How does quad core work?

[the-donkey]

ok being new to this and old can some one explain to me how the quad core works? iv just bought a phenom II x4 940 black its listes as being 3GHz does that mean it has 4 sections that operate at 3GHz or is it 4 at 750Ghz or some other way?

 

[todd5854]

Quad core means you have 4 cores, each running at 3 GHz.

 

[loneninja]

It means you've got 4 individual cores that each run at 3.0Ghz. Don't mistake that as 12Ghz either as some people think the core speeds add up to something faster but they don't. If your running an older game such as UT2004 or another single threaded program, it will run off of only 1 core. Where Quad is useful is for multitasking because you can run multiple cpu intense applications at once, there are also some programs and a few games that utilize all 4 cores allowing the software to run much faster on the quad than it would a single, duel, or even triple core.

 

[the-donkey]

coooooooooool

 

[cadder]

Read my little test in this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258085-28-test-singel-core-quad-core

 

[joefriday]

"How exactly does the posi-trac rear end on a Plymouth work? It just does!"

 

[badge]

"411's. The truth behind the fupped duck release of the tri core?"

 

[blackpanther26]

It's bascially 4 CPU's in one chip. Much like a Dual_core. you may not need a quad you may do. It depends on what you do. If you run 2 F@H clients yes a Quad would be better. But also the Triple core from AMD would do good.

 

[rickzor]

Im sorry OP for using your thread to awnser my own question, but it may interest him as well.
Having for example a dual core, does that mean that only pre-designed dual core software will make use of both cores, or does it mean that if im running a lot of crap like several programs at the same time, the system will apply half of the progams to one core, and another half to the remaining core?

 

[the-donkey]

im getting the picture now i think. it seems in easy terms that its like having 4 brainy geeks teaching a class of 20 . unlike a single core that would have been joe bloggs teaching the same class. so u can run more on a duel x3 or x4 and the system will not slow down in the same way is it woul;d on say this system ( 1.9GHz amd)i am using til my new cpu arrives

 

[lashton]

games like Farcry 2 run on 2 cores, so in this example the quad core would not be better than a dual core, but in the furture games like alan wake will run on quad cores this doesn'r mean dual core wont run it because they will, quad cores will run ONLY 1 core per program UNLESS the program is optimised to use multiple cores.

 

[hedfones]

I've never understood how FOUR separate processors can operate on a single chip like that. It just doesn't seem possible.

Also, is it possible to run multiple quad cores in the same system?

 

[the-donkey]

u mean like a mother board that can take more than one chip? im sure if there is a board that can take them it will be possible one day

 

[the-donkey]

oh so a server can take more than one chip cooool

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

It already is, there are plenty of servers that support 2 quad core CPUS and not to mention the terrible Skulltrail platform of course.

 

[the-donkey]

im new 2 all this tech stuff. how much power do we really need? unless were planning taking over the world. im sure the phenomII x4 940 im installing will last me many years .

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

It should last a good few years depending on your needs. IF you game at high settings/resolution then you might need an upgrade 2+ years down the road, if you don't do anything demanding then you'll be fine.

 

[the-donkey]

i got an xbox for games i just like upgrading my pc not that i can affgord it

 

[hedfones]

Yeah, I figured there was some planer out there that supported more than 1 quad core.

im new 2 all this tech stuff. how much power do we really need? unless were planning taking over the world. im sure the phenomII x4 940 im installing will last me many years .

You'll probably want ~500 watts to make sure you don't underpower anything. I'd air on the side of caution and get a 550W or 600W power supply if you've got some high powered graphics cards in the case.

 

[the-donkey]

so far i have:.....

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition

XFX NVIDIA GF 9800GT 670M 512MB DDR3 DUAL DVI XXX Edition

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 - Motherboard

GEIL 8GB DDR2 800 CL5.0 D/C BLACK DRAGON

1TB western digital hard drive

600w cti power supply

looking for a copy of vista ultimate 64bit

 

[hedfones]

You sound pretty well set my friend.

The only thing I can suggest would be to look into a less expensive brand of memory. Brand names do not matter much in the world of computer memory.

$ 25 USD
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=GA-MA790X-DS4%20(rev.%201.0)

 

[the-donkey]

cool its still wrappd so i might sell it and get 8GB 1066 as the board can handle it the only thing i think i cocked up was the board its only sb600 not 750. i also got a boxed phenom II x4 920 and a boxed XFX NVIDIA GF 9800GT 670M 512MB DDR3 DUAL DVI XXX Edition to sell

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

The SB750 does not effect the Phenom 2s because the effect is built in to the CPUs.

 

[the-donkey]

cool thats ok then not as bad as i thought

 

[KWAK7]

Quad core means you have 4 cores, each running at 3 GHz.

So, if I have a 1.5GHz quad core, does that mean I have a MAXIMUM of 6GHz?