Still looking for information. Dual core vs. Dual processor?

Question

I am thinking of building a new computer. Can anyone explain the differences, pros and cons of dual core vs. dual processor?

Right now I am leaning to a Tyan S2875ANRF Dual Socket 940 main board with 2 gig of ram and twin 2.2 GHz AMD Opteron 248 SledgeHammer processors.

whats the difference going with this configuration vs say a 3.7 GHz Dual core?

Answer 1

I have built many single chip computers with Tyan boards, they are great. That is a good choice.

But the APPLICATION is what should drive your thinking. Reviews and benchmark tests can only give you a good guess. If you change anything in either configuration, all bets are off. There are important things to consider, like "avoid water cooling" and such.

You will have an awsome rig. I would love it if you ran some BOINC and posted your configuration and BOINC benchmark tests at my Yahoo Group.

Answer 2

For the sake of this answer, lets call
dual core: 2 chips in 1 package
dual processor: 2 packages with a single core in each.

The opteron multi processor boards usually have ram dedicated to each processor package, they can share this using the hypertransport bus.
If you use dual core though, you will normally restrict 2 cores to be using the same block of memory (the plus side is that the L2 cache sahring, also via hypertransport, will be faster between those 2 coes)

So, dual core vs dual processor:
dual core can fit 2 processors in the same socket, yo would need dual socket for single core solution
dual core will have faster L2 cache sharing
dual core cannot use separate bus for ram access for each core, dual processor can
dual core will have serious thermal issues compared to dual proc

Answer 3

they're basically the same thing. intel's dual core basically uses smaller transistors to fit the speed of two processors on one chip. i haven't heard much as to how they handle a work load. i have a dual processor and i love it because i rarely end up taxing the entire system.
i think the dual cores still operate like a single processor in that an entire workload is placed on the one chip. but in an actual dual processor the workload is spread evenly to both chips. e.g., you have a process that takes 50% of your chip's capacity. the dual core would be sapped to 50%. but the dual processor would be at 25% per chip. from everything i've been told the dual processors are a little more effective at distributing the load and don't bog down the computer as much during processor heavy workloads.
it also depends on what you're doing. you may not need the little extra boost from a dual processor. but i think the dual 2.2ghzw/ 2ghz ram would be plenty.

Answer 4

twin midsection processors are if truth be told 2 processors equipped into one. very very like the hyper threading tech except there you had a processor and a digital processor. If i'm not incorrect XP domicile could not have a difficulty operating on a twin midsection processor. it ought to employ both cores considering the fact that it is equipped into the scheduling procedure. once you've diverse jobs operating it is going to employ both cores and do the jobs plenty swifter.

Answer 5

I think dual core processors are relatively new technology than that of dual processor motherboards.
So dual core is a superior technology. You can opt for it if you can get the supporting hardware, motherboard etc. for it.

Answer 6

Dual core is newer technology and it is better. Dual core chips run cooler and use less electricity. More and more applications are being written to take advantage of dual core architecture.

Having a dual core pc will allow you to take advantage of new apps and soon almost all PC's are going to be dual core not dual processor.

Answer 7

dual core and dual processor is exactly the same thing
nothing is different besides maybe an unnoticable up in performance.
i might go with the dual CPU because u get twice as much cache and others in a CPU u can't get with just having 2 dye

Answer 8

Dual core and Dual processor are basically the same.sc

Answer 9

dual processor is wrong word
actaul technical word is dual core
it mean processor chip has two cores
each core has one processor on it

Answer 10

Take a look here:

http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=23