The processing module is the core of a processor. A dual
core, for example, is composed of a CPU 2 processor cores 'physical' mounted on
the same package (ie on the same container, namely on the housing where they
are inserted the electronic circuits). But because we got to this point?
Because the parallelism, compared the increase of the frequency, allows to
greatly increase performance, although from a technical point of view the 4 GHz
are easily reachable, the disadvantages from the thermal point of view, the
high cooling requirements, and l ' huge consumption, are factors to take into
account a lot.
But a dual core does not consume more? Although requiring
more energy when both cores are under load, the dual core processors will
eventually work faster than single core processors and this results in overall
consumption that are even smaller than the single core CPU. Also, to save even
more, there are techniques that allow to "go to sleep" when one or
more cores are not used, or to lower the working frequency in order to reduce
the possible demands in terms of energy.
This is not to say that a dual core processor with 2.2 GHz
runs at 4.4 GHz, but simply that each core works at a frequency of 2.2 GHz.
But so it is best x64 dual-core processor, 3.2 GHz or a quad
core 2 GHz x64? The answer is complicated, we say that depends. For example a
certain dual core can have higher performance of a quad core because it works
at a higher frequency but at the same time has the higher consumption, but it
is not always said, because yes depends on the frequency but also on how these
cores are exploited (also if, in principle, they are preferred processors with
ever higher frequencies) and use that one should make: to open a word document
or to view an e-mail message do not have to buy a quad core from 300 € (if not
more). Conversely, if one wants a computer for gaming by playing a video game
with all the details at the most, and do not want to compromise, then you need
a quad-core processor with latest technology, at least 3 GHz (in addition to a
good video card).
But then why are there all these dual-core, quad-core,
octa-core ...? Because it is also a question of marketing: the user may think
that the fact of having four cores instead of two can be a simple source of
pride that leads some people to buy a product based solely on this factor (be
it of computer processors, whether it be of processors for smartphones and
tablets).
