pcmag.com — Is there any benefit to be realized from having a dual-core CPU when there is only one application (game) open, such as Half-Life or Call of Duty? I understand the principle of the dual core in relation to multitasking. I imagine that future software will be written to make better use of dual-core or even quad-core processors...
Jan 28, 2007 View in Crawl 4
simongzsterJan 29, 2007
Even if a game were single-threaded , they would still benefit from multiple cores, since the OS would dispatch that process to a core that wasn't being heavily used. Even if the game was the "only application open", as the article states, there is still the operating system running in the background that is taking up precious CPU time.
liquidpenguinJan 29, 2007
@TECHBUZZARDHoly crap. Read a book? Take your own damn advice.I've got comparably equipped computers with one running a DC 2.0GHz and the other with a 2.4GHz HT. On top of that, the DC 2.0 has speed throttling that forces the CPU down to 1GHz under specific triggers (heat is not one of the triggers). Even with the speed throttle active, the performance between the DC and the HT is significant.And what the hell are you spouting about heat?? My HT system runs consistently hotter than the DC even though the DC is asked to do more work. Get your damn facts straight before you try to swing your useless little dick around for all to see.
krypticoneJan 29, 2007
@techbuzzard"I guess nobody ever owned a small form factor"Umm...why would you want to game on a SFF??
techlawJan 29, 2007
I found that article a bit too terse for the real question at hand. The short answer, is YES, Dual core, and Quad Core will have benefits for gaming...in 2007. Valve, the Alan Wake team are designing games to take advantage of Quad Core. Supreme Commander, The Crossing, Left 4 Dead, and Company of Heroes take a great deal of advantage from multi-core for physics, and AI. It is not just about framerate. Which, sadly, is what so many articles boil down to...we are not all Fatal1ty worried about frag-lag. Some of us are concerned with immersion and having freaking fun.
unununiumJan 29, 2007
Someone forgot what graphics looked like in the GeForce 2 days.
darkjcJan 30, 2007
HyperThreading was really only possible due to the insanely long pipeline the P4 was designed with. Since a lot of it went to "waste", HyperThreading allowed more of the processor to be used at once acting sort of as a second core. However the performance boost was really only realized with applications, and only about a 10-20% increase. With games, HT could actually hinder performance.
darkjcJan 30, 2007
I honestly think Supreme Commander will be the first game that REALLY seperates those playing with 2-4 cores vs those playing with 1 core. The difference is massive.