Dual Processor Speed Question

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Hello again.
Im pretty sure you guys are ganna think im dumb but oh well.
I was wondering if you have dual processors and say it's 2.2ghz, is that the total speed or is it 4.4ghz becuase theres 2 cores?
Thx


P.S
Hope this is in the right spot.

 

[whs]

This is 2.2. per core - that means core1 can do things at the 2.2 speed and core2 can do something else at the 2.2 speed in parallel. You cannot add them up.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hello again.
Im pretty sure you guys are ganna think im dumb but oh well.
I was wondering if you have dual processors and say it's 2.2ghz, is that the total speed or is it 4.4ghz becuase theres 2 cores?
Thx


P.S
Hope this is in the right spot.

2.2 is the max speed of each processor. It is not cumulative. So it is not 2.2 +2.2

But two cores are faster than one

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

This is 2.2. per core - that means core1 can do things at the 2.2 speed and core2 can do something else at the 2.2 speed in parallel. You cannot add them up.

Ohhh,
So im guessing its also the same with quad cores as well. I thought you like added them up or something lol.
Can you buy more then 4 cores or is that the limit btw?

 

[profdlp]

Yeah, that's a pretty dumb question alright.

I am KIDDING!

Let's be clear about the difference between Dual Processors and Dual-Core Processors. Dual Processors means you actually have two separate physical processors in two different sockets on the same motherboard. Something like this:

dual cpu mobo help needed - Vista Forums

In that case, each CPU would run at 2.2GHz and you would have twice that in processing power.

Dual-Core means there are two separate CPU cores on one die (one physical processor). This gets a little trickier to explain, as there are many different ways of putting this together. In some cases, the CPU cache is shared between cores. In others, each core gets its own. There are also different ways that the individual cores can communicate with each other, or maybe not communicate at all with their fellow core(s). Multi-core processors are rated at the speed of an individual core, so you can't just add them all together and call that your "CPU speed".

How useful these are depends somewhat on the software they are running. If the software runs a lot of parallel processes (two or more going on at the same time), then multi-core CPU's are great. If the processes are serial (one after the other), then the spare core(s) don't have much to do.

You can read a little more here:

Multi-core processor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[whs]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are quasi no programs that can make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Yeah, that's a pretty dumb question alright.

I am KIDDING!

Let's be clear about the difference between Dual Processors and Dual-Core Processors. Dual Processors means you actually have two separate physical processors in two different sockets on the same motherboard. Something like this:

dual cpu mobo help needed - Vista Forums

In that case, each CPU would run at 2.2GHz and you would have twice that in processing power.

Dual-Core means there are two separate CPU cores on one die (one physical processor). This gets a little trickier to explain, as there are many different ways of putting this together. In some cases, the CPU cache is shared between cores. In others, each core gets its own. There are also different ways that the individual cores can communicate with each other, or maybe not communicate at all with their fellow core(s). Multi-core processors are rated at the speed of an individual core, so you can't just add them all together and call that your "CPU speed".

How useful these are depends somewhat on the software they are running. If the software runs a lot of parallel processes (two or more going on at the same time), then multi-core CPU's are great. If the processes are serial (one after the other), then the spare core(s) don't have much to do.

You can read a little more here:

Multi-core processor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Profdlp,
I looked at those links and now i feel more informed about processors, (yay!).
Thanks guys.

 

[bobkn]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are no programs that good make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

Not to sound like an Intel fanboy, but I think the I7 980X came to market first. It also supports hyperthreading, so Windows would report 12 CPUs. (It also costs about $1kUS, vs. about $300 for the most expensive AMD desktop 6 core CPU.)

Instead of "there are no programs that good make use of them", I'd say that there are few games that make good use of them. There are applications that can exploit many threads simultaneously. Most reviews of 6 core CPUs will include them. Example:

AMD's Six-Core Phenom II X6 1090T & 1055T Reviewed - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are no programs that good make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

Not to sound like an Intel fanboy, but I think the I7 980X came to market first. It also supports hyperthreading, so Windows would report 12 CPUs. (It also costs about $1kUS, vs. about $300 for the most expensive AMD desktop 6 core CPU.)

Instead of "there are no programs that good make use of them", I'd say that there are few games that make good use of them. There are applications that can exploit many threads simultaneously. Most reviews of 6 core CPUs will include them. Example:

AMD's Six-Core Phenom II X6 1090T & 1055T Reviewed - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

12 CPU's!?!?!
JEEZ i bet its fast lol.

 

[Mellon Head]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are no programs that good make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

Spot on, but IMO, the best part of owning a quad core is being able to open 8 to 10 apps at the same time with no perceptible loss of performance.

It's gonna be years before the majority of mainstream apps can take advantage of more than a dual core. There aren't even many mainstream 64 bit apps, and we've had a viable 64 bit Windows version for more than four years, possibly more if you count XP x64.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are no programs that good make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

Spot on, but IMO, the best part of owning a quad core is being able to open 8 to 10 apps at the same time with no perceptible loss of performance.

It's gonna be years before the majority of mainstream apps can take advantage of more than a dual core. There aren't even many mainstream 64 bit apps, and we've had a viable 64 bit Windows version for more than four years, possibly more if you count XP x64.

Whats x64 mean?

 

[profdlp]

Whats x64 mean?

64-Bit

32-Bit Operating Systems are often referred to as x86.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Why are 32 bit systems called x86? Why not x32?
Sorry im curious, lol.

 

[profdlp]

Why are 32 bit systems called x86? Why not x32?
Sorry im curious, lol.

x86 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Intel generally (though there were exceptions) stuck with the processor-naming format ending in "86" through several generations spanning decades. They were often referred to by the generation number and the "86" suffix. (286, 386, 486). For marketing purposes, the 586 was named the "Pentium" (as in Pentagon, symbolizing 5th generation).

Scrolling down...

x86 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 64-Bit:

64-bit

Starting with the AMD Opteron processor, the x86 architecture extended the 32-bit registers into 64-bit registers in a way similar to how the 16 to 32-bit protected mode extension was done (RAX, RBX, RCX, RDX, RSI, RDI, RBP, RSP, RFLAGS, RIP), and eight additional 64-bit general registers (R8, R9..R15) were also introduced in the creation of x86-64. However, these extensions are only usable in 64-bit mode, which is one of the two modes only available in long mode. The addressing modes were not dramatically changed from 32-bit mode, except that addressing was extended to 64 bits, virtual addresses are now sign extended to 64 bits in order to disallow mode bits...

The part I highlighted in bold type explains why we now see 32-Bit and 64-Bit operating systems. The 64-Bit OS can use features of the CPU the 32-Bit version can't.

 

[Wishmaster]

There are 6 core processors from AMD. But there are no programs that good make use of them. The same goes for quad cores. A fast duo core (e.g. 3.2GHZ) is preferable over a slower quad (e.g. 2.5GHZ) - at least for now. You have to run things an awful lot of times in parallel to notice a difference.

Instead of "there are no programs that good make use of them", I'd say that there are few games that make good use of them. There are applications that can exploit many threads simultaneously. Most reviews of 6 core CPUs will include them. Example:

AMD's Six-Core Phenom II X6 1090T & 1055T Reviewed - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

True.
But, even with a CPU intensive, Multi-Threaded application (like the x264 Video Encoder)


Another Benchmark shows:
The x6 Phenom still looses to a Core i7 930 at its stock 2.8.
OCd to 3.8 it just ties with it.

We are just now starting to see a few Games that are Quad threaded. I do not think 6 threads will be anytime soon.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Oh i see.
Hey this is kindof off topic but i dont wanna make a new thread so, in the task manger it says iTunes.exe*32, does that mean its 32bit version of itunes?

 

[profdlp]

Oh i see.
Hey this is kindof off topic but i dont wanna make a new thread so, in the task manger it says iTunes.exe*32, does that mean its 32bit version of itunes?

Exactly.

If you look on your C: drive you'll also see two Program Files folders. The one with (x86) at the end contains the 32-Bit programs.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Oh i see.
Hey this is kindof off topic but i dont wanna make a new thread so, in the task manger it says iTunes.exe*32, does that mean its 32bit version of itunes?

Exactly.

If you look on your C: drive you'll also see two Program Files folders. The one with (x86) at the end contains the 32-Bit programs.

Whoa,
Your right again! There is a folder (x86)
LOL

 

[smarteyeball]

Whoa,
Your right again! There is a folder (x86)
LOL

By default, most non-native x64 applications (ones that run on both x32/x64) will be found here, so if you lose track of an applications main folder, you'll know where to look

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Whoa,
Your right again! There is a folder (x86)
LOL

By default, most non-native x64 applications (ones that run on both x32/x64) will be found here, so if you lose track of an applications main folder, you'll know where to look

Lol, Makes sence now