivalent cores or so im told. Believe this to be the case since both trusted computer store amployees/mates and amd employees have said so.

That would be wrong.

An A64 X2 3800+ is a pair of 2Ghz cores with 512KB of cache each.

Depending on whether you assume single-channel or dual-channel RAM, that's equivalent to either an A64 3200+ or A64 3000+. An A64 3800+ is 2.4Ghz with 512KB of cache and dual-channel RAM; the A64 X2 3800+ is certainly not two of those (that's A64 X2 4600+).