Abstract
A processor executes a series of instructions to tell it what to do which, in turn, tells everything else it interacts with what to do. The faster it can do this the better. "Faster" can be directly related to clock speed but don't make the mistake of thinking that. Windows XP often has as many as 500 threads running, ranging from system services to device drivers to end user applications. So CPUs with multiple cores will likely increase the responsiveness of systems and, in certain cases, raw performance. Accurately measuring performance in these systems will be a major challenge.
In a dual core processor , functional processors are joined together which functions and process data independendently, and the two are coordinated by the operating system software. Companies like AMD and Intel are lining up their processors with dual core technology. The technology is being the most demanded for power computing people, multimedia entertainment and gamers. The users benefit the technology in two ways : through applications that have been optimized for threading, and in multi tasking applications.
Description of Dual Core Processor
Seeing the technical difficulties in cranking higher clock speed out of the present single core processors, dual core architecture has started to establish itself as the answer to the development of future processors. With the release of AMD dual core opteron and Intel Pentium Extreme edition 840, the month of April 2005 officially marks the beginning of dual core endeavors for both companies.
The transition from a single core to dual core architecture was triggered by a couple of factors. According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors (complexity) on a microprocessor doubles approximately every 18 months. The latest 2 MB Prescott core possesses more than 160 million transistors; breaking the 200 million mark is just a matter of time. Transistor count is one of the reasons that drive the industry toward the dual core architecture. Instead of using the available astronomically high transistor counts to design a new, more complex single core processor that would offer higher performance than the present offerings, chip makers have decided to put these transistors to use in producing two identical yet independent cores and combining them in to a single package.
Why the need for Dual Core?
The transition from a single core to dual core architecture was triggered by a couple of factors. Transistor count is one of the reasons that drive the industry toward the dual core architecture. Instead of using the available astronomically high transistor counts to design a new, more complex simple core processor that would offer higher performance than the present offering chip makers have decided to put these transistors to use in producing two identical yet independence cores and combining them in to a single package.
