Is dual-core a con or are dual-processor PCs the real thing ?

Question

Have you noticed that processor speeds used to increase with time.... 1GHz then came the 1.8 GHz then 2.0 then 2.4 and then the 3.4 and they seem to have stopped at 3.2 GHz speed. Now we go in to DUAL-CORE processors... the only thing is that these dual-core things are back to 1.8 GHz ! Or... "DUAL-CORE 1.8 GHz" -- Can anyone explain please what is happening ?! Why haven't processors continue to rise in speed instead of what appears to be a con alternative ?

Of all the questions I have asked here at Yahoo Answers, this has to be the most helpful answer I have ever received. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for the expert information and interest you have given me. Thank you all very much

Once again, thank you all for the expert but very clear explanations. Brilliant help. I am defenitely going for dual processor PCs.... one for me and another for my daughter (if I don't do this I will never have a chance at the family PC... she has declared any family PC her private property... lololol) Thanks again.

I am not qualified enough to declare the 'BEST' answer. So I will put it to the vote. You guys decide and thanks again.

Answer 1

Because before, The way it was going was Intel was just pushing more power into a processor. A bigger engine brings more horsepower. Nowadays, they are changing the architecture of the processor which makes the processor smaller, produce less heat, and is able to push the same amount of power through it. Smaller engine, same amount of horsepower. Dual cores to think of it the easy way is 2 processors in one. They work together to make things load faster. Because of technology, they are able to make smaller computers, lighter laptops, run much cooler, and more powerful with less energy used than before.

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

Yes, they are real. The problem is the faster a CPU gets, the more heat it generates. We could have 5.0GHz chip easy if we all could afford liquid nitrogen cooling units. The chip manufacturers have found a way around the whole heat thing by breaking the processors into two separate CPU's in one chip. This way they operate at a lower rate but you still get the benefit of higher combined processing speeds. So when you see a dual core 1.8Ghz chip, it means it's approximately the same as a 3.6GHz (1.8 x 2) chip. If you look in your system hardware properties, it actually shows 2 CPU's. The computer see's them as two separate chips. Servers have actually been running with multiple processors for years. That technology has just finally leaked down into home computers. Lately though, even quad core processors are coming out. Meaning the computer uses 4 processors under the hood of your PC. Now that's fast!

Answer 4

It's not a con. If you have a dual-core cpu, you should go to Device Manager and look at Processor. You will see that there are two cpu's listed.
Processor speeds seemed to stall out somewhere between 3 and 4 gig because of the heat factor. Going to dual-core and quad-core is a way to get around the heat issue and still get improved performance.

Answer 5

I'm pretty sure that when they say that the dual core has a speed of 1.8 GHz, that's how fast each "core" clocks in at. So the speed stays relative to the latest technology, with the added advantage of two different processors being able to compute and operate the PC. In essence, it's like a computer with better multitasking abilities, so it's not really a con alternative, but an adaption to current technology. Soon, Intel is going to release quad-core processors that will be the new standard in a few years.

Answer 6

this is a excellent question,and with a simple answer,to create faster processors you need power and with power comes heat and thees the answer "heat"
the higher the clock speed the greater the heat produced,for example the pentium 4 c.p.u,s are in my opinion the fastest single core procesors ever made,thers some p.c,s avalible with pentium 4 c.p.u,s overclocked to 4.0ghz using water cooling,as this is the only way to run a processor at 4.0ghz as the heat produced is extremely hot
dual core s.p.u,s are now the way to go,they run faster than single core chips but at a lower voltage,thus creating alot less heat,for example the intel core 2 duo runs at speeds of 2.6ghz(x2 equating to a speed of 5.2ghz)but runs at 60v compared to the pentium 4 3.2ghz that runs at 95v a massive 35v difference
and with the quad core processors coming through who knows whats next
word has it that graphics cards will soon be a thing of the past,as with so many cores on a processor ,then graphics calculations can be done on two cores leaving two cores free for other parts of computing,this was the way graphics were originally calculated before manufacturers like nvidia created the geforce 256,back in the late 90,s
as more and more software developers take advantage of dual core technology then more software will come out and we can take full advantage of this amazing technology
good luck mate!

Answer 7

intel has already release quad-cores
they are the Core2Quad and Extreme lines
but when AMD releases their quad cores, you can put them in teh dual-socket1207 and have an ocht-core system
thats why i like AMD
they think about other ways to get things done
they also release tings "when they are done", like id does (Doom, anybody?)
the reason speeds dropped with teh release of dual cores is that they are trying to stuff 2 processors into the same space as 1 old processor
to do that, they had to scale back the speed, but gave multi-tasking in its place
and they are back to the old speed standard now
AMD has Athlon FXs at 3GHz, and Intel has Quads at 2.9GHz

Answer 8

dual core is very good, instead of one processor there are 2, normally both a below 2.6, dual core is better than 1 processor & the lack of speed in the processor is made up in the efficency of the dual core, being able to do more work that just one core, all in all, your comouter should work better

Answer 9

The speed is absolutely apparent in the dual cores and you don't need faster when you have more sharing the work load. Imagine two people organizing a room rather than just one.

Answer 10

The CPU is a memory chip.Maybe somebody has a dual core flash program for it.