dual core processors?

Question

when a processor is dual core (for example dual core 3.40 Ghz) does that mean that it can run at twice the clock speed?

Answer 1

a dual core processor is a cpu that has 2 processing cores (the actual cpus) in one package (the whole cpu assembly) Both cores will run at 3.4ghz (your example) not at 1.7 like one poster stated that is totally false. The AMD Athlon X2's some Opterons and the Intel Pentium D and Core Duo's are dual core cpu's. I also recommend AMD and Intel's websites they explain it pretty well for everyone to understand.

Answer 2

Dual core processors basically means it has two processors in one. For your 3.4 ghz one it would consist of two 1.7 ghz processors. This way, if a program does not need all of the processor's power to function, the load can be run with one processor while the other processor can run some other program. Dual core processors are mainly meant for people who do a lot of multi-tasking with many different programs. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

A multi-core microprocessor is one which combines two or more independent processors into a single package, often a single integrated circuit (IC). A dual-core device contains only two independent microprocessors. In general, multi-core microprocessors allow a computing device to exhibit some form of thread-level parallelism (TLP) without including multiple microprocessors in separate physical packages. This form of TLP is often known as chip-level multiprocessing, or CMP.

There is some discrepancy in the semantics by which the terms "multi-core" and "dual-core" are defined. Most commonly they are used to refer to some sort of central processing unit (CPU), but are sometimes also applied to DSPs and SoCs. Additionally, some use these terms only refer to multi-core microprocessors that are manufactured on the same integrated circuit die. These persons generally prefer to refer to separate microprocessor dies in the same package by another name, such as "multi-chip module", "double core", or even "twin core". This article uses both the terms "multi-core" and "dual-core" to reference microelectronic CPUs manufactured on the same integrated circuit, unless otherwise noted...

Answer 4

Not necessarily. This stuff is kinda hard to explain, check with intel, they have videos that'll explain this type of stuff.

Answer 5

it basicly means that it has 2x the proccessing power

Answer 6

As some of the answers state, you can further research the
information at AMD.com and INTEL.com, on the benefits.
I read a great deal of info on Computer Hardware, and
most benchmark tests running both raw number crunchers and
"real" programs, showed only an improvement of about 15%
with the use of dual cores.
The problem is that the software PROGRAMs have to be
specifically written from scratch to USE the full potential of
the dual cores, and so far, very few programs have been
totally re-written for this purpose.
There is a "brick wall" of speed ( raw GigaHertz ) at the moment,
and to kick out more power, manufacturers are using larger
cache, and " Dual" cores, and motherboards with 2 or 4 entire
CPU's, sometimes with 2 or 4 DUAL core CPU's all with larger
CACHE, to increase the total computing power of the
computer. This is very costly, and only high-end power users
can afford it. Rumours of single atom chip traces, replacement of
silver and gold with platinum and iridium, and other experimental
techniques will break the speed barrier, and then the " old"
single CPU chips will come back, and the price will drop.

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The manufacturers hit a brick wall in the voltages and SIZE of the chips. If you will remember, the
first Pentium chips were about 5.00 volts, then they started dropping to 3.52, into the 2 volt range, and now into the 1 volt
range. It takes TIME, even at the speed of light to get a wire or transistor from Zero ( Ground) ( which can be thought of as a ZERO
bit ), up to the working voltage, say 1.8 Volts. This lag is just to
fill the wire ( In a CPU it would P channel or N channel doped
silicon material ) full of electrons, or to drain a conductor of all electrons. By lowering the PEAK voltage, one can speed up the
process. Think of it as climbing a 45 degree hill. If you climb a 5
Unit hill, it takes twice as long as it would to climb a 2.5 unit hill.

The second factor is the size of the wiring and traces and transistors in the CPU. Technology has come a LONG way from the first integrated circuits, which would only have a few thousand transistors. The first CPU was generally called the
2002, a 2-bit processor for calculators from Intel. It had roughly 2000 transistors. I have a photograph of a celebration at Intel the day when they hit the "profit" ratio for manufactured chips that passed inspection - 10%. Then came the 4004 ( four bit with roughly 4000 transistors. ) then the 8008, the 8080, the 8086, then the
infamous 8088 used on the first IBM PC. The transistor count has gone up, as you pointed out from 8 bits, to 16, to 32, to 64, BIT, CPUs with many Millions of transistors. If you remember the
SLOT 1, or 'chocolate bar chip" that was common a few years ago, this is an example of manufacturers trying to get millions of
transistors and CACHE as close together as possible without
making a 6 inch square CPU. The Slot 1 assembly had typically 6 chips on it, using the standard chip "size" and voltage of the day, and had very powerful use of the L1 and L2 cache.
But, -- the SIZE of the traces has reached a manufacturing limit using "standard" techniques. Now you get "Dual Core" CPUs,
and the CACHE ( L1 and L2 --level 1 and Level 2 ) is reaching 2
Megabytes, in order to speed up the CPU's output, since the
speed, and size has maxed. I have read of new experimental techiniques with single ATOM channels for CPUs, and other
techniques to make the size of the parts smaller. The other practical limit, that you should easily guess, is the HUGE power requirements of the new CPU's, since the average first PC might have a 100 Watt power supply, and now 600 Watt supplies are common. This power as to "go" somewhere, and it generates tremendous heat in CPU and must be cooled, or the traces and
layers will break down. Finding ways to get rid of this heat is a major concern. One guy in Antarctica was able to overclock his 800 MegaHertz CPU into the 2000 MHz range, but, not eveyone can keep their computer at Minus 72 degrees.
As someone pointed out in an answer above, CPU "clock frequency" is not the entire factor in "speed", and better written Cache programming, more cache memory, better design,
and even more efficient software will make a computer faster as well.
A while ago, computer designers discovered Russian computer experts, who, lacking the resources of Silicon Valley, had designs and computer algorithms which did twice the work of the rather bloated "standard" programming of North America. By using
better designs, and clever programming, with LESS code, the
CPU's are now doing much more work than before.
Cache plays a BIG part in the new chips, and has rapidly increased from 125 K, to 256K to 512, to 1 Meg to 2 MEGs,
and is described in a previous answer below :

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Cache is memory, just like any other memory on your computer.
The difference between RAM ( random access memory) and cache
memory, is the location and speed, and how it is used.

It was discovered that by PREDICTING what memory locations
" Were GOING to be used ", the computer could speed up the
the process of reading the next set of memory locations,
by having a "predictor" program load the memory into VERY
fast memory, close to, or inside the CPU ( Central Processing UNIT ie the Pentium chip ). There are different levels of Cache RAM, usually called L1, L2, L3 etc. with
L1 Cache being built right on the chip itself, or on chips
built onto the CPU chip module at the factory. L2 Cache ram
is usually added in slots very close to where the CPU ( Pentium), is located on the motherboard. Believe it or not,
the computer chips run so fast, that electricity, moving at the speed of light, takes TIME, to travel across the circuitboard, so that the L1 cache is in the heart of the CPU, and the L2 add on cache is as close as possible to the
core to speed up the transfere.
In early Pentium ( and AMD, Cyrix, IBM, etc. clones,) the
L1 cache was controlled by what can be considered an entire computer WITHIN the CPU. This "computer" had a program, with
its own ram, and rom, and it was pre-programmed at the factory. Its job, was to watch what the (big) computer was doing, and predict, what the computer was going to do NEXT. For example, if you were running a program that used program lines 345, 346, 347, 348, then it would predict that you
would use lines 349, 350, 351, 352, etc, and load them from the " SLOW" ram cards in the ram slots, into the blazing fast Cache ram, right inside the CPU itself, where the
CPU could access it immediately. There are different kinds of cache ram within the "Cache" " Predictor" program, such
as TAG ram, Dirty ram, etc. which are used to keep track of what ram is loaded, used, and changed, by the running software that the CPU is currently using. Tag ram would keep a list of the ram locations that were loaded into the L1
cache, and the Dirty ram, would keep track of which L1 cache
locations had CHANGES made - when the "predictor" program
decided that NEW locations of slow RAM were going to be used, it had to put back the old RAM locations' memory contents. It Could ignore memory values that WERE NOT CHANGED ( saving time otherwise spent writing the information BACK to the slow RAM ), but would have to write
back any CHANGED ram back to the slow ram (marked dirty).
AMD invented very clever and powerful "predictor" programs in some of its early chips, and this made such a dramatic difference that it out-performed the much more expensive Pentium chips. The "predictor" computer program component is now extremely important in achiving faster speeds. CPUs typically have 64k ( K is one thousand (( 1024 bits) ), 128 K, 256K, or 512K of cache built in, and many motherboards can have slots near the CPU that the user can add more
L2 cache ram, for use by the predictor CPU program section.
Cache ram is typically much faster, but much more expensive to construct in the factory, so that chips with more cache are usually a lot more expensive. Since CPU speeds are reaching a limit for the moment, the manufacturers are increasing the L1 CACHE to 1 or more MEGA BYTES, on the high end chips.
SOOooooo... cache is not "just" fast memory. It is a program, inside the CPU, running constantly to predict what memory is "going" to be used. This program goes out to the slow ram, and grabs the memory contents, and loads it into
L1 cache BEFORE the computer asks for it, to speed up memory transfere. If the predictor is correct in GUESSING the next memory locations, the entire computer speeds up greatly....


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There is a GREAT deal of confusion and controversy over the
SPEED of Intel and AMD processors, and with the DUAL cores,
and speed benchmarks show that the actual OUTPUT of
programs, games, and number crunching, has little to do with
the GigaHertz, listed speed of the processor, and that comparing
an AMD CPU speed to an Intel CPU speed, is irrelevant.
A slower, AMD, listed CPU GigaHertz speed, SINGLE CPU,
may outperform a higher, CPU listed speed, DUAL core AMD,
in a specific tested application, such as gaming.
You really have to look at the comparisons of testing reviews
in Computer papers, websites, etc. to keep up with all the
data... ! The programming of the cache predictor, the programming of the CPU internal operating system, and the
programming of software packages can make huge differences.
After watching changes in computers since 1978, I will boldly
predict that the current Brick Wall in CPU speed wil dissappear.


Hope this helps...

robin