August 9, 2005

Dual-Core Processors: Faster. Hidden Costs?

Dual-core processors are used more and more, not only in servers but in PCs to increase speed. Physically, there is only so many transistors that can fit on one chip.

Hence PC vendors / chip manufacturers are using dual-core processors which according to Webopedia.com refers to a CPU that includes two complete execution cores per physical processor. It has combined two processors and their caches and cache controllers onto a single integrated circuit (silicon chip). Dual-core processors are well-suited for multitasking environments because there are two complete execution cores instead of one, each with an independent interface to the frontside bus. Since each core has its own cache, the operating system has sufficient resources to handle most compute intensive tasks in parallel.

However, News Factor writes However, enterprise managers are wondering whether there are any potential hidden costs involving the use of dual-core processors. In particular, questions have emerged about power consumption, heat dissipation and software licensing, for example.

Although dual-core processors can make your computing experience faster make sure the side-effects are worth it.

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