Intel Core 2 Duo

[carey_w]

Hi,

Ok well this may sound like a dumb question but i have surfed around and haven't really been able to find the answer that im looking for about this topic...

With Intel's new processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, how fast do they actually run? ie if its a 2.33ghz core 2 duo, does that mean each processor is doing 2.33 ghz meaning 4.66 ghz together, or is it accumulative processing power, ie each processor is running at 1.165ghz and together they're running at 2.33 ghz? because if so i don't get the whole hype about them, considering you can buy 3.6 ghz etc single processors... almost double the speed of these core 2 duo ones. is it simply just the advantage of having two processing cores, meaning that tasks can be completed at faster speeds simultaneously? because surely thats not worth sacrificing all the processing power of say a 3.6 ghz single processor....

yeah i dont really get the core duo thing lol, is there someone who could clarify this for me? i mean im sure they are really good i just dont get why.

Thanks heaps,

Carey

 

[maroon1]

Core 2 duo can do more instructions per clock, for example core 2 duo at 1.86GHz is faster than Pentium D 3.2GHz because each 1 Hz in core 2 duo can do more than twice the instruction that 1Hz of Pentium D can do.

Dual core processors running at 2.33ghz for example means that each core is running at 2.33ghz. But you don't add them up, because dual core processors is faster than single core in multitasking and multi-threaded applications, but there is no advantage of dual core over single core in single threaded application.

For example, suppose that you have a dual core and single core processors running at the same speed. The dual core processors will be equal to single core processors in terms of performance in single threaded applications. But in multi-threaded applications the dual core will be nearly two times faster than single core.

 

[Diabetic]

Aye, at this current stage AMD really doesnt have anything to beat Core 2. As Maroon1 mentioned, having two cores at 2.33ghz does not equal 4.66ghz so dont go buying one simply on that theory.

 

[TonCrafter]

2.33ghz Core 2 Duo is plenty fast.

 

[Fat.Clown]

Core 2 duo can do more instructions per clock, for example core 2 duo at 1.86GHz is faster than Pentium D 3.2GHz because each 1 Hz in core 2 duo can do more than twice the instruction that 1Hz of Pentium D can do.

Dual core processors running at 2.33ghz for example means that each core is running at 2.33ghz. But you don't add them up, because dual core processors is faster than single core in multitasking and multi-threaded applications, but there is no advantage of dual core over single core in single threaded application.

For example, suppose that you have a dual core and single core processors running at the same speed. The dual core processors will be equal to single core processors in terms of performance in single threaded applications. But in multi-threaded applications the dual core will be nearly two times faster than single core.

Think of it as this way... in none tech way
2.4Ghz Duo core = 2 Cars with 240 horse power
and your
3.6Ghz P4 single core = 1 car with 360 horse power
would you like to have
2 cars to transport X amount of people
or
1 car to transport same amount of people
(assume all cars have same # of seats, and X > # of seats)

does 2 cars with 240 hp = to 480 hp? no, because you can't somehow fuse those 2 cars. they are working seperately
can 2 cars get those people to their destination faster than just having 1 car faster? I think so

 

[carey_w]

hey guys,
Thanks heaps for your responses, i think i finally get it! the car analogy was especially great thx Fat.clown . I'm hoping to eventually get a Macbook Pro so im just going through all the diff advantages of them, they look pretty awesum ey?
neways, thanks again,
Carey

 

[maroon1]

Think of it as this way... in none tech way
2.4Ghz Duo core = 2 Cars with 240 horse power
and your
3.6Ghz P4 single core = 1 car with 360 horse power
would you like to have

No you are wrong

Each core in Core 2 duo 2.4GHz is better than P4 3.6GHz.

If we have for example Core 2 solo 2.4GHz (solo means 1 core), it will still beat P4 3.6GHz by far.

 

[carey_w]

Dual core processors running at 2.33ghz for example means that each core is running at 2.33ghz. But you don't add them up, because dual core processors is faster than single core in multitasking and multi-threaded applications, but there is no advantage of dual core over single core in single threaded application.

...

Each core in Core 2 duo 2.4GHz is better than P4 3.6GHz.

...surely this is contradictory, you say there is "no advantage of dual core over single core in single threaded application" and yet you say that "Each core in Core 2 duo 2.4GHz is better than P4 3.6GHz" ... surely if each core is better in a Core 2 Duo 2.4 than a P4 3.6 then dual core would be better for single threaded aps as well...

 

[maroon1]

...
...surely this is contradictory, you say there is "no advantage of dual core over single core in single threaded application" and yet you say that "Each core in Core 2 duo 2.4GHz is better than P4 3.6GHz" ... surely if each core is better in a Core 2 Duo 2.4 than a P4 3.6 then dual core would be better for single threaded aps as well...

No, it is not a contradictory, you just didn't understand what I mean.

Core duo 2.0GHz has no advantage over Core solo 2.0GHz in single threaded programs. Each core of the Core duo is equal to Core solo. But each core in Core duo is much better than Pentium 4 2.0Ghz

You need to compare the same same type of CPU, I mean Pentium 4 vs Pentium D. or Core duo vs Core solo. But not Pentium 4 vs core duo.

Pentium D = two Pentium 4

Core duo = two Core solo

 

[carey_w]

Ok well that makes more sense thanks...
so what exactly is different in the technology of a core processor and a pentium processor? what makes the core processors so much better even though pentium processors can have much higher clock speeds?