Head-to-Head Comparison - Dual Core Processors

As was mentioned some time ago in one of these blogs, processor manufacturers Intel and AMD have pretty much reached the limits of speed and performance in current processor design. For most of us, the speed of the current processors are just fine...at least for now. Of course that will change over time as has already happened so many times.

As new high speed processors are built, folks like Microsoft create software to take advantage of the new chips, so that eventually the new fast chips don't seem so fast after a while. That's the way it has been and the way it will always be.

But, how will processor manufacturers keep pushing the edge of faster and better performance? The answer is by creating chips that are actually two processors built inside one body, otherwise known as dual-core processors. By dividing the workload using two processors instead of one, it actually appears as if you are running faster, especially if you are doing a lot of multi-tasking.

Dual processors are not new. For a few years now, they have been building computers that use two separate processors. For the most part, these dual chips have been used in large network servers. But these required special motherboards that supported two processors actually affixed to the motherboard plus other chips that divided the workload between the two chips.

Several months ago, both AMD and Intel announced that they were making a single chip that was actually two processors in one and also included the hardware to divide the workload. Those chips are now out in the marketplace and for sale as part of computers systems. As you may have guessed, these new computers are fairly expensive, but history also shows that they will eventually drop drastically in price. In the not-to-distant future, dual processor will become the norm rather than the exception.

That means most of us will eventually buy one of these processors as part of a new computer system. Because of all the reasons mentioned so far, CNET decided to run a head-to-head contest between the two manufacturers to see whose chip(s) might be best.

Instead of just running tests to see who was the fastest, they ran a series of everyday simulations using six different criteria that an actual computer user might use, plus a seventh category that compares price to performance. Here are the seven criteria used in the test:

1. Day-to-day computing
2. Gaming
3. Multitasking
4. Photo Editing
5. MP3 Encoding
6. Video Encoding
7. Price vs Performance

You can read examine the results of each of the tests and the conclusions by going to the CNET web site. If you don't want to read it, here is the bottom line:

The AMD dual processors blew the doors off of the Intel processors! AMD won in all seven categories. In fact, it really wasn't close. And, for the most part, the AMD chips are cheaper.

I personally have always preferred AMD over Intel. In fact, the computer that I am using to write this blog is running on an AMD chip. Looks like my beliefs have been validated again. Such a relief.

Anyway, keep these new test results in mind when you are looking for your next computer.