To many people, a computer is a magical box. By pressing a few buttons and properly manipulating a vaguely rodent-shaped piece of plastic, it can become a tool to create literary and visual works of art, act as a means of instant communication between people on opposite sides of the planet, function as an organizer for our personal and professional lives, and deliver countless hours of entertainment.
But how in the world does it do all that? One of the most important pieces of hardware responsible for these marvelous technological feats is the central processing unit, also known as a processor or CPU. Essentially a brain, the CPU plays a role in every program that your computer runs, from operating systems and antivirus software to word processors and movie players. In general, the quicker it cycles tasks (in other words, the faster it thinks), the better your machine will perform.
It used to be that when a person went shopping for a computer, he or she would choose the one with the highest CPU clock speed - or frequency - which is typically represented in megahertz or gigahertz. (The clock speeds of most CPUs today are in the range of 2GHz to 3GHz.).
That’s no longer the case. While speed remains an important factor—the faster the processor, the more operations it can perform in a given period of time, thereby improving a machine’s performance — a more important issue to consider these days is how many processors your PC has.
Two brains are better than one (and four are better than two)
Much like a human brain, a processor isn’t very good at doing two things at once. Rather, it quickly switches from performing the calculations required of one task to performing the calculations required of another—so quickly, that usually, we can’t tell at any given time that it’s temporarily neglecting one program for another.
However, when several complex programs are running concurrently—like, say, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe PhotoShop—we often start to notice each application begin to work less efficiently. If your CPU was a human brain, it would be like trying to drive, talk on a cell phone, and apply makeup at the same time. In other words, a crash may not be far off.
The industry’s answer to this problem? Add more brains. Two processors—or even four—allow multiple resource-hungry programs to run at the same time with virtually no impact on system performance, since each program has its own brain to look after it.
What’s more, some programs are now being designed specifically for multiple processor machines by distributing complicated operations to different processors. A video game, for example, might assign one processor to look after the complex calculations necessary to render a world full of realistic models and textures, while handing over special effects like lighting and smoke to another.
CPUs composed of two processors are typically called dual-core, and they’re swiftly becoming the norm for both laptops and desktop PCs. According to respected, independent publications (including PC Magazine and ZDNET.com), the current leader in multi-core performance is Intel.
Intel’s current generation of processors - known as the Core 2 family - includes both dual-core and quad-core (four processor) CPUs. Their line is divided in two groups: one for desktops and another for notebooks. Subcategories in each group are based on specific user needs. (Intel Core 2 Extreme CPUs, for example, boast unparalleled dual- and quad-core performance for professional 3D applications and video games.) The most practical and cost-efficient choice for average users is a standard dual-core, or Intel Core 2 Duo, processor. Four practical reasons why you want a multi-core CPU
Enough tech talk. Here are some concrete ways in which multi-core machines improve your computing experience.
You use your PC as a media centre. It’s your preferred platform for playing DVDs, watching television, viewing photos, and playing back home movies. Try doing more than one of these things at the same time on a single-core machine, and you’ll likely notice a drop in performance, resulting in skipped frames and slower-than-normal operation. You might reasonably ask why you’d ever want to exploit more than one kind of media at once. The obvious answer is we all get a little lazy sometimes and forget to close windows and programs. But here’s a stronger example: suppose you want to record a television show (or perhaps even two at once) while watching a movie on DVD. Most single-core systems would struggle to perform such a feat without a noticeable impact on system performance, but a multiple-core system can do it without so much as a stutter. You’re a bastion of vigilance when it comes to PC safety, running the latest anti-phishing, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software at all times. These programs—not to mention a host of other maintenance applications that often come pre-installed on new PCs—eat up processing power and can negatively impact system speed. Their presence on dual- and quad-core systems, on the other hand, is typically all but unnoticed. You’re in the market for a laptop. Intel’s Core 2 family of chips for notebooks are amazingly energy efficient. They deliver a 40 percent reduction in energy used (compared to the previous generation Pentium 4 processors) while boasting a 40 percent boost in overall performance. This means improved multi-tasking capabilities coupled with longer battery life. Laptops used to get little more than 2.5 hours of operating time off of a single charge, but newer models with Intel’s Core 2 CPUs have been known to last as long as 4.5 to 5 hours under ideal operating conditions. The final reason we’ll mention here is futureproofing. Everyone is afraid that their new PC will become completely outdated in a year or two, and that fear may well be realized if said PC is a single-core system. Many software vendors are revamping old programs and creating new ones designed to work best on machines with multiple processors. An obvious example is Windows Vista, an operating system which (though compatible with single-core systems) runs much better on a dual-core PC capable of juggling Vista’s processor demands with those of other applications, with little impact on performance. A revolution in the way we compute
The goal of your average computer shopper is simple: to purchase a PC that will meet his or her needs for a minimum of three years. As of 2007, one of the conditions of that objective is ensuring your new computer has a multi-core CPU. Put another way, multi-core machines represent a huge leap forward in the evolution of the PC, delivering a clearly evident boost in performance while significantly reducing energy consumed.
Indeed, the dual-core’s mono-brained ancestors will soon take their place beside floppy disks and monochrome monitors in the annals of computer history. TAKE 5
Important things to consider...1) Compare the model numbers of the processors in the computers. Within a brand, a higher model number generally means better performance. 2) If you’re buying a notebook, ask the sales associate how long the manufacturer claims a standard 8-cell battery will last on a single charge. Battery life usually correlates with the CPU type—expect higher battery ratings in dual-core machines.
3) If you’re buying a desktop, ask about CPU upgradability. Upgrading to a newer generation dual-core or quad-core CPU could require a significant investment in hardware.
4) If you ask a sales clerk how many processors a computer has, he or she might not immediately understand what you’re asking. To steer clear of raised eyebrows (and avoid giving away the fact that you might not be a PC expert), just ask if the machine has a dual-core CPU. (Multi-core processors come packaged as a single unit called a CPU.)
5) If you’re comparing differing brands of multi-core CPUs, look at hard specs to compare performance: clock speed, bus speed, and cache size. As usual, higher is always better.
But how in the world does it do all that? One of the most important pieces of hardware responsible for these marvelous technological feats is the central processing unit, also known as a processor or CPU. Essentially a brain, the CPU plays a role in every program that your computer runs, from operating systems and antivirus software to word processors and movie players. In general, the quicker it cycles tasks (in other words, the faster it thinks), the better your machine will perform.
It used to be that when a person went shopping for a computer, he or she would choose the one with the highest CPU clock speed - or frequency - which is typically represented in megahertz or gigahertz. (The clock speeds of most CPUs today are in the range of 2GHz to 3GHz.).
That’s no longer the case. While speed remains an important factor—the faster the processor, the more operations it can perform in a given period of time, thereby improving a machine’s performance — a more important issue to consider these days is how many processors your PC has.
Two brains are better than one (and four are better than two)
Much like a human brain, a processor isn’t very good at doing two things at once. Rather, it quickly switches from performing the calculations required of one task to performing the calculations required of another—so quickly, that usually, we can’t tell at any given time that it’s temporarily neglecting one program for another.
However, when several complex programs are running concurrently—like, say, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe PhotoShop—we often start to notice each application begin to work less efficiently. If your CPU was a human brain, it would be like trying to drive, talk on a cell phone, and apply makeup at the same time. In other words, a crash may not be far off.
The industry’s answer to this problem? Add more brains. Two processors—or even four—allow multiple resource-hungry programs to run at the same time with virtually no impact on system performance, since each program has its own brain to look after it.
What’s more, some programs are now being designed specifically for multiple processor machines by distributing complicated operations to different processors. A video game, for example, might assign one processor to look after the complex calculations necessary to render a world full of realistic models and textures, while handing over special effects like lighting and smoke to another.
CPUs composed of two processors are typically called dual-core, and they’re swiftly becoming the norm for both laptops and desktop PCs. According to respected, independent publications (including PC Magazine and ZDNET.com), the current leader in multi-core performance is Intel.
Intel’s current generation of processors - known as the Core 2 family - includes both dual-core and quad-core (four processor) CPUs. Their line is divided in two groups: one for desktops and another for notebooks. Subcategories in each group are based on specific user needs. (Intel Core 2 Extreme CPUs, for example, boast unparalleled dual- and quad-core performance for professional 3D applications and video games.) The most practical and cost-efficient choice for average users is a standard dual-core, or Intel Core 2 Duo, processor. Four practical reasons why you want a multi-core CPU
Enough tech talk. Here are some concrete ways in which multi-core machines improve your computing experience.
You use your PC as a media centre. It’s your preferred platform for playing DVDs, watching television, viewing photos, and playing back home movies. Try doing more than one of these things at the same time on a single-core machine, and you’ll likely notice a drop in performance, resulting in skipped frames and slower-than-normal operation. You might reasonably ask why you’d ever want to exploit more than one kind of media at once. The obvious answer is we all get a little lazy sometimes and forget to close windows and programs. But here’s a stronger example: suppose you want to record a television show (or perhaps even two at once) while watching a movie on DVD. Most single-core systems would struggle to perform such a feat without a noticeable impact on system performance, but a multiple-core system can do it without so much as a stutter. You’re a bastion of vigilance when it comes to PC safety, running the latest anti-phishing, anti-spyware, and anti-virus software at all times. These programs—not to mention a host of other maintenance applications that often come pre-installed on new PCs—eat up processing power and can negatively impact system speed. Their presence on dual- and quad-core systems, on the other hand, is typically all but unnoticed. You’re in the market for a laptop. Intel’s Core 2 family of chips for notebooks are amazingly energy efficient. They deliver a 40 percent reduction in energy used (compared to the previous generation Pentium 4 processors) while boasting a 40 percent boost in overall performance. This means improved multi-tasking capabilities coupled with longer battery life. Laptops used to get little more than 2.5 hours of operating time off of a single charge, but newer models with Intel’s Core 2 CPUs have been known to last as long as 4.5 to 5 hours under ideal operating conditions. The final reason we’ll mention here is futureproofing. Everyone is afraid that their new PC will become completely outdated in a year or two, and that fear may well be realized if said PC is a single-core system. Many software vendors are revamping old programs and creating new ones designed to work best on machines with multiple processors. An obvious example is Windows Vista, an operating system which (though compatible with single-core systems) runs much better on a dual-core PC capable of juggling Vista’s processor demands with those of other applications, with little impact on performance. A revolution in the way we compute
The goal of your average computer shopper is simple: to purchase a PC that will meet his or her needs for a minimum of three years. As of 2007, one of the conditions of that objective is ensuring your new computer has a multi-core CPU. Put another way, multi-core machines represent a huge leap forward in the evolution of the PC, delivering a clearly evident boost in performance while significantly reducing energy consumed.
Indeed, the dual-core’s mono-brained ancestors will soon take their place beside floppy disks and monochrome monitors in the annals of computer history. TAKE 5
Important things to consider...1) Compare the model numbers of the processors in the computers. Within a brand, a higher model number generally means better performance. 2) If you’re buying a notebook, ask the sales associate how long the manufacturer claims a standard 8-cell battery will last on a single charge. Battery life usually correlates with the CPU type—expect higher battery ratings in dual-core machines.
3) If you’re buying a desktop, ask about CPU upgradability. Upgrading to a newer generation dual-core or quad-core CPU could require a significant investment in hardware.
4) If you ask a sales clerk how many processors a computer has, he or she might not immediately understand what you’re asking. To steer clear of raised eyebrows (and avoid giving away the fact that you might not be a PC expert), just ask if the machine has a dual-core CPU. (Multi-core processors come packaged as a single unit called a CPU.)
5) If you’re comparing differing brands of multi-core CPUs, look at hard specs to compare performance: clock speed, bus speed, and cache size. As usual, higher is always better.
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