Dual Core

[Toxcity]

Hiya guys... confuzzeling question.

If I had a dual core 2.0ghz chip. Would it be technically 4ghz?

Or is it just 2.0ghz with 2 threads?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ham]

Both cores run at 2ghz. They are treated as seperate CPUs by the os, so the overall speed isnt 4ghz.

 

[Toxcity]

Cool, then why arn't we getting any 4ghz chips?

Have they figured that dual coring 2.0ghz is more power efficient and has better performance then 4ghz?

 

[Ham]

Because to run at 4ghz these chips have to be phase cooled.

 

[Toxcity]

Because to run at 4ghz these chips have to be phase cooled.

So, 2.0Ghz dual core is faster than 4ghz chip?

Thanks for answering so dar Hammy!

 

[FarFarAway]

So, 2.0Ghz dual core is faster than 4ghz chip?

Thanks for answering so dar Hammy!

No that's not correct. Not for everything anyway. Dual core is better as it gives the OS more resource to use at once, but a fast single core will do a single threaded task very quickly

 

[Toxcity]

No that's not correct. Not for everything anyway. Dual core is better as it gives the OS more resource to use at once, but a fast single core will do a single threaded task very quickly

Thanks for building on it Kempez!

 

[BUFF]

So, 2.0Ghz dual core is faster than 4ghz chip?

Thanks for answering so dar Hammy!

it also depends on the architecture - the Intel "Netburst" CPUs run higher clockspeeds but are soundly thrashed by the "slower" Core 2 Duos due to them having a more efficient architecture - same reason that AMD64s are quicker than P4s clock for clock.

 

[jackvdbuk]

thats why single high clock cores are better are games than dual core, but core2duo owns the market so it dont matter now anyways

 

[Toxcity]

Most games now are taking advantage of the second core now.

 

[FragTek]

it also depends on the architecture - the Intel "Netburst" CPUs run higher clockspeeds but are soundly thrashed by the "slower" Core 2 Duos due to them having a more efficient architecture - same reason that AMD64s are quicker than P4s clock for clock.

Exactly. I can't remember the exact numbers but for example AMD K8's execute 9 operations / clock cycle where the P4's only execute something like 6 operations / clock cycle.

The Core 2's do something like 12 operations / clock cycle if I'm not mistaken. Whatever it is, it's very very efficient.