What is an 8 core processor on a phone. Why are eight cores of a smartphone processor better than four? Memory and its specification

New 8th generation Core processors (Coffee Lake). Among other things, the company said that the new 6/12-core Core i7-8700K is the best gaming processor from Intel (measured by fps on a sample of AAA games). In addition, the company for the first time understaffed the Core i5 family with six-core chips.

Core i7-8700K is a clear flagship among all the new products presented. In Game Gears of War it shows 25% more fps compared to the 7th generation Core i7-7700K processor (4 cores, 8 threads). It is clear that multi-threaded applications should receive the greatest performance gain (if there are already 12 threads here). So it is: if you simultaneously play Player Unknown: Battlegrounds, while recording and broadcasting to the Internet, the performance gain is 45%, according to Intel representatives.

Of course, not only players will benefit from performance gains, but also users of other multi-threaded applications. For example, a significant difference should be observed in programs like Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing, although Intel does not provide benchmarks, this is just a guess.

All new processors are manufactured using a process that Intel calls 14nm ++, that is, this is the third generation of the 14nm process technology (two pluses correspond to two improvements from the original version).

Main characteristics of 8th generation processors

CPU	Number of cores	Frequency (base)	Frequency (boost)	L3 cache	TDP
i7-8700K ($359)	6/12	3.8GHz	4.7 GHz	12 MB	95 W
i7-8700 ($303)	6/12	3.2 GHz	4.6 GHz	12 MB	65 W
i5-8600K ($257)	6/6	3.6 GHz	4.3 GHz	9 MB	95 W
i5-8400 ($182)	6/6	2.8GHz	4.0 GHz	9 MB	65 W
i3-8350K ($168)	4/4	4.0 GHz	No	6 MB	91 W
i3-8100 ($117)	4/4	3.6 GHz	No	6 MB	65 W

The Core i5 and i7 processors work with DDR4-2666 memory, while the Core i3 processors work with DDR4-2400 memory.

By increasing the number of cores across the entire line of processors, Intel seems to be playing in the AMD field, that is, trying to build a defense strategy against a competitor. More cores on processors at the same price is one of the key strategies that AMD's Ryzen offering is based on. On the other hand, Intel itself very rarely increases the number of cores in its CPUs. By doing this now, it not only offers users a better product, but also strikes at a competitor.

Intel is increasing the number of cores in its non-HEDT processors for the first time since 2006's Core 2 Extreme QX6700. Until now, if you wanted more than four cores, you had to switch to HEDT (high-end desktop) processors. Now, more than 4-core processors have finally become standard. Such sacrifices have to be made by Intel to resist Ryzen!

The new processors had to slightly reduce the clock frequency. The Core i7-8700K has a base clock speed of 500 MHz less than the Kaby Lake i7-7700K. However, in turbo mode, the frequency is already 200 MHz higher, which is rather strange. According to some experts, the decrease in the base clock frequency is due to the restrictions on maximum power consumption. This is hinted at by the fact that the TDP in the i7-8700K has increased slightly compared to the i7-7700K: from 91 to 95 watts.

The “K” mark in the chip name also means that these chips are unlocked for overclocking. In terms of the number of cores and the volume of the L3 cache, they do not differ from their counterparts without “K”, but initially they operate at a higher frequency and generate more heat, that is, they consume more energy.

All processors run in socket LGA 1151 with the new Intel Z370 chipset, more advanced than the Z270 chipset for Kaby Lake processors. Here, the memory clock speed has slightly increased, the number of PCI 3.0 lines has grown to 40, there is built-in support for Thunderbolt 3.0. Switching to new motherboards was necessary anyway, because six-core processors require new ways of supplying power from the motherboard, said Anand Srivatsa, general manager of desktop platforms at Intel.

All processors also support Intel Optane memory acceleration technology. Now the Intel Optane device works as a kind of analogue of the SSD for the data that got into the cache, even if the computer has an HDD installed.

Acceptance of orders for new microcircuits begins on October 5th. Deliveries will begin on October 20, 2017.

What are the differences between quad-core and octa-core smartphone processors? The explanation is quite simple. Eight-core chips have twice as many processor cores as quad-core ones. At first glance, an octa-core processor seems twice as powerful, doesn't it? In fact, nothing like this happens. To understand why an eight-core processor does not double the performance of a smartphone, some explanation is required. The future of smartphone processors is here. Eight-core processors, which until recently could only be dreamed of, are becoming more common. But it turns out that their task is not to improve the performance of the device.

Quad- and eight-core processors. Performance

The terms "eight-core" and "quad-core" themselves reflect the number of cores of the central processor.

But the key difference between the two types of processors - at least as of 2015 - is the way the processor cores are installed.

With a quad-core processor, all cores can work simultaneously to provide fast and flexible multitasking, smoother 3D gaming, and faster camera performance, among other tasks.

Modern eight-core chips, in turn, simply consist of two quad-core processors, which distribute different tasks among themselves depending on their type. Most often, an eight-core chip will have a set of four cores with a lower clock speed than the second set. When a complex task needs to be completed, of course, a faster processor takes over.

A more accurate term than "octa-core" would be "dual quad-core". But it doesn't sound as pretty and is not suitable for marketing purposes. Therefore, these processors are called eight-core.

Why do we need two sets of processor cores?

What is the reason for the combination of two sets of processor cores, transferring tasks to one another, in one device? To ensure energy efficiency.

A more powerful CPU consumes more power and the battery needs to be charged more frequently. And batteries are a much weaker link in a smartphone than processors. As a result, the more powerful the smartphone's processor, the more capacious the battery it needs.

That being said, for most smartphone tasks, you won't need as much processing power as a modern processor can provide. Navigating between home screens, checking messages, and even navigating the web are less CPU-intensive tasks.

But HD-video, games and working with photos are such tasks. Therefore, eight-core processors are quite practical, although it is difficult to call this solution elegant. A weaker processor handles less resource-intensive tasks. More powerful - more resource intensive. As a result, overall power consumption is reduced compared to the situation when only a processor with a high clock speed would handle all tasks. Thus, the dual processor primarily solves the problem of improving energy efficiency, not performance.

Technological features

All modern eight-core processors are based on the ARM architecture, the so-called big.LITTLE.

This eight-core big.LITTLE architecture was announced in October 2011 and allowed four low-end Cortex-A7 cores to work in conjunction with four high-end Cortex-A15 cores. ARM has since repeated this approach annually, offering more capable chips for both sets of processor cores on the eight-core chip.

Some of the major mobile device chip manufacturers have focused their efforts on this big.LITTLE eight-core sample. One of the first and most notable was Samsung's own chip, known as Exynos. Its eight-core model has been used since the Samsung Galaxy S4, at least in some versions of the company's devices.

More recently, Qualcomm has also started using big.LITTLE in its eight-core Snapdragon 810 CPU chips. It is on this processor that such well-known novelties of the smartphone market as the HTC One M9 and G Flex 2, which have become a great achievement of LG, are based.

In early 2015, NVIDIA introduced the Tegra X1, a new high performance mobile processor that the company is targeting in-vehicle computing. The main feature of the X1 is its console-challenging GPU, which is also based on the big.LITTLE architecture. That is, it will also become eight-core.

Is there a big difference for the average user?

Is there a big difference between a quad- and octa-core smartphone processor for the average user? No, in fact it is very small, according to Jon Mandi.

The term "octa-core" introduces some confusion, but in fact it means duplication of quad-core processors. The result is two independent quad-core sets, combined on a single chip to improve energy efficiency.

Do you need an eight-core processor in every modern smartphone. There is no such need, Yon Mandy believes and gives an example of Apple providing decent energy efficiency of their iPhones with just a dual-core processor.

Thus, the eight-core ARM big.LITTLE architecture is one of the possible solutions to one of the most important tasks regarding smartphones - battery life. According to Jon Mundy, as soon as another solution to this problem is found, the trend of installing two quad-core sets in one chip will stop, and such solutions will go out of fashion.

The processor of the current smartphone at times has more cores than a similar desktop device. Does this mean that the productivity of such a smartphone is more significant than that of a PC? Does an Android smartphone need 8 or, more staggeringly, 10 cores? There is an opinion that such a large number of cores processor is not required. An important feature of mobile device processors is that not every core has the same clock speed. For example, all cylinders of a car engine have the same capacity. And this is a completely different matter. Octa-core processors, for example, Samsung Exynos 7420, have two different sets of cores.

4 cores are highly productive, the same number are less energy consuming. When it comes to mundane tasks like managing new e-mails, there is no need for significant processor productivity. Gary Sims, in his own post on the subject, explains why this approach makes sense, and also introduces readers to the engineering and marketing reasons behind the transition to the manufacture of multi-core processors, despite the fact that they do not increase the productivity of a smart phone .

When there are two sets of cores, Android will use those that will most effectively master a particular task. Network connections are characterized by significant downtime and latency, performing tasks is a completely different matter. If you are running a game, there will be a need for high performance cores.

Technical Benefit

We know this approach to separation of processes as "heterogeneous computing". In this case, not all cores are equal. For this technique to work, the system scheduler must know that the cores have different characteristics, and assign tasks to the cores accordingly.

The ARM heterogeneous computing model is called big.LITTLE. 8 big.LITTLE cores form two clusters. One of them accommodates 4 Cortex-A57 or Cortex-A72 cores. These cores have a lot of processing power. The other cluster consists of 64-bit Cortex-A53 cores, which are quite power efficient as they have a lower clock speed. Chip designers can create not only a 4+4 model, they can also create other models, such as 2+4 (dual-core Cortex-A57 kit and quad-core A53), just like in Snapdragon 808.

If you increase the number of cores in a computer, it will become more powerful, but this rule does not work with smartphones. For example, a computer processor has 8 cores, it works more fruitfully than a quad-core one. And if you increase the number of cores in a smartphone, then it will simply become more energy efficient.

If we talk about MediaTek X20, then this 10 core processor designed to reduce energy consumption by a third than the analyzed two-cluster design. The processor has two cores with high performance, four with mediocre performance, and another four with the lowest power consumption. This processor allows you to significantly reduce power consumption in relation to elementary tasks, such as browsing websites, video materials, or using the social network Facebook.

In reality, a smartphone cannot use more than 3 cores in one scenario, according to Forbes analyst Patrick Moorhead. The only question is which cores are currently in operation for the operating system.

Does your smartphone have a big.LITTLE two- or three-cluster architecture at its disposal? Then there will be those cores that are most suitable for the task being implemented. The more resource-intensive the task, the more powerful set of cores will be used to implement it. In other cases, the choice will fall on more energy efficient sets of processor cores with low clock speeds. Chip makers are experimenting to find the best balance to be struck between productivity and energy efficiency.

Benefit in marketing

Speaking about Intel, we can safely say that the company does not have processors with heterogeneous calculations and can give smartphones the 4x86 option at most, and it is in this option that the energy efficiency of processors is acceptable. Intel is trying to become a super developer of processors for mobile devices and is even ready to offer its own processors to device suppliers for next to nothing, notes Gary Sims. And this means that competitors need to find their chip in marketing in order to stand against Intel. Such an advantage is 8- and 10-core processors. That is why the big.LITTLE option has an advantage in terms of marketing. In 2015, smartphones with 8-core processors more and more conquer the market, among them you can find extremely interesting models.

Do you agree that the big.LITTLE model is a good engineering option, or will it run out of steam soon? Perhaps its value is more marketing? Is there a future for 10-core processors and will MediaTek authorize device vendors to increase the use of their own chips?

Many people, when buying a processor, try to choose something cooler, with multiple cores and a high clock speed. But at the same time, few people know what the number of processor cores actually affects. Why, for example, an ordinary and simple dual-core can be faster than a quad-core or the same “perc” with 4 cores will be faster than a “perc” with 8 cores. This is a rather interesting topic, which is definitely worth exploring in more detail.

Introduction

Before starting to figure out what the number of processor cores affects, I would like to make a small digression. Until a few years ago, CPU designers were confident that manufacturing technologies, which are developing so rapidly, will allow the production of "gems" with clock speeds up to 10 GHz, which will allow users to forget about problems with poor performance. However, no success was achieved.

No matter how the technical process developed, that "Intel", that "AMD" ran into purely physical limitations, which simply did not allow the release of "processors" with a clock frequency of up to 10 GHz. Then it was decided to focus not on frequencies, but on the number of cores. Thus, a new race for the production of more powerful and efficient processor "crystals" began, which continues to this day, but is no longer as active as it was at first.

Intel and AMD processors

Today, Intel and AMD are direct competitors in the processor market. Looking at revenue and sales, the Blues will have a clear advantage, though the Reds have been trying to keep up lately. Both companies have a good range of ready-made solutions for all occasions - from a simple processor with 1-2 cores to real monsters with more than 8 cores. Typically, such "stones" are used on special working "computers" that have a narrow focus .

Intel

So, to date, Intel has 5 types of processors that are successful: Celeron, Pentium, and i7. Each of these "stones" has a different number of cores and are designed for different tasks. For example, Celeron has only 2 cores and is used mainly on office and home computers. Pentium, or, as it is also called, “stump”, is also used at home, but already has much better performance, primarily due to Hyper-Threading technology, which “adds” two more virtual cores to two physical cores, which are called threads . Thus, a dual-core "perc" works like the most budgetary quad-core, although this is not entirely correct, but the main point is precisely this.

As for the Core line, the situation is approximately the same. The younger model with the number 3 has 2 cores and 2 threads. The older line - Core i5 - already has full-fledged 4 or 6 cores, but lacks the Hyper-Threading function and does not have additional threads, except for 4-6 standard ones. And lastly, core i7 are top processors, which, as a rule, have from 4 to 6 cores and twice as many threads, i.e., for example, 4 cores and 8 threads or 6 cores and 12 threads.

AMD

Now it's worth talking about AMD. The list of "pebbles" from this company is huge, it makes no sense to list everything, since most of the models are simply outdated. It is perhaps worth noting the new generation, which in a sense "copies" Intel - Ryzen. In this line, there are also models with numbers 3, 5 and 7. The main difference from the "blue" ones for Ryzen is that the youngest model immediately provides full-fledged 4 cores, while the older one has not 6, but as many as eight. In addition, the number of threads also changes. Ryzen 3 - 4 threads, Ryzen 5 - 8-12 (depending on the number of cores - 4 or 6) and Ryzen 7 - 16 threads.

It is worth mentioning another "red" line - FX, which appeared in 2012, and, in fact, this platform is already considered obsolete, but due to the fact that now more and more programs and games begin to support multithreading, the Vishera line again has gained popularity, which, along with low prices, is only growing.

Well, as for the disputes regarding the frequency of the processor and the number of cores, then, in fact, it is more correct to look towards the second one, since everyone has already decided on clock frequencies, and even top models from Intel work at nominal 2.7, 2.8 , 3 GHz. In addition, the frequency can always be raised with the help of overclocking, but in the case of a dual-core it will not give much effect.

How to find out how many cores

If someone does not know how to determine the number of processor cores, then this can be done easily and simply without downloading and installing separate special programs. You just need to go to the "Device Manager" and click on the small arrow next to the "Processors" item.

You can get more detailed information about what technologies your "stone" supports, what clock speed it has, its revision number and much more with the help of a special and small program CPU-Z. You can download it for free on the official website. There is a version that does not require installation.

Advantage of two cores

What could be the advantage of a dual-core processor? A lot of things, for example, in games or applications, in the development of which single-threaded work was the main priority. Take, for example, the game World of Tanks. The most common dual-core processors like Pentium or Celeron will give quite a decent performance result, while some FX from AMD or INTEL Core will use much more of its capabilities, and the result will be about the same.

The better 4 cores

How can 4 cores be better than two? The best performance. Quad-core "stones" are already designed for more serious work, where simple "stumps" or "celerons" simply cannot cope. An excellent example here is any 3D graphics program, such as 3Ds Max or Cinema4D.

During the rendering process, these programs use the maximum resources of the computer, including RAM and processor. Dual-core CPUs will be very far behind in rendering processing time, and the more complex the scene, the more time they will need. But processors with four cores will cope with this task much faster, since additional threads will also come to their aid.

Of course, you can take some budget processor from the Core i3 family, for example, the 6100 model, but 2 cores and 2 additional threads will still be inferior to a full-fledged quad-core.

6 and 8 cores

Well, the last segment of multi-core processors - processors with six and eight cores. Their main purpose, in principle, is exactly the same as that of the CPU above, only now they are needed where ordinary "quads" cannot cope. In addition, full-fledged specialized computers are built on the basis of "stones" with 6 and 8 cores, which will be "sharpened" for certain activities, for example, video editing, 3D modeling programs, rendering ready-made heavy scenes with a large number of polygons and objects, etc. d.

In addition, such multi-cores show themselves very well in working with archivers or in applications where good computing capabilities are needed. In games that are optimized for multithreading, such processors have no equal.

What affects the number of processor cores

So, what else can the number of cores affect? First of all, to increase energy consumption. Yes, as surprising as it may sound, it is true. You should not worry too much, because in everyday life this problem, so to speak, will not be noticeable.

The second is heating. The more cores, the better the cooling system needed. A program called AIDA64 will help measure the temperature of the processor. At startup, you need to click on "Computer", and then select "Sensors". You need to monitor the temperature of the processor, because if it constantly overheats or runs at too high temperatures, then after a while it will simply burn out.

Dual-cores are unfamiliar with such a problem, because they do not have too high performance and heat dissipation, respectively, but multi-cores do. The "hottest" stones are from AMD, especially the FX series. For example, take the FX-6300 model. The processor temperature in the AIDA64 program is around 40 degrees and this is in idle mode. Under load, the figure will grow and if overheating occurs, the computer will turn off. So, when buying a multi-core processor, you should not forget about the cooler.

What influences the number of processor cores yet? For multitasking. Dual-core processors will not be able to provide stable performance when working in two, three or more programs at the same time. The simplest example is streamers on the Internet. In addition to playing some game at high settings, they have a program running in parallel that allows you to broadcast the game process to the Internet online, and an Internet browser with several open pages, where the player, as a rule, reads comments people watching it and keeping track of other information. Even far from every multi-core processor can provide proper stability, not to mention dual- and single-core processors.

It is also worth saying a few words about the fact that multi-core processors have a very useful thing called "L3 Cache". This cache has a certain amount of memory, which constantly records various information about running programs, actions performed, etc. All this is needed in order to increase the speed of the computer and its performance. For example, if a person often uses Photoshop, then this information will be stored in the memory of the porridge, and the time to start and open the program will be significantly reduced.

Summarizing

Summing up the conversation about what the number of processor cores affects, we can come to one simple conclusion: if you need good performance, speed, multitasking, work in heavy applications, the ability to comfortably play modern games, etc., then your choice is processor with four cores or more. If you need a simple "computer" for office or home use, which will be used to a minimum, then 2 cores is what you need. In any case, when choosing a processor, first of all, you need to analyze all your needs and tasks, and only after that consider any options.

The first computer processors with multiple cores appeared on the consumer market back in the mid-2000s, but many users still do not quite understand what multi-core processors are and how to understand their characteristics.

Video format of the article "The whole truth about multi-core processors"

A simple explanation of the question "what is a processor"

The microprocessor is one of the main devices in a computer. This dry official name is often shortened to just "processor"). The processor is a microcircuit, comparable in area to a matchbox. If anything, the processor is like a motor in a car. The most important part, but not the only one. The car also has wheels, and a body, and a player with headlights. But it is the processor (like the motor of the car) that determines the power of the “machine”.

Many people call the processor a system unit - a “box” inside which all PC components are located, but this is fundamentally wrong. The system unit is a computer case along with all its constituent parts - a hard drive, RAM and many other details.

Processor Function - Calculations. It doesn't really matter which ones. The fact is that all the work of a computer is tied exclusively to arithmetic calculations. Addition, multiplication, subtraction and other algebra - this is all done by a microcircuit called a "processor". And the results of such calculations are displayed on the screen in the form of a game, a Word file, or just a desktop.

The main part of the computer that deals with calculations is here, what is a processor.

What is a processor core and multi-core

From the beginning of the processor "ages" these microcircuits were single-core. The core is, in fact, the processor itself. Its main and main part. Processors also have other parts - say, "legs" - contacts, microscopic "wiring" - but it is the block that is responsible for the calculations that is called processor core. When the processors became quite small, the engineers decided to combine several cores within one processor "case" at once.

If we imagine the processor as an apartment, then the core is a large room in such an apartment. A one-room apartment is one processor core (large room-hall), a kitchen, a bathroom, a corridor ... A two-room apartment is already like two processor cores along with other rooms. There are also three-, and four, and even 12-room apartments. Also in the case of processors: inside one crystal - "apartment" there can be several cores - "rooms".

Multi-core- this is the division of one processor into several identical functional blocks. The number of blocks is the number of cores within a single processor.

Varieties of multi-core processors

There is a misconception: “the more cores a processor has, the better.” This is how marketers who are paid to create these kinds of misconceptions try to present the case. Their task is to sell cheap processors, moreover, at a higher price and in huge quantities. But in fact, the number of cores is far from the main characteristic of processors.

Let's return to the analogy of processors and apartments. A two-room apartment is more expensive, more comfortable and more prestigious than a one-room apartment. But only if these apartments are located in the same area, they are equipped in the same way, and their renovation is similar. There are weak four-core (or even 6-core) processors that are much weaker than dual-core ones. But it’s hard to believe in it: still, the magic of large numbers 4 or 6 against “some” two. However, this is exactly what happens very, very often. It seems like the same four-room apartment, but in a dead state, without repair, in a completely remote area - and even at the price of a chic "kopeck piece" in the very center.

How many cores are there in a processor?

For personal computers and laptops, single-core processors have not really been produced for several years, and finding them on sale is a rarity. The number of cores starts with two. Four cores - as a rule, these are more expensive processors, but there is a return on them. There are also 6-core processors that are incredibly expensive and much less useful in practical terms. Few tasks can get a performance boost on these monstrous crystals.

There was an experiment by AMD to create 3-core processors, but this is already in the past. It turned out pretty well, but their time has passed.

By the way, AMD also produces multi-core processors, but, as a rule, they are noticeably weaker than competitors from Intel. True, and the price is much lower. You just need to know that 4 cores from AMD will almost always be noticeably weaker than the same 4 cores from Intel.

Now you know that processors have 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 cores. Single-core and 12-core processors are a rarity. Tri-core processors are a thing of the past. Six-core processors are either very expensive (Intel) or not strong enough (AMD) to overpay for the number. 2 and 4 cores are the most common and practical devices, from the weakest to the most powerful.

Frequency of multi-core processors

One of the characteristics of computer processors is their frequency. Those same megahertz (and more often gigahertz). Frequency is an important characteristic, but far from the only one.. Yes, perhaps not the most important. For example, a 2GHz dual-core processor is a more powerful offering than its 3GHz single-core counterpart.

It is completely wrong to assume that the frequency of the processor is equal to the frequency of its cores, multiplied by the number of cores. To put it simply, a 2-core processor with a core frequency of 2 GHz does not have a total frequency of 4 GHz in any case! Even the concept of "general frequency" does not exist. In this case, CPU frequency is exactly 2 GHz. No multiplications, additions or other operations.

And again, "turn" the processors into apartments. If the height of the ceilings in each room is 3 meters, then the total height of the apartment will remain the same - all the same three meters, and not a centimeter higher. No matter how many rooms there are in such an apartment, the height of these rooms does not change. Also clock frequency of processor cores. It doesn't add up or multiply.

Virtual multi-core, or Hyper-Threading

There are also virtual processor cores. Hyper-Threading technology in Intel processors makes the computer "think" that there are actually 4 cores inside a dual-core processor. Much like a single hard drive is divided into several logical- local drives C, D, E and so on.

Hyper-Threading is a very useful technology in a number of tasks.. Sometimes it happens that the processor core is only half used, and the rest of the transistors in its composition are idle. Engineers figured out a way to make these idlers work too by dividing each physical processor core into two "virtual" parts. As if a fairly large room was divided into two by a partition.

Does it make practical sense virtual core trick? Most often - yes, although it all depends on the specific tasks. It seems that there are more rooms (and most importantly, they are used more rationally), but the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room has not changed. In offices, such partitions are incredibly useful, in some residential apartments - too. In other cases, partitioning the room (dividing the processor core into two virtual ones) makes no sense at all.

Note that the most expensive performance class processorsCorei7 are without fail equippedHyper-threading. They have 4 physical cores and 8 virtual ones. It turns out that 8 computational threads work simultaneously on one processor. Less expensive but also powerful Intel class processors Corei5 consist of four cores, but Hyper Threading does not work there. It turns out that Core i5 work with 4 computation threads.

Processors Corei3- typical "middle peasants", both in price and performance. They have two cores and no hint of Hyper-Threading. In total, it turns out that Corei3 only two computational threads. The same applies to frankly budget crystals. Pentium andCeleron. Two cores, no "hype-threading" = two threads.

Does a computer need many cores? How many cores do you need in a processor?

All modern processors are powerful enough for common tasks.. Browsing the Internet, chatting in social networks and e-mail, Word-PowerPoint-Excel office tasks: weak Atom, budget Celeron and Pentium are suitable for this work, not to mention the more powerful Core i3. Two cores are more than enough for normal work. A processor with a large number of cores will not bring a significant increase in speed.

For games, you should pay attention to the processorsCorei3 ori5. Rather, gaming performance will depend not on the processor, but on the video card. It's rare that a game will need all the power of the Core i7. Therefore, it is believed that games require no more than four processor cores, and more often two cores will do.

For serious work like special engineering programs, video encoding and other resource-intensive tasks really productive equipment is required. Often, not only physical, but also virtual processor cores are involved here. The more computing threads, the better. And it doesn't matter how much such a processor costs: for professionals, the price is not so important.

Is there any benefit to multi-core processors?

Certainly yes. At the same time, the computer is engaged in several tasks - at least the operation of Windows (by the way, these are hundreds of different tasks) and, at the same moment, playing a movie. Playing music and browsing the Internet. The work of a text editor and the included music. Two processor cores - and these are, in fact, two processors, will cope with different tasks faster than one. Two cores will make it somewhat faster. Four is even faster than two.

In the early years of the existence of multi-core technology, not all programs were able to work even with two processor cores. By 2014, the vast majority of applications are well aware of and able to take advantage of multiple cores. The speed of processing tasks on a dual-core processor is rarely doubled, but there is almost always a performance boost.

Therefore, the rooted myth that supposedly programs cannot use multiple cores is outdated information. Once upon a time it was true, today the situation has improved dramatically. The benefits of multiple cores are undeniable, that's a fact.

When the processor has fewer cores, it's better

You should not buy a processor with the wrong formula "the more cores, the better." This is not true. Firstly, 4, 6 and 8-core processors are noticeably more expensive than their dual-core counterparts. A significant increase in price is not always justified in terms of performance. For example, if an 8-core processor is only 10% faster than a CPU with fewer cores, but will be 2 times more expensive, then such a purchase is difficult to justify.

Secondly, the more cores a processor has, the more “gluttonous” it is in terms of power consumption. It makes no sense to buy a much more expensive laptop with a 4-core (8-thread) Core i7 if this laptop will only process text files, browse the Internet, and so on. There will be no difference with the dual-core (4 threads) Core i5, and the classic Core i3 with only two computing threads will not yield to the more eminent "colleague". And from a battery, such a powerful laptop will work much less than an economical and undemanding Core i3.

Multi-core processors in mobile phones and tablets

The fashion for several computing cores within one processor also applies to mobile devices. Smartphones, along with tablets with a large number of cores, almost never use the full capabilities of their microprocessors. Dual-core mobile computers sometimes really work a little faster, but 4, and even more so 8 cores, are overkill. The battery is consumed completely godlessly, and powerful computing devices are simply idle. The conclusion is that multi-core processors in phones, smartphones and tablets are just a tribute to marketing, and not an urgent need. Computers are more demanding devices than phones. They really need two processor cores. Four won't hurt. 6 and 8 are overkill in normal tasks and even in games.

How to choose a multi-core processor and not make a mistake?

The practical part of today's article is relevant for 2014. It is unlikely that anything will change in the coming years. We will only talk about processors manufactured by Intel. Yes, AMD offers good solutions, but they are less popular, and it is more difficult to understand them.

Note that the table is based on 2012-2014 sample processors. Older samples have different characteristics. Also, we did not mention rare variants of the CPU, for example, the single-core Celeron (there are some even today, but this is an atypical variant that is almost not represented on the market). You should not choose processors solely on the number of cores inside them - there are other, more important characteristics. The table will only make it easier to choose a multi-core processor, but a specific model (and there are dozens of them in each class) should be bought only after carefully familiarizing yourself with their parameters: frequency, heat dissipation, generation, cache size and other characteristics.

CPU	Number of Cores	Computing Threads	Typical Application
atom	1-2	1-4	Low power computers and netbooks. The task of Atom processors is the minimum power consumption. Their productivity is minimal.
Celeron	2	2	The cheapest processors for desktop PCs and laptops. The performance is sufficient for office tasks, but these are not gaming CPUs at all.
Pentium	2	2	Just as inexpensive and low-performance Intel processors as Celeron. An excellent choice for office computers. Pentiums are equipped with a slightly larger cache, and sometimes slightly improved performance compared to Celeron
Core i3	2	4	Two fairly powerful cores, each of which is divided into two virtual "processors" (Hyper-Threading). These are already quite powerful CPUs at not too high prices. A good choice for a home or powerful office computer without much performance requirements.
Core i5	4	4	Full-fledged 4-core Core i5s are quite expensive processors. Their performance is lacking only in the most demanding tasks.
Core i7	4-6	8-12	The most powerful but especially expensive Intel processors. As a rule, they are rarely faster than Core i5, and only in some programs. They simply have no alternatives.

A brief summary of the article "The whole truth about multi-core processors." Instead of an abstract

• Processor core is its integral part. In fact, an independent processor inside the case. A dual-core processor is two processors inside one.
• Multi-core comparable to the number of rooms in an apartment. Two-room apartments are better than one-room apartments, but only with other things being equal (location of the apartment, condition, area, ceiling height).
• The assertion that The more cores a processor has, the better it is.- a marketing ploy, a completely wrong rule. After all, an apartment is chosen not only by the number of rooms, but also by its location, repair and other parameters. The same applies to several cores inside the processor.
• Exists "virtual" multi-core- Hyper-threading technology. Thanks to this technology, each "physical" core is divided into two "virtual" cores. It turns out that a 2-core processor with Hyper-Threading has only two real cores, but these processors simultaneously process 4 computational threads. This is a really useful feature, but a 4-thread processor cannot be considered a quad-core processor.
• For Intel desktop processors: Celeron - 2 cores and 2 threads. Pentium - 2 cores, 2 threads. Core i3 - 2 cores, 4 threads. Core i5 - 4 cores, 4 threads. Core i7 - 4 cores, 8 threads. Laptop (mobile) Intel CPUs have a different number of cores/threads.
• For mobile computers, energy efficiency (in practice, battery life) is often more important than the number of cores.