benefits of a DUAL-PROCESSOR setup???

[Zedfu]

so what exactly are the benefits of a dual processor set up?? is it even worth the performance boost if any for games??? and which OS is optimus for this? just kind of curious about this.

 

[Viperoni]

win2k...or the others like Linux, etc.
Benefits: One processor can do something while the other does something.
Sometimes the program actually uses both processors for the task...like Pshop

 

[Zedfu]

although if you're a nut, you can also call it bragging rights. imagin having a dual tbird running at 1ghz+!!! oh yeah...this is bragging right alright!

 

[Priit]

hmm, RC-5 runs almost 2 times faster in SMP-system than on single processor There really isn't many applications under Win2k/NT that would benefit from extra CPU...

 

[Vegito]

Actually RC5 on a dual 500E > single 850E... only by a little!

Dual for excel rocks! I have HUGE excel sheets, 3-4 megs and I tried single processor, the damn thing died..

A Dual TBird would be interesting to see.. the design is totally different from intels'' like to see how it stacks up.. probably faster but who knows.. can't wait till it's out

 

[IaPuP]

In my tests, RC5 got a 101% improvement in going from 1 Celeron@450 to 2 Celerons@450.

Games, honestly don't go faster.

Under EXTREME load with Quake 3, you can see some improvement- especially with an Aureal 3d card since that runs in a separate thread, but the overhead from the second CPU can slow things down some.

Eric

 

[BurntKooshie]

RC5, and OGR get nearly (like, >95%) double the performance. Very few programs get this, because of memory overhead, and not everything can be multi-threaded like RC5 can.

Though its a bit dated, meaning, the processors themselves are old, I highly recommend reading this and this and even this too. Its a lot of reading, but it gives one a pretty good idea about the impact that multi-threading has.

 

[Gunslinger]

I think programs start a little snappier, plus some graphics programs seem faster.
Quake 3 uses SMP, but not many others do. I like to be able to have multiple tasks open at one time, and SMP helps handle the load. I am moving this system to be my server and have an Athlon 800 @ 1 ghz ready to take it's place.

RC5 definitely hauls butt with duallies.


For more info go here

 

[IsOs]

Internet Explorer seems faster as well as the downloads. Recalc with Excel is also faster. Photoshop loves dual and of course RC5.

 

[RAIDeon]

think about the consequences if you do go dual. You will never feel good going back to 1.

 

[VoodooExtreme]

<< IsOs: Internet Explorer seems faster as well as the downloads >>



I was thinking about gettig a T1 but now instead I'm putting my money in a dual setup... Do the downloads increase much?

 

[ArkAoss]

i am waiting on dual amd boards, will problly be standard ddr so. . . i have some nice intel boards, but they arnt too special either, so when i build my next power house i am definitly switching to amd, DUAL, not cause i think amds hafta be dual to beat intel (my fastest cpu is 500mhz,) but the jump from single 500 to dual 1 gig will make all my friends jelous (-sp??) so alot has to do with bragging rights.

 

[NOX]

Here are just some of the benefits:
CPU Bench
CPU Multimedia Bench

There are more, like others have said RC5 runs much faster, and at 933MHz 2x it does. Photoshop also runs much faster, on my system Photoshop will take only 3-4 secs to to start up. There are other benefits, but these are just some.

RAIDeon said it best, once you go dual it's hard to go back. I'm just waiting for SMP boards to show up for AMD. Dual 1.2GHz T-Birds, Yeeeaahhhh Babyyyy!

 

[paulip88]

Zedfu,

A dual processor setup allows certain applications to utilize more processing power (from the additional CPU). Not many games use this, aside from Quake (from what I hear at least), so don't expect any kind of improvement for that. Besides, that is where the graphics card usually comes in.

As for the OS, NT and Win2k are the ones that can fully support the multiple processors since they support a multiprocessor kernel.

Overall, multiple processorts would only be a boon if you are running server apps, graphics apps like Photoshop, or certain calc intensive apps that can use the extra CPU.

For games, spend your money on a better graphics card. You'll get further that way.

 

[paulip88]

VoodooExtreme,

I see no reason why downloads would go faster. Unless there was some sort of software bottleneck, which probably would not be the case with your PIII 866.

For faster downloads, get more bandwidth.