2 cpus??

[childsy_1985]

I found this a little strange. I brought a computer pre-made. I started it up and just out of curiosity I ran dxdiag to see its specs, to my suprise it told me that I am running a pentium 4 3.0ghz (2 cpu) Is it strange to have 2 cpus? What would be the benefit of 2?

 

[Charles_Lee]

um. are you talking about a dual core cpu's?

how much did your computer cost anyway?

 

[childsy_1985]

nah it's not duel core it says 2 cpus
it cost me 1600 australian dollars

 

[Charles_Lee]

um... i don't know about australian dollars, but if it were american $$
$1600 would get you a dual core cpu...

 

[34erd]

Windows will still detect it as 2 CPUs. Only Xeons come in dual CPU configurations.

 

[childsy_1985]

well its a dell. the bios says not multi core compatible

 

[sniperchang]

An Intel threading-enabled CPU appears as two physical processors to the OS. So if you have Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, the os thinks you have two CPU but really it's just one.

 

[childsy_1985]

thats it thanx. the cpu has hyperthreding. LOL. Man i feel like and idiot now. cheers

 

[Geoff]

An Intel threading-enabled CPU appears as two physical processors to the OS. So if you have Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, the os thinks you have two CPU but really it's just one.

It actually appears as 1 Phyiscal processor, but 2 Logical Procoessors. But ya, you get the idea.

 

[apj101]

What would be the benefit of 2?

and the advantages area an increase in performance when using multiple thread (however not a proportional increase )

 

[hells3000]

multiple treads is multitasking rigth thx

 

[apj101]

multiple treads is multitasking rigth thx

petty much, although many single tasks can start more than one thread these days

 

[Geoff]

and the advantages area an increase in performance when using multiple thread (however not a proportional increase )

Do you mean when using more than one thread, or when a single program uses more than one thread?

Im sure you know this as well, but even if you dont have any multi-threaded apps or games, you can still benefit from a dual-core processor, since all of the background apps and windows processes will be split between the two, saving more room for cpu intensive apps/games.

 

[fade2green514]

whatever, the more cores the better the performance... especially if the frequency stays the same... for instance there's no bad side to getting an FX-60 over an FX-55 besides price because they've got the same frequency, only difference is the FX-60 has an extra core.
when it says "two cpus" it doesnt actually mean two cpus it means two cores, and yes that's caused by hyperthreading... but it's still not as good as an actual second core.

 

[apj101]

whatever, the more cores the better the performance...

not true, there is a law or deminishing returns

Do you mean when using more than one thread, or when a single program uses more than one thread?

yes