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Quad Core


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Posted

I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from when

I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

Quad core CPUs are?

Just wondering.

Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Right now, none, until and unless the software you're using has been written

for it.

 

"poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6A5C6A67-9A8F-416B-A3DA-287D85AD69A0@microsoft.com...

> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

> when

> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> Quad core CPUs are?

> Just wondering.

Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Very little unless the software application is specifically coded to take

advantage of multiple core processors.

However some games and apps due improve, see Tom's Hardware for some

benchmarks.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

 

JS

 

"poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6A5C6A67-9A8F-416B-A3DA-287D85AD69A0@microsoft.com...

> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

> when

> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> Quad core CPUs are?

> Just wondering.

Guest Steve Shattuck
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

> when

> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> Quad core CPUs are?

 

Simply speaking it means a single processor that emulates 2 (dual core) or 4

(quad core) CPU's in parallel. Technically, Intel and AMD have some

differences, but they are not really important to the user.

 

I see you've already received the obligatory silly answer "Nothing unless

your software is written to support multiple processors." While it is true

that you can get more benefit from specially written code that supports

multiprocessing, depending on which version of XP you are using, you can get

significant benefits even with software written for a single processor.

 

First, as mentioned above, it depends on the version of XP. XP Home has

very rudamentary multiple processor support, generally the ability to run OS

tasks in one processor and application tasks in the other. It support no

processor balancing, and benchmarks show wild swings in processor usage

between one or the other processor at any point in time. XP Pro on the

other hand has significant code to support asynchronous multi-processing,

and will generally make better use of the parallel processors.

 

As far as applications are concerned, many applications spawn asynchronous

threads which the OS can dynamically assign to the multiple processors. An

example is the "on-the-fly" spell checkers in most word processing programs.

MS Word or Corel's WordPerfect typically have dozens of asychronous threads

active at any one time. Other programs like Photoshop, can spawn 100's of

asynchronous threads for photo editing. XP Pro can dynamically assign these

threads to the least used processor, thus balancing the usage of the

processors for better efficiency. I have no applications that support

multiprocessing directly, but typically have 150-200 active threads. Your

mileage may vary.

 

Finally, nothing works as well as a program that has direct multiprocessing

support. Oracle Database is a good example of such a program, and it flies

on a Quad Intel Xeon setup found on large servers.

Guest Curt Christianson
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Hi Poatt,

 

I'm just here to agree wholeheartedly with Jerry and JS. The potential is

there, and it will be fast, *when* vendors finally to decide to start

writing software for the new CPU's,

 

--

HTH,

Curt

 

Windows Support Center

http://www.aumha.org

Practically Nerded,...

http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

 

"poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6A5C6A67-9A8F-416B-A3DA-287D85AD69A0@microsoft.com...

| I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

| I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

when

| I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

| Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

| Quad core CPUs are?

| Just wondering.

Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Currently there is shortage of programmers that have the skills to develop

or make the changes necessary to take advantage of multicore processors. So

it will take some time for applications that span the entire user spectrum

to be released and as expected the more expensive high end software will get

the makeover sooner than later. Also operating systems will also need to be

upgraded accordingly so a Vista's replacement or major Service Pack would be

required.

 

JS

 

"Curt Christianson" <curtchristnsn@NOSPAM.Yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:ejPdlRc8HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> Hi Poatt,

>

> I'm just here to agree wholeheartedly with Jerry and JS. The potential

> is

> there, and it will be fast, *when* vendors finally to decide to start

> writing software for the new CPU's,

>

> --

> HTH,

> Curt

>

> Windows Support Center

> http://www.aumha.org

> Practically Nerded,...

> http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

>

> "poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:6A5C6A67-9A8F-416B-A3DA-287D85AD69A0@microsoft.com...

> | I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> | I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

> when

> | I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> | Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> | Quad core CPUs are?

> | Just wondering.

>

>

Guest Bruce Chambers
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

poatt wrote:

> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from when

> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> Quad core CPUs are?

> Just wondering.

 

 

 

Much better performance, assuming you're running the sort of

applications, or performing the type of tasks, that would benefit form

the more advanced CPU. If all you're doing with the computer is

balancing the checkbook, surfing the web, and using email, you won't

notice much difference, if any.

 

 

--

 

Bruce Chambers

 

Help us help you:

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

 

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

 

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Actually they should have a sticker on the software that if effect states

that it is 'Certified' for 'Dual', 'Quad', '8 Cores' and takes full

advantage of the number of cores it is certified for, this way if you own a

multicore system you will not spend any money (an keeps you checkbook

balanced) on software that you would expect to but in reality does not show

significant performance improvements on multicore processors.

 

JS

 

"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@cable0ne.n3t> wrote in message

news:O83C7ec8HHA.4476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> poatt wrote:

>> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

>> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

>> when I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

>> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

>> Quad core CPUs are?

>> Just wondering.

>

>

>

> Much better performance, assuming you're running the sort of applications,

> or performing the type of tasks, that would benefit form the more advanced

> CPU. If all you're doing with the computer is balancing the checkbook,

> surfing the web, and using email, you won't notice much difference, if

> any.

>

>

> --

>

> Bruce Chambers

>

> Help us help you:

> http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

>

> They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

>

> Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand

> Russell

Guest Telstar
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

 

"Steve Shattuck" <anon@anon.com> wrote in message

news:%23C$bZPc8HHA.5160@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

>> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

>> when

>> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

>> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

>> Quad core CPUs are?

>

> Simply speaking it means a single processor that emulates 2 (dual core) or

> 4 (quad core) CPU's in parallel. Technically, Intel and AMD have some

> differences, but they are not really important to the user.

 

Could you expand on this? Our XP Core 2 Duo performs much better than AMD

or Intel previous dual core architectures.

Posted

RE: Quad Core

 

Thank you all for the great input.

I see that more and more MVPs and experts from the Win98 NGs are

posting/answering here. This NG is more usable/understanable because of it.

 

"poatt" wrote:

> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from when

> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> Quad core CPUs are?

> Just wondering.

Guest Curt Christianson
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

Poatt,

 

I've noticed the migration too. Bur as they say, "One mans loss is another

mans gain".

 

--

HTH,

Curt

 

Windows Support Center

http://www.aumha.org

Practically Nerded,...

http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

 

"poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:28D37ACC-8DF2-4AC2-968E-907EFF3E3E14@microsoft.com...

| Thank you all for the great input.

| I see that more and more MVPs and experts from the Win98 NGs are

| posting/answering here. This NG is more usable/understanable because of

it.

|

| "poatt" wrote:

|

| > I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

| > I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

when

| > I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

| > Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual

and

| > Quad core CPUs are?

| > Just wondering.

Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

"Dual Core", "Quad Core" are currently marketing tools - the capability is

there during manufacturing. Applications must be written to take advantage

of Dual/Quad core or dual processors - as time goes by there will be more

available.

 

 

poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:28D37ACC-8DF2-4AC2-968E-907EFF3E3E14@microsoft.com...

> Thank you all for the great input.

> I see that more and more MVPs and experts from the Win98 NGs are

> posting/answering here. This NG is more usable/understanable because of

> it.

>

> "poatt" wrote:

>

>> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

>> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

>> when

>> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

>> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

>> Quad core CPUs are?

>> Just wondering.

Guest barnabel
Posted

Re: Quad Core

 

This of course assumes that you only do 1 thing at a time. I often have 100

threads running several of which will use an entire CPU if they can get it.

I have an Excel analysis that takes over 5 hours to process. Multiple cores

and/or multiple processors allow me to continue to do other things at the

same time.

 

If you only run one application at a time you will likely not notice much

difference beyond dual core. But even with only 1 application running there

is some OS overhead that can be processed by the second CPU/Core.

 

"AJR" wrote:

> "Dual Core", "Quad Core" are currently marketing tools - the capability is

> there during manufacturing. Applications must be written to take advantage

> of Dual/Quad core or dual processors - as time goes by there will be more

> available.

>

>

> poatt" <poatt@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:28D37ACC-8DF2-4AC2-968E-907EFF3E3E14@microsoft.com...

> > Thank you all for the great input.

> > I see that more and more MVPs and experts from the Win98 NGs are

> > posting/answering here. This NG is more usable/understanable because of

> > it.

> >

> > "poatt" wrote:

> >

> >> I read where AMD is comong out with a Quad Core CPU.

> >> I have a dual core Intel CPU. And I see no difference in anything from

> >> when

> >> I used a single core CPU. The MB bios and XP both see the dual core.

> >> Can anyone explain what the difference/advantage between single,dual and

> >> Quad core CPUs are?

> >> Just wondering.

>

>

>

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