July 14, 2006

Dual core chips, what are they and do I need to get a computer with one?

Well, to put things in simple terms, what the chip manufacturers are doing now is basically putting two processors in one chip.  The main reason is that in the last year or so, as the speed the processors run at has increased, the performance really hasn't changed markedly.  In fact, as far as running normal day to day applications, there hasn't been a noticeable increase in the speed.

If you are doing real processor intensive tasks, such as video editing, gaming, or very large spreadsheets, buying a processor with the faster speeds is going to increase productivity, but if you are only running normal programs or Office applications, you won't notice much of a difference between the processors.

The main problem for the chip manufacturers has been, if the speed increases, so does the heat dissipation.   This compounds heat related problems also for the other computer components in the case.  The gaming computers have come up with some creative heat dissipation techniques, but bottom line, heat is getting to be a big issue.

Since the dual core CPU's have two processors, they can split up the duties involved with running the computer, therefore, they can run at slower speeds, thereby reducing the heat generated.  Unfortunately, normal applications can't really take the best advantage of the dual core memory since they weren't written to do so.

As time goes on, more software will be able to adjust to utilizing the dual core chips more effectively, so therefore, performance will increase.  Down the road, we will see chips with even more processors built into them.

Also, as time goes on, the chip manufacturers are improving the chips, which will increase the performance.  Right now, Intel is due to release a new dual core chip, code named Conroe, which will significantly increase the processing performance.

Before long, you won't have a choice of which processor to get, with the probably exception of the low priced computers.  My advice, wait just a few months for a new computer.  The prices of the new chips will come down by then and the new Windows Vista will be out.

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