Core2Duo, one works, one don't

D

detox-rum

n00b
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
40
HI all, new to the site, hope to learn a little

I recently jumped on the Core 2 Duo wagon.
and when multitasking, noticed a drop in preformance after changing from my old system.
so I open TaskManager, and it shows two CPU's and one of them is doing 90-100% and the other is doing 0-10%,
It spikes once in a while, but its always the same side.
I'm a little ticked about it, and I would like to know if there is a fix for it.

specs:
XP Home
ASUS P5LD2
Core 2 Duo E4300, 1.8GHz,800MHz FSB,2MB L2 Cache
1gig ddr2 pc5300
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320 <almost had a bowel movement when I see this thing:eek:
120gig SATA
HP dvd640
SB Audigy2

system I changed from:
XP Home
ASUS P4P800-SE
P4 2.4 (overclocked 2.98)
2gig ddr
BFG nvidia 6600
120gig SATA
HP dvd640
SB Audigy2

I'm not a 'hardcore' computer builder, but I think I've made a big jump in system components.
Not that my old system was a dog or anything, I just wanted more..:D

Thanks Phil
 
Typically that means most of the software you're using is not multithreaded, it doesn't mean one core isn't "working." The software you currently have is using a single core - it's not a defect, it's working as it should actually.

Windows itself is a multithreaded OS and will use the cores as necessary, but if the software applications themselves aren't multithreaded, Windows isn't going to particularly use both cores of the processor to make up for it. The benefit to having multiple cores with a multithreaded OS is that the OS will spread the load as required to keep the multitasking efficiency higher than it ever could be with a single core or single CPU. I'll bet you can do a lot more on that machine in terms of loading up several apps at the same time and you won't notice the kind of slowdowns you would have noticed on the older single core/single CPU machine.

Find some nice multithreaded applications and then you'll see how both cores go at the task. That Core 2 Duo machine will eat that old P4 box for breakfast, lunch, and dinner twice over and not break a sweat while doing it. ;)
 
as far i know windows xp home does not support dual core processors. I had a similar problem when i first built my dual core rig.... Upgrade to xp pro or vista to get multiprocessor support.

im not completely sure on this but this is probably you're problem
 
Download Orthos

Both cores should be running at 100% when you're running this program.

The problem is that there are very few applications that are multi-threaded and take advantage of both cores. There's a handful of professional apps like PhotoShop and 3D Studio Max, less than a handful of games, Winrar and not too much else.
 
AMDOPTY said:
as far i know windows xp home does not support dual core processors. I had a similar problem when i first built my dual core rig.... Upgrade to xp pro or vista to get multiprocessor support.

im not completely sure on this but this is probably you're problem
Click to expand...

Completely wrong.

Home only supports one socket, but it supports more then one core on that one socket.
 
Dual core != multiprocessors, specifically in respect to how the OS sees it. A single CPU can have multiple cores nowadays (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, AM2, Athlon x2, Turion x2, etc) and still be one socketed processor. Multiprocessors are still defined as multiple socketed devices.

XP supports dual core processors just fine without issues. Even 2K does, without issues. As I said in my post, I'd bet there's a 99&#37; chance he's just not running anything that's multithreaded.

As mentioned, Photoshop, 3DStudio, even WinRAR (at least v3.62 and higher, that is) as well as some other stuff is properly multithreaded code and will employ both cores in the work those apps do.
 
detox-rum said:
HI all, new to the site, hope to learn a little

I recently jumped on the Core 2 Duo wagon.
and when multitasking, noticed a drop in preformance after changing from my old system.
so I open TaskManager, and it shows two CPU's and one of them is doing 90-100% and the other is doing 0-10%,
It spikes once in a while, but its always the same side.
I'm a little ticked about it, and I would like to know if there is a fix for it.

specs:
XP Home
ASUS P5LD2
Core 2 Duo E4300, 1.8GHz,800MHz FSB,2MB L2 Cache
1gig ddr2 pc5300
XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320 <almost had a bowel movement when I see this thing:eek:
120gig SATA
HP dvd640
SB Audigy2

system I changed from:
XP Home
ASUS P4P800-SE
P4 2.4 (overclocked 2.98)
2gig ddr
BFG nvidia 6600
120gig SATA
HP dvd640
SB Audigy2

I'm not a 'hardcore' computer builder, but I think I've made a big jump in system components.
Not that my old system was a dog or anything, I just wanted more..:D

Thanks Phil
Click to expand...

I dont know if this helps or not, but you might pop another gig of memory in it. I see you came from a system with 2gb and that really makes a difference, otherwise it could be pagefiling? Just a thought.
 
Big Thanks for the reply. friend of mine found a Microsoft artical on this, and there is a "fix" for it. not sure how much it helped. but I've noticed a little improvement.

Thanks again, Phil

ps, I am planing on getting another gig of ram. I think that may help a bit as well.
 
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