Question When will dual core x86-64 become obsolete ?

[bobertomarley]

Was just thinking-in the last 10 years, aside from video content, the CPU resource demand has only increased for online content due to ads, data tracking, and fluff content.

I know it's hard to answer due to being all speculative, but how long will it take before scripts for advertising and data mining become so demanding that cpu'a like the 5600u in my thinkpad will become obsolete/less than snappy for basic web browsing and office use?

I do like starting with Win 8 and the colossal f up that was Windows ME, MS took note and made the OS more resource efficient, but the trend in web development has been quite the opposite.

 

[popatim]

Some say it already is.
IMO, like you, it all depends what you use it for.

 

[CountMike]

Was just thinking-in the last 10 years, aside from video content, the CPU resource demand has only increased for online content due to ads, data tracking, and fluff content.

I know it's hard to answer due to being all speculative, but how long will it take before scripts for advertising and data mining become so demanding that cpu'a like the 5600u in my thinkpad will become obsolete/less than snappy for basic web browsing and office use?

I do like starting with Win 8 and the colossal f up that was Windows ME, MS took note and made the OS more resource efficient, but the trend in web development has been quite the opposite.

Yesterday.

 

[mitch074]

With a good ad blocker? Probably a couple years. Without? Already gone in 2015.

 

[bobertomarley]

With a good ad blocker? Probably a couple years. Without? Already gone in 2015.

Haha, I don't use an ad blocker, but it's still more than adequate right now, it's still very snappy and if the CPU hits 100% usage, it's only for brief moments. But in a few years it'll be like using a core 2 duo today I'm sure

 

[InvalidError]

I have a Core2 E8400 in my living room PC, still works great for web-browsing when using adblock, also fine for most media uses.

For many other everyday uses and productivity, quad-core is getting close to the bare minimum. for comfort.

 

[geofelt]

You can get a longer life out of a laptop if you use a ssd.
The dual core processor will still go a long way.

 

[bobertomarley]

You can get a longer life out of a laptop if you use a ssd.
The dual core processor will still go a long way.

Agreed, fortunately it came with an SSD, lenovo only shipped this model with an SSD. HDD's are obsolete for boot disks IMO.

 

[bobertomarley]

I have a Core2 E8400 in my living room PC, still works great for web-browsing when using adblock, also fine for most media uses.

For many other everyday uses and productivity, quad-core is getting close to the bare minimum. for comfort.

I've read they struggle with 1080p playback on youtube, the Core 2 CPU's

 

[InvalidError]

I've read they struggle with 1080p playback on youtube, the Core 2 CPU's

Depends on the GPU. If you have absolutely no hardware acceleration, yes, software-only decode may be an issue. If the GPU can accelerate most of the video decode for the CODEC a video is using, then CPU usage will be down to 10-20% for stream splitting, audio decoding, setting up subtitle overlays if available and enabled, etc.

Video playback is trivial when most of it gets delegated to hardware acceleration.

 

[mdd1963]

My HP A4 dual core APU laptop still does Youtube duties just fine for my stepdaughter!

 

[bobertomarley]

Depends on the GPU. If you have absolutely no hardware acceleration, yes, software-only decode may be an issue. If the GPU can accelerate most of the video decode for the CODEC a video is using, then CPU usage will be down to 10-20% for stream splitting, audio decoding, setting up subtitle overlays if available and enabled, etc.

Video playback is trivial when most of it gets delegated to hardware acceleration.

Of course HW acceleration will make a world of difference, but some older CPU's might still struggle. I remember 10+ years ago I had a Pentium D, and even after upgrading to a full Bluray/ h.264 HW enabled acceleration radeon 4670, the CPU would still be be maxed out and dropped frames/artifacts on 1080p. That chip was a furnace...

 

[bobertomarley]

My HP A4 dual core APU laptop still does Youtube duties just fine for my stepdaughter!

AMD APU's have always done a fine job with HW decode in contemporary formats