Which CPU to go for - Dual Core vs Single Core
@ 2006/03/01Dual core sounds really cool and it is cool technology. The fact that you have two working cores on the same sized socket as single core is sweet and it's definitely needed to take CPU design to the next level considering how hot modern high MHz CPUs run these days. One of my concerns about the dual core technology is the naming system that AMD have chosen. It confuses people. People read Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and they mentally think of 2 3800+ CPUs. That's not the case at all. It's closer to two Athlon 64 3200+ CPUs in terms of clock speed. Although there are two cores, every game we tested equals the performance of one single core 3200+. FarCry has dual core support but during testing I monitored CPU usage and if 75% of one core was in use, only 25% of the other core was used. So you still have the equivalent of one CPU core sitting there doing nothing.