Anything I should know about dual core

S

stealthy123

2[H]4U
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Feb 4, 2005
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I just finally got my x2 running okay.

I havent noticed a lot of difference between it and my old proc.

is there something to enable in windows?

I can't exactly do a clean install of windows (scratched disk) so I just keep a 20 gig with a fresh install on it around to ghost when I need to install windows. It was set up on an nf2 a couple years ago...is that gonna be an issue?

any help appreciated. seems to be working fine now.(as far as stable)
 
stealthy123 said:
I just finally got my x2 running okay.

I havent noticed a lot of difference between it and my old proc.

is there something to enable in windows?

I can't exactly do a clean install of windows (scratched disk) so I just keep a 20 gig with a fresh install on it around to ghost when I need to install windows. It was set up on an nf2 a couple years ago...is that gonna be an issue?

any help appreciated. seems to be working fine now.(as far as stable)
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If you bring up the Task Manager and go to the Perforamance tab, do you have two graphs for the processor?
 
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
 
i paid 150 bux for it

it overclocks to the same speed as my old single core proc so either way I am no worse off
 
you will probably not notice much difference unless you are using a multithreaded application, or are doing heavy multitasking, such as encoding audio/video while gaming.
 
stealthy123 said:
i paid 150 bux for it

it overclocks to the same speed as my old single core proc so either way I am no worse off
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$150 for a dual core? I'm assuming it's an X2 3800+ OEM, but dayum that's cheap. :eek:

Full Folding Ahead!

 
CRXican said:
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
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Hype? All I know is that when my machine (Venice) and my brother's machine (X2 3800+ Toledo) were both clocked the same before he pushed his farther, his was much smoother than mine in even just basic Windows tasks.

X2's only problem is that there aren't single applications that take advantage of dual core, yet. However, now with an X2, you can burn a CD or DVD without a hiccup while gaming. :)
 
CRXican said:
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
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[sarcasim] Yeh I mean it is all hype, you can usually do all this with a single core.

Finially found out just how much it can handle.

Photoshop CS2
BF2 @ 1680x1050
WoW @ 1680x1050
CS:Source @ 1680x1050
Firefox
Teamspeak
and misc things

All open and in game so I can alt tab shot someone then alt tab to the next and vice versa with no load times or freeze ups! Although BF2 frame rates did suffer a bit. :( WoW and CS:Source showed no differance.

I tried adding, FEAR to the mix and well it was way to glitchy and pretty much stopped things.

wow1.jpg


wow2.jpg


[/sarcasim]

Dual core kicks ass period. Last night I was playing WoW and CS:source at the same time. Waiting for a raid to start in WoW so I fired up CS:source and played that while checking back in on my WoW game with Xfire on, o and photoshop open and a wallaper I was working on in there as well. Yeh dual core sucks???

You sir are a troll.
 
CRXican said:
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
Click to expand...

LONG LIVE DUAL CORE!

You can kiss my cores
 
To be honest, I must multitask like I have no life outside of computers because I can easily slow down my dual-core.

I want a new cpu clocked higher already. :D

Man, I can't wait for quad-cores to come out.


But I don't know how single core users can even use there computers if it's clocked lower then 2.4 ghz or so. But the again maybe I just download too many to__ent files. :confused:
 
Yeh dual core sucks???

You sir are a troll.
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No he's not, and your tone is out of place. I was using multi-cpu machines when you were still having strained carrots wiped off your bib, and I agree. For the -average- user, buying dual core is a waste. You're better off putting the cash into a faster single-core. That situation will likely change in the next 12 months...so upgrade then, with all the cash you saved.

Myself, my primary desktop is dual-core...and my secondary desktop is a quad-cpu P3. But then, I'm not an average user.
 
masher said:
No he's not, and your tone is out of place. I was using multi-cpu machines when you were still having strained carrots wiped off your bib, and I agree. For the -average- user, buying dual core is a waste. You're better off putting the cash into a faster single-core. That situation will likely change in the next 12 months...so upgrade then, with all the cash you saved.

Myself, my primary desktop is dual-core...and my secondary desktop is a quad-cpu P3. But then, I'm not an average user.
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I think that was part of Pr3z's point. Do average users come to the [H]? Secondly, the guy already bought the processor and got QUITE the deal on it (less than I paid for my Venice!), so it was basically like saying "You, OP, are stupid for buying that."... Considering the "average" [H]er, dual core isn't hype. If the guy were gonna sit on AOL all day in chat rooms, yeah, it's stupid. But people that do that don't build their own systems or come to the [H]. :)

If he's not trolling, that was threadcrapping at the very least.

Anyhow... Back OT...

stealthy, you've got the thing OCed already AND it looks like Windows is all good. How's the thing prime and what's it clocked at?
 
I can't help but think that a fresh Windows XP install would still do wonders for speed and multithreading? Maybe you can make a copy of the scratched disk, and then have a usable one?

Personally, I was blown away w/ my X2 3800 when I got it. Installing all of my Steam apps, surfing the net, running a teamspeak server, and playing BF2 all at the same time w/ no slowdowns or pauses between alt-tabs. Lovely.

The price for this chip is relatively cheap, so I don't see why people keep telling others that buying dual core is a bad idea. Plus the newer nvidia and ATI drivers allow for both cores being used in single threaded games, i think? When I check my processor usage when running a single app, I see both cores getting used.
 
masher said:
No he's not, and your tone is out of place. I was using multi-cpu machines when you were still having strained carrots wiped off your bib, and I agree. For the -average- user, buying dual core is a waste. You're better off putting the cash into a faster single-core. That situation will likely change in the next 12 months...so upgrade then, with all the cash you saved.

Myself, my primary desktop is dual-core...and my secondary desktop is a quad-cpu P3. But then, I'm not an average user.
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LOL. Hilarious.

First you get in your "I'm old school/superior/you suck" jab, then you amend your original statement with qualifiers (from dual core = hype to dual core is not necessary for an AVERAGE user) so that it might make a little bit of sense.

Trolling at its finest.

[H] guys are generally not average users, and neither am I. Browsing pictures while extracting a large ZIP file will kill any CPU.

Heck, with my dual core, I can leave Trillian, Folding@Home, and BitTorrent all running in the background while I play games and there is 0 performance hit. I can run Folding in the background while running batch edits on hundreds of jpg's with 0 performance hit. I can unzip my RAR files in the background while using my computer without the typical lag. Photoshop by itself is faster dual core, and many games are faster by themselves dual core.

It sucks that you only have one processor.
 
[H] guys are generally not average users
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Believe it or not, they don't diverge a great deal from the normal usage patterns. More to the point, the original poster seems to be quite close to an "average" user. Believe it or not, running two graphics-intensive games simultaneously is not average usage, even if you find it the height of coolness.

We were replying to the original poster. You're only interested in bragging about your atypical usage patterns. Now whose threadcrapping, eh?

I've seen many people (including several [H] users) purchase an X2 with cores clocked _lower_ than their old single-core...then wonder why their games aren't flying along so much faster. For them, they bought hype. Dual-core is **not** the best solution for everyone. Live with it.

Browsing pictures while extracting a large ZIP file will kill any CPU....
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And how much of your day do you spend browsing porn while extracting large zips? How much time do you think the original poster spends doing this?

First you get in your "I'm old school/superior/you suck" jab..
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If the shoe fits... :cool:
 
My usage patterns are pretty average for [H]. It's not bragging to say that I play games while folding and running Trillian. I'm using the examples as things typical [H] users do. On top of that, your worthless bravado involved directly insulting a user.

What crap. :rolleyes: See you in another thread.
 
My usage patterns are pretty average for [H]...
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But apparently not for the guy who started the thread. The one who wants to understand why he's not seeing any performance advantage. You're the one in his thread, insulting anyone trying to help him understand.

On top of that, your worthless bravado involved directly insulting a user..
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Scroll up, and you'll find you're the one who began the insults.

See you in another thread.
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Hope not.
 
masher said:
Believe it or not, they don't diverge a great deal from the normal usage patterns. More to the point, the original poster seems to be quite close to an "average" user. Believe it or not, running two graphics-intensive games simultaneously is not average usage, even if you find it the height of coolness.

We were replying to the original poster. You're only interested in bragging about your atypical usage patterns. Now whose threadcrapping, eh?

I've seen many people (including several [H] users) purchase an X2 with cores clocked _lower_ than their old single-core...then wonder why their games aren't flying along so much faster. For them, they bought hype. Dual-core is **not** the best solution for everyone. Live with it.


And how much of your day do you spend browsing porn while extracting large zips? How much time do you think the original poster spends doing this?


If the shoe fits... :cool:
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Well, as I've said (which must've gone unseen), my brother and I have similar enough setups as far as Windows XP is concerned, but he has an X2 Toledo 3800+ and I have a Venice 3000+. You can see my OC below. When he was still working on his OC, our systems were clocked the same for a short while, and his system was just smoother than mine in basic windows tasks. THAT is a difference even average users with an accuity for seeing how smoothly a system performs would see, and something that most [H] users would see.

As far as gamers complaining about their lower clocked X2 not running as fast as their single core... Well... That's a misunderstanding of how SMP works. Where the benefit comes in is... Say... Take my brother again, for instance, since most of his free time is spent gaming. He runs some games windowed (CS:S, BF2) while also running Ventrillo and AIM for communicating with his friends who are also playing. You will see a benefit with dual core running that versus single core. That is NOT hype, due to the fact that you'd be running different apps on different cores, thus taking less processor slices from the game.

That porn jab is unfair. kumquat didn't throw any personal jabs at you, and I feel that he explained his reasoning why he disagrees with you fairly well, making a personal jab unecessary.

The main reason I'm carrying this on is that the OP shouldn't feel stupid for his purchase. As he already said, he overclocks and built the system himself, thus negating your assumption that he's an "average user". He might not do all that you've been doing since the old ages... But hell, there are a lot of young people that are just getting into this and have a pretty firm grasp on what's going on. I don't need to go throwing around the fact that I've been overclocking since before the [H] existed, because that's neither here nor there. What matters is that the user finds satisfaction in his system and gets the most out of it that he can.

Anyhow... Stealthy... Where the hell did you find a 3800+ for $150??? I can almost afford that these days. :) Considering what I tend to do, dual core would be something nice for me. :)
 
masher said:
Believe it or not, they don't diverge a great deal from the normal usage patterns. More to the point, the original poster seems to be quite close to an "average" user. Believe it or not, running two graphics-intensive games simultaneously is not average usage, even if you find it the height of coolness.

We were replying to the original poster. You're only interested in bragging about your atypical usage patterns. Now whose threadcrapping, eh?

I've seen many people (including several [H] users) purchase an X2 with cores clocked _lower_ than their old single-core...then wonder why their games aren't flying along so much faster. For them, they bought hype. Dual-core is **not** the best solution for everyone. Live with it.


And how much of your day do you spend browsing porn while extracting large zips? How much time do you think the original poster spends doing this?


If the shoe fits... :cool:
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Match colors, thanks

Ummmm, what the Fzuk are you talking about. You must not know what an average computer user knows.
So I'll inform you, they don't even know how much ram is in their computer or what brand cpu they have.


W[H]ile most people here including some of the noobs know what cpu's and ram brand, rated speed, and warranty they have. Plus alot more for some of us.:p

Definitely not average.


It looked to me like you were.

Originally Posted by masher
I was using multi-cpu machines when you were still having strained carrots wiped off your bib
Click to expand...

That must make you a cyrix f_nboy or something.



Ummm, that would be there own lack of research/information. If they went from single core @ 2.8 ghz then they should have known to buy a dc opty so they can get as close to dual 2.8 ghz or why upgrade. Unless they wanted to multitask more then gaming.

I myself came from a socket A




Not that much, having a dual core cpu makes it much easier to download and extact pron. But I must admit that I don't know how much the OP does this and I really don't care.

And don't old people wear Loafers.

So wouldn't it be if the Loafers fits
 
Sorry to distract from the namecalling, but I wonder if you other X2 users are able to run 2 copies of the super pi / mod1.4 simultaneously?

I can run 1 np, but if I try to run 2 the second one errors out immediately.
 
What matters is that the user finds satisfaction in his system and gets the most out of it that he can.
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But this user isn't "finding satisfaction" in his system. Thats why he began the thread. So regardless of whether or not he's an 'average' user, his usage patterns aren't benefitting from dual cores. So much for that theory.

Telling him that if he simply concentrates hard enough, he'll notice an unquantifiable "increase in responsiveness" doesn't help him. However, telling him that if single-thread performance is his primary consideration, then his money is best spent on a single-core cpu, does help.

GilmourD said:
As far as gamers complaining about their lower clocked X2 not running as fast as their single core... Well... That's a misunderstanding of how SMP works.
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A misunderstanding propagated by people claiming dual-core is "the way to go" for any and all users.

Where the benefit comes in is... Say... Take my brother again, for instance, since most of his free time is spent gaming. He runs some games windowed (CS:S, BF2) while also running Ventrillo and AIM for communicating with his friends who are also playing. You will see a benefit with dual core running that versus single core.
Click to expand...
If all you're doing in running AIM and Ventrillo in the background, you'll see more benefit from a faster-clocked single core.

That porn jab is unfair. kumquat didn't throw any personal jabs at you
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No, he threw them at someone else. Someone who was actually answering the thread starter. And anyway, since when did asking if someone browed porn constitute an insult? ;)
 
CRXican said:
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
Click to expand...
hate to break it to you but dual core isn't "hype"

Dual core even for a casual user is VERY useful.
As I sit here I'm streaming music with rhapsody, Shrinking 2 DVD's and chatting on trillian plus copying data between two hard drives and guess what. Not a single stutter or slow down. Try that on a single core.
And to those who say dual core isn't good for gaming that's also BS. With the new Nvidia drivers that take advantage of dual core plus the games that are supporting SMP Dual core gaming is the wave of the future. And seriously any game that can't take advantage of a dual core chip is no big deal because the clock speed of a single core should be plenty to avoid any bottleneck.
 
hs95p user said:
Sorry to distract from the namecalling, but I wonder if you other X2 users are able to run 2 copies of the super pi / mod1.4 simultaneously?

I can run 1 np, but if I try to run 2 the second one errors out immediately.
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No you can't
SuperPI will always blow up on the second instance.
 
GilmourD said:
X2's only problem is that there aren't single applications that take advantage of dual core, yet. )
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there are LOTS of applications that take advantage of both cores..

Hell I find it keeps things smoother even if you're just running fraps.

One of the other things I like is not having to shut down all the background stuff I have running to get the most out of my game.

One of my favorite games doesn't support SMP and never will since it's too old. But I like now being able to run winamp in the background while I play and not have to worry that if I get too many characters on the screen I'll run out of CPU because I'm listening to music at the same time.(CnC Generals)
 
lol

I am not an "average" user

I have plenty of SMP experience but not in an XP enviro and not in daily desktop usage. (think render farm)

The problem I was having was a slow response from one program and I worked that out.

I can host a server for one game and play another and still have plenty of juice for Itunes and teamspeak and xfire so I am happy.

temps are at 88 right now and its at 2.5 ghz it boots at 2.7 but I didn't like the heat when I loaded both cores. I am used to my venice that topped out at like 10 degrees over ambient.
this bitch hit 120 and I got scared.
 
The good old "lets negate every sentence the other guy says with some stupid comment and attempt to make him look bad" trick. OMG I have never seen that before; isn't this about Dual Core Processors and not how long anyone's e-penis is?
 
stealthy123 said:
lol

I am not an "average" user

I have plenty of SMP experience but not in an XP enviro and not in daily desktop usage. (think render farm)

The problem I was having was a slow response from one program and I worked that out.

I can host a server for one game and play another and still have plenty of juice for Itunes and teamspeak and xfire so I am happy.

temps are at 88 right now and its at 2.5 ghz it boots at 2.7 but I didn't like the heat when I loaded both cores. I am used to my venice that topped out at like 10 degrees over ambient.
this bitch hit 120 and I got scared.
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120 is what I think around 50C?
you're safe. I have a buddies X24400 that hits 54C at stock speeds.
 
I wasn't trying to be a troll at all but I'm getting quite a kick out of where this thread went. Perhaps a number of HardForum members aren't "average users" but I'm sure plenty of us are. For example I have had a DVD burner for at least a year and don't even know how to burn or backup a DVD.

It was my honest opinion that dual cores are silly for the average user, especially at the cost. I'm more than satisfied being "stuck with" socket 754 as it fits my needs just fine. I could build and X2 rig and post screen shots of all the programs I have open at the same time but that's quite pathetic, I feel sorry for that guy.

For those of you that utilize them, enjoy, I know if I needed it I would have it. That was my only point in my orignal comment, he likely doesn't notice a difference because he never needed the "upgrade" in the first place.
 
nah when I open progs I still "lagg" thats normal I guess across the board and I was expecting too much.
Fluid to me means just that and its an all the time kinda thing.
I don't have that right now but I hope to with some tweaking
 
SKy042 said:
hate to break it to you but dual core isn't "hype"

Dual core even for a casual user is VERY useful.
As I sit here I'm streaming music with rhapsody, Shrinking 2 DVD's and chatting on trillian plus copying data between two hard drives and guess what. Not a single stutter or slow down. Try that on a single core.
And to those who say dual core isn't good for gaming that's also BS. With the new Nvidia drivers that take advantage of dual core plus the games that are supporting SMP Dual core gaming is the wave of the future. And seriously any game that can't take advantage of a dual core chip is no big deal because the clock speed of a single core should be plenty to avoid any bottleneck.
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Then why are the nvidia forums full of amd x2 owners ready to burn nvidia headquarters to the ground because of 8x.xx series "dual core optimized" drivers making their games run like complete crap?
 
CRXican said:
I wasn't trying to be a troll at all but I'm getting quite a kick out of where this thread went. Perhaps a number of HardForum members aren't "average users" but I'm sure plenty of us are. For example I have had a DVD burner for at least a year and don't even know how to burn or backup a DVD.

It was my honest opinion that dual cores are silly for the average user, especially at the cost. I'm more than satisfied being "stuck with" socket 754 as it fits my needs just fine. I could build and X2 rig and post screen shots of all the programs I have open at the same time but that's quite pathetic, I feel sorry for that guy.

For those of you that utilize them, enjoy, I know if I needed it I would have it. That was my only point in my orignal comment, he likely doesn't notice a difference because he never needed the "upgrade" in the first place.
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What about a guy with a DVD Burner and no knowledge on how to use it? What's up with that? :eek: Below average user???
Why is the poster pathetic for showing us all the things he can do on his system, is it because he disagreed with you?
The OP got a Dual Core for dirt cheep and wanted to know if he should do anything to optimise performance. Here you come with you never needed to upgrade, waste of money, it's hype... Get off your horse. All of what you said could apply to your DVD Burner :rolleyes:
 
CRXican said:
Like most people you should probably know you didn't need to buy into the X2 hype and should have saved your money.
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It isn't HYPE, at all, and you apparently have no clue, making such an IGNORANT statement like that....go play with some more coffee can mufflers for your CRX or something, and leave the real computing to people that know what they are talking about....
 
You know, if I was going to reply to the OP about "anything he should know about dual cores" I might mention the little bug that causes snaging type lag in games n' such, but I guess since that doesn't lend itself to the current spirit of the thread, I'll let someone else tell him how to fix it.

P.S. I think they call the fix for it the "Dual Core Hotfix for Windows XP", correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Generally, if you're having problems with a game, open task manager and change the affinity to one core and that will usually solve it.
 
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