What do the new multi-core computers really mean to you?
Historically, computers have come with a single processor known as the CPU. This is basically the engine of the computer. Servers that handled large numbers of transactions or many users are built with more than one CPU to split the workload and make the servers faster and more powerful. These are known as multi-processor computers.
In the race to make ever more powerful computers chip makers such as Intel, AMD, IBM, and Sun are constantly coming up with new manufacturing processes and methods to make CPUs more powerful. As the transistors and components on CPUs have gotten smaller it has become increasingly difficult for them to follow what has been known as Moore’s Law which essentially states that processors will double in speed every 18 months.
The Intel Core 2 processor, for example, has over 200 million transistors per core, so a quad-core chip has over 800 million transistors on a space about the size of a postage stamp. Amazingly, these processors are manufactured so that each transistor is only 45nm (nanometers) wide.
To give a quick idea of how small that is, here’s a comparison:
A wall nail is about 20,000,000nm
A human hair is about 90,000nm
The average bacteria is 2,000nm
A CPU transistor is 45nm
Now that is small.
Instead of just making the components smaller an idea came about to have more than one core or engine in a processor. This would essentially double the performance, but in a different way.
So back to the issue of multi-core processors and what that means to you. It really comes down to multi-tasking. When I sit there rubbing my belly and patting my head at the same time, some might say I am multi-tasking. When you are talking on the phone and changing the radio station while driving, you are multi-tasking. With computers, however, most are only capable of doing one thing at a time. They just do it so fast that you do not notice. It becomes noticeable when you watch a video, burn a DVD, download a song, and check your email all at the same time. These tasks must all share the processor and so with every new task you start each one becomes slower.
Computers with multiple processors have been able to split tasks and assign them to their own processor. Thus each task is not affected by the others. This is true multitasking on a computer.
Multiple core computers offer the same benefits. Instead of having a computer with two processors, it is now easy to have a computer that has one processor, but two “cores”. Again, a core is really a processor engine. Dual-core is a processor with two engines; quad-core has four, etc.
In reality, most workers at a company rarely do more than one thing at a time on a computer. They might talk on the phone while typing, but that does not count. While some people spend a lot of time waiting for their computers, others barely use theirs. This is an important factor to notice when making buying decisions to get the most overall productivity out of your employees.
People that do more than one thing at a time will gain a benefit from a multi-core computer. If just writing a letter, editing a spreadsheet or reading an email, they will not.
So if performance is an issue and your computers are not that old, Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon or newer, I would check the amount of RAM first. As a rule of thumb, Windows XP computers should have at least 512MB of RAM with 1GB being more appropriate. Windows Vista computers need at least 1GB of RAM with 2GB being a good amount right now.
For most office users, the added RAM will help more than a second processor core. Plus it is probably less than $40 per computer.
If you are looking to spend on IT, the Web or employee training are probably better places than new computers just for the additional cores.