Are dual processors worth it?

[mrtruesdale]

I have an AMD Athlon 64 3200 processor on a K8V-X board that is 754 PIN. I was thinking of moving onto a 939 PIN MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum with the AMD Athlon X2 4200 chip.

I would be interested to know will it be worth the investment? I mainly use my PC for adobe premier and video editing, is it worth my time and money to upgrade?

Cheers in advance.

mrtruesdale

 

[MetalX]

If you plan to multitask, it is DEFINATELY worth it. Dual-core processors wipe the floor with single cores when it comes to multitasking because well... it's like having 2 seperate processors running different things.

 

[agi_shi]

Please note that the future is moving into multi-threaded applications. As more and more applications start to make use of the two cores (or, 4, which are coming up ) it will be practical to use a dual [or quad] core processor.

 

[korrupt]

I was wondering the same thing... What happens when you use applications that do not have dual core support? I assume they will run using one core, but does that mean in single core applications, say a pentium D 3.2ghz will outperform say a e6300 core 2 duo? This is all I am worried about because at this stage I only have single core applications...

If you want a dual core, I suggest going for the intel core 2 duo e6300 rather than the 4200+ because they are both similarily priced and at this stage absolutely wipes the floor with most AMD procesors. That is of course, if you wanna change your motherboard too.

Regards,

Korrupt

 

[blue_dragon]

If you want a dual core, I suggest going for the intel core 2 duo e6300 rather than the 4200+ because they are both similarily priced and at this stage absolutely wipes the floor with most AMD procesors. That is of course, if you wanna change your motherboard too.

Regards,

Korrupt

yes thats is true but I dont know if you are willing to buy new ram also as socket 754 is ddr while conroe's socket is ddr2

 

[CrossFire851]

He already know that he will need a new board, the thing is he will have to upgrade to a pin 939 and that will allow him to use his current ram.

The future is multi-core, I will won't recommened at this point on buying a single core CPU as it will soon be out dated. Sure multi-cores hardly have any native support to Effienctly use both cores (yes 32-bit software can use more then one cpu just not enough for anything dromatic 5% yeild). Yes Core2 Duo is allought better then the amd, but that also comes with the cost of haveing to buy new ram.

You don't seem like you need to much power under the hood. So go with the AMD

Cheers

 

[Didou]

mrtruesdale, video & image editing are very multi-threaded & will benefit a lot from using a dual-core CPU.

korrupt, when not using multi-threaded code today's dual-core CPUs will still mop the floor with any Pentium-D.

CrossFire851, dual-core CPUs do not need 64-bit to show their potential. As long as the code is multi-threaded, they will show tremendous gains.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Absolutely. Even games like Call of Duty 2 are starting to take advantage of dual-core processors nowadays.

 

[mrtruesdale]

Thanks very much for the info everyone, I reckon I'll give the dual core a shot. I'm going to stick with the 939 so I can keep my RAM, but I like AMD and I've heard good things about the X2 4200's.

Cheers again,

mrtruesdale

 

[CrossFire851]

mrtruesdale, video & image editing are very multi-threaded & will benefit a lot from using a dual-core CPU.

korrupt, when not using multi-threaded code today's dual-core CPUs will still mop the floor with any Pentium-D.

CrossFire851, dual-core CPUs do not need 64-bit to show their potential. As long as the code is multi-threaded, they will show tremendous gains.

What I had ment that you only get a 5% gain with duel-core unless it is multi-threaded.

 

[Didou]

If it's not multi-threaded & both CPUs run at the same speed, have the same cache & same memory, you get no gain at all.

 

[Patosan]

Hi guys, a newbie here,

I heard that the duals can show their benefit even with single threaded apps when several apps were active simultaneously, though I think they said I'd need a 2 chanel system ... not sure exactly what that means.

Actually that's why I logged on ... to fund info on 2 chanel systems.
Anyone have a clue what I'm on about ?

 

[Didou]

Maybe they meant a system with dual-channel memory. As far as I can tell there are no single-channel motherboards that support dual-core CPUs anyways.

 

[Patosan]

OK guys so how does a dual-channel memory (Core 2 Dual) system work when all the apps are single threaded ?
Since most apps at the moment aren't multi-threaded this applies to majority of users ... perhaps.
Do both processors do exactly the same work, or does one only work ?
If they are both doing something ... what is it ?
Is there some central device controlling their operation ?

 

[Face of LA]

I was wondering the same thing... What happens when you use applications that do not have dual core support? I assume they will run using one core, but does that mean in single core applications, say a pentium D 3.2ghz will outperform say a e6300 core 2 duo? This is all I am worried about because at this stage I only have single core applications...

If you want a dual core, I suggest going for the intel core 2 duo e6300 rather than the 4200+ because they are both similarily priced and at this stage absolutely wipes the floor with most AMD procesors. That is of course, if you wanna change your motherboard too.

Regards,

Korrupt

Word,Go With the Core 2 Duo if u want get in the Multi core bizz

Alex~

 

[korrupt]

I just built my core 2 duo system and IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

I have never in my life used, let alone owned, such an incredibly fast system!

Regards,

Korrupt

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Each running thread is handled by one core, assuming there are two threads running. Like for example, u can encode a movie, while at the same time watching another encoded in DIVX. So one processor handles the decoding while the other handles the encoding.
And as for

Is there some central device controlling their operation ?

, I think they're both processors so what could be controlling a processor other than the Almighty himself?(or ur electrician ) But seriously, I have no idea about it. Does anyone else know?

 

[Patosan]

Each running thread is handled by one core, assuming there are two threads running.

If by that you mean different apps can be run by different cores (processors) then there must indeed be a significant performance over non-core systems, even if the apps are not multi-threaded. This is my (simple) understanding. Or did you use the video example because that app is multi-threaded ?

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Each running thread is handled by one core, assuming there are two threads running. Like for example, u can encode a movie, while at the same time watching another encoded in DIVX. So one processor handles the decoding while the other handles the encoding.

All current operating systems have always more than one thread (let alone one process) running. In Windows you can check how many you have with Task Manager, in Processes tab add "Thread count" column to view.

Responsiveness in just about everything should be better when having more than one CPU core.