Thread: Quad core cpu

  1. #16
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Actually most high-end applications such as Autodesk's 3D Studio Max or Maya utilize four cores very efficiently and the difference in rendering time is very noticeable. A simple search for quad core benchmarks will show you what does and does not utilize the extra cores.

    Here is a nice benchmark list that you can select several choices from. Hopefully the link I posted will narrow down the choices between the E6700 and QX6700, which are essentially identical in architecture, clock speed, bus speed, and cache size, with the only difference being that the former has two cores where the latter has four. You'll notice that the 3DS Max benchmark will show the quad core doing the rendering in almost half the time, where as if you were to look at a benchmark such as AVG's virus scan or iTune's encoding, you'd see the results are identical.
    Last edited by SlyMaelstrom; 08-31-2008 at 10:04 AM.
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    Thanks for your reply

    Nice to see some concrete result...

  3. #18
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    AVG's virus scan
    For virus scanners - most time consuming part IMHO is disk IO - so utilizing more than 1 core is overhead...
    All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection,
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    Quote Originally Posted by vart View Post
    For virus scanners - most time consuming part IMHO is disk IO - so utilizing more than 1 core is overhead...
    I'm not so sure of that. I'm not expert on virus scanners, but beyond simply opening the file and reading it byte by byte, I imagine it's performing some fairly CPU intensive algorithms to all of the data its reading to see if it's malicious. I could certainly be very wrong in that, though.
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  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom View Post
    I'm not so sure of that. I'm not expert on virus scanners, but beyond simply opening the file and reading it byte by byte, I imagine it's performing some fairly CPU intensive algorithms to all of the data its reading to see if it's malicious. I could certainly be very wrong in that, though.
    I just reveiw what I see on my computers during the antivirus scan - very intencive HDD work ( significaly decreasing the responce time of Windows) and about 30% CPU usage
    All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection,
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  6. #21
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom View Post
    It's worth mentioning that people are answering a question that they assumed you were asking, however, worded incorrectly. To answer your question more pedantically: A quad core CPU has (or rather is), as the article implies, a single CPU with four cores. There is a significant difference between four cores and four CPU.
    Technically there COULD be a difference, but in current implimentations there isnt.
    The only current difference between a dual core and 2 seperate processors is the combined cache on some models. Other than that they are physically and electronically independant, although usually rendered on the same substrate.

    If you want to get pedantic, there is no such thing as a quad cpu, since the CPU is actually the entire case motherboard and all the chips on it including the processor. The use of CPU to mean the processor is a laymans term, but generally accepted even in techncial discussions.

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    > the CPU is actually the entire case motherboard and all the chips on it including the processor.

    It is clearly not. The CPU is a discrete component in almost all non-embedded computer implementations. The main chips on the motherboard are the North Bridge and the South Bridge. Sometimes those two are integrated together. Perhaps that is what you were thinking of?

  8. #23
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    I'm with Robwhit here. There are (what's call ignorant) people who call the whole computer a "CPU", but technically, the CPU in your system is your AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium (etc). The rest of the chips are "periferals".

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  9. #24
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    I'm also pretty sure that the system handles multiple CPUs differently than it handles multiple cores on a single CPU as far as what decides where to put the next incoming piece of data. I believe more is done on the bridge than on the CPU when multiple sockets are involved. And certainly there is a performance difference when comparing a two socket motherboard with dual core processors vs a single socket motherboard with a quad core processor. That's just simple from the data having to travel farther on the buses, though. If you want to talk about things that make no difference in current implementaion though, as far as performance goes, the difference between combined or discrete caches, considering when they're combined the overall size is doubled, is infinitesimal at best.

    I really have nothing more to say than what's already been said by robwhit and matsp as far as what is the CPU exactly. However, there is certainly no equivalency between a CPU and the core of a CPU and while there are no commercially available quad-socket motherboards in production, there are certainly dual-socket motherboards and I'm just saving this guy the trouble of having to correct his terms if he ever asks a question like "how many cpu does a dual core have?"

    By the way, in response to matsp's post, I'd have to say that calling a whole computer a CPU isn't that bad considering other alternatives I've heard such as calling the computer a modem or a hard drive.
    Last edited by SlyMaelstrom; 08-31-2008 at 01:48 PM.
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  10. #25
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by robwhit View Post
    > the CPU is actually the entire case motherboard and all the chips on it including the processor.

    It is clearly not. The CPU is a discrete component in almost all non-embedded computer implementations. The main chips on the motherboard are the North Bridge and the South Bridge. Sometimes those two are integrated together. Perhaps that is what you were thinking of?
    Sorry you and matsp are wrong on this matter. The original use is so old that I won't get into it with you, but that was its original meaning.

    Yes, a motherboard does handle multiple processors differently than a single muticore processor. In particular, a multiple processor motherboard must be Intel Multiprocessor Compliant, where a motherboard does not need to meet this requirement to supprt a multicore processor.
    Last edited by abachler; 08-31-2008 at 01:55 PM.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    Sorry you and matsp are wrong on this matter. The original use is so old that I won't get into it with you, but that was its original meaning.
    Oh, sorry abachler. We're just too young to understand anything.

    Why don't you tell us now what REAL music is. Certainly not that hippity-bop we listen to.

    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    Yes, a motherboard does handle multiple processors differently than a single muticore processor. In particular, a multiple processor motherboard must be Intel Multiprocessor Compliant, where a motherboard does not need to meet this requirement to supprt a multicore processor.
    Hmmm, even these motherboards are Intel Multiprocessor Compliant? Sounds like a monopoly on the multiple socket industry to me.
    Last edited by SlyMaelstrom; 08-31-2008 at 02:02 PM.
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  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom View Post
    Oh, sorry abachler. We're just too young to understand anything.

    Why don't you tell us now what REAL music is. Certainly not that hippity-bop we listen to.
    LOL, hey its not easy being part of the first generation of computer geeks. If you read teh iMPS document, its all pretty logical. Things like the motherboard has to operate as a single processor system until software turns on the additional processors. That keeps it from breaking single processor OS's. I dont think there is any royalty requirement for making an iMPS motherboard.
    Last edited by abachler; 08-31-2008 at 02:09 PM.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    Sorry you and matsp are wrong on this matter. The original use is so old that I won't get into it with you, but that was its original meaning.
    Well, in the old days [when the CPU of a system was the size of a fridge, and consisted of hundreds of (or more) discrete chips], the periferals (like hard-disks, tape-machines, etc) where indeed in separate boxes [again, the size of a mid-size fridge].

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  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by matsp View Post
    Well, in the old days [when the CPU of a system was the size of a fridge, and consisted of hundreds of (or more) discrete chips], the periferals (like hard-disks, tape-machines, etc) where indeed in separate boxes [again, the size of a mid-size fridge].
    No, no... you know. The old days.
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  15. #30
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom View Post
    Bah, those dang newfangled gadgets will never catch on. This is what I'm talking about

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