Dual Core Proccessors

[bhxtyrant]

Hey guys,
I'm trying to answer a question for a guy interested in upgrading his machine.But since i havent had the chnace to get a Dual Core chip yet i need a little info so hopefully one of you can help me out.

As i understand it a dual core proccessor basically is similar to having a Dual Proccessor system.However heres the question.

Have a question, my main use is a music recording program, which is the host. Then within it, I need to open up between another 4-10 programs(usually 3-5)...can I assign each program to one of the 2 processors? And what if the minimum requirements for a certain program happens to be 3.0 GHz for example, Does the chip actually ever run at 4.8 GHz? ..or just 2 running as high as 2.4 ?

Any info on this would be excellent.:cool:

I believe each core would run at 2.4GHz if it's a 2.4 GHz dual core chip but will a program use both cores if the minimum requierments is above that speed?Or how exactly does this work?

[rik]

The answer to your first question can be found here (http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11446&highlight=affinity). Same concept, different name.

The 2nd question, if the proc is listed at 2.4 ghz that is as fast as it will run. Regardless of dual core, HT or anything else...now it may be a very few mhz either plus or minus, but that's it.

[efc]

A 21 page review from, tomshardware.com, of AMD's dual core 64 processor. LINK (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/09/amd/)

[bhxtyrant]

Thats kinda what i figured.But that brings another interesting question for me.I have seen Pentium 4 processors which go up to around 3.4GHz (might even be some higher) but i have noticed that most AMD chips rarely are above 2.4GHz.Now if there was a program which minimum requirments where 3.0GHz processor does this mean it would not run of a 2.4Ghz dual core?

[zipp51]

If the program is made to detect a lower requirement cpu then yes it probably would not let you install it.However,if an AMD has the performance of a 3GHZ processor and only runs at 2.4GHZ,I would tend to think that the software writers would allow detection of such chips.:D

[efc]

This is a good explanation of CPU clock speed. LINK (http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/pclt/PCHW/clockidea.htm)

[Big Booger]

I would love to have a dual core processor.. :) But a quad core would be even better.

[bhxtyrant]

Indeed,I wonder is they make dual core dual processor mobo's yet.Haven't looked into it :p

[rik]

I am running a system right now that is dual 2.8 Xeons, both dual core and HT capable. I'm just not running the HT.

[bhxtyrant]

Damn rik thats gotta be a monster system.Bet it leaves most others in the dust.So does that mean you can set programs between the 4 cores?

[efc]

My son and I built one for him. It has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 (AMD2), dual video cards, two GB memory, and water cooling. You can't wipe the smile off of his face.

[rik]

;) Yes bhxtyrant You are able to set priorities for any of the procs it sees. If you go into the window indicated in the screenshot on my first link it just shows more CPUs. Although...I have not found any good use for it. At least not in my case. For "normal" usage it makes more sense to me just to let the system balance out it's processing.

[bhxtyrant]

Hehe yeah i did see your link before but i thought perhaps a dual processor setup might be different.As for the use of it i agree probally wouldn't be to helpful for average use but to someone who uses programs like Photoshop,Flash,and video editing programs i can see the advantages coming in real handy.Something else i wonder is there a way to combine the total power of the various cores to run a single application?