Explain Dual Core

[bumblebee_tuna]

In lay-men(spelling?) terms, how would you explain a dual core processor compared to a regular processor in terms of it's physical attributes?

 

[hermeslyre]

Physically they're pretty much the same, barring any socket differences. On the inside of the chip there are two processing units, two CPU cores. They are located adjacent to each other on the same die, sharing the L cache, or having their own.

Obviously a multi-core proc is most effective when presented with a concurrent amount of threads.

 

[epidemik]

http://www.funponsel.com/blog/archives/2006/01/12/what-is-dual-core-cpu/

Lol, i like the pregnant women analogy, not quite sure if i think its a good analogy but i like it.

 

[2048Megabytes]

Physically they're pretty much the same, barring any socket differences. On the inside of the chip there are two processing units, two CPU cores. They are located adjacent to each other on the same die, sharing the L cache, or having their own.

Obviously a multi-core proc is most effective when presented with a concurrent amount of threads.

I am going to expain some of the terms he used. Cache is high speed memory the processor is able to utilize. It is different than Random Access Memory.

If a program is threaded it is designed to take advantage of a dual core processor. One part of the processor will run one part of the program while the other part of the processor will run the remaining part of the program. It will make the program run better obviously than just having a single core Central Processing Unit (CPU) run the program.

A dual core processor also multitasks better than a single core. Multitasking is running more than one program at the same time on your computer.

 

[bumblebee_tuna]

For the most part, I wanted to know how to explain to someone, and to know my own self, how a dual core is built.

I know that a single core processor has millions of tiny little switches that flip on and off, known as transistors, that solve millions of equations per second with the process of 'if yes/no, then', essentially where binary code comes from (1's and 0's), often seen in movies; the 1's being yes and the 0's being no.

I'm guessing the 'die' is where all the transistors are located but when people talking about multiple dies on a process, is it like one die on top of another or is it side-by-side. I'm actually still iffy on the die part..........

I actually really didn't know too much about the on die(?) cache so that's good to know and I appreciate the response.

Edit: Actually, reading the article answered all my questions. Thanks.

 

[StrangleHold]

A Picture is worth a thousand words
AMD Quad

AMD dual core

Intel

 

[bumblebee_tuna]

Oh wow, those pictures were really informative. I didn't know northbridges were now built into the cpu now. (Shows how old me last computer was........)

Just as a laugh but look at the second pic; they put fuses into the processor. Try and change those out.........

I'm guessing for the Pentium D pic, the processors are built one on top of the other......?

 

[StrangleHold]

AMD has had the memory controller on the processor since the 754. And the Pen. D is side by side too.

 

[bumblebee_tuna]

AMD has had the memory controller on the processor since the 754. And the Pen. D is side by side too.

Hmmmm....... I had a mobo that was, to my knowledge, a socket 939, and it had a Northbridge........

Is the Northbridge and FSB different components...?