Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : HT & Dual Core

[Flumps]

Whats he difference between hyper threading and dual core?


I know dual core consists of having well like 2 cpus.... does this mean that dual core is better?

I have a machine at the moment that has HT just wondered if its worth upgrading to a machine that has dual core?

I do alot of graphics work and multitask alot so I do think it would be worth it. but just wondered if there was much of a difference....

my current machine is:

Intel P4 3.4 GHz HT
Packard Bell Value - 2GB Ram
250GB HDD
7800GS 256mb AGP Graphics

the new one im thinking upgrading too is:

AMD Athlon 3.8 Dual core
Geniune Kingston DDR2 4GB Ram
500GB HDD
ASUS 512mb PCIe Graphics

what do you think of the current and new spec peeps?

I have not commited to anything yet its just an idea :-s

[flashwebhost]

Better go with dual core, it is like 2 CPU's.

[Burhan]

Hyperthreading is the simultaneous processing of two threads (processes) at a given time.

The "old" CPUs can only do one task a time. Hyperthreading allows parallel tasks to occur because some parts of the CPU are duplicated; thus appearing as two CPUs to the operating system and allowing parallel tasks.

Bottom line is that a HT CPU only has one processor core; it only appears as two due to duplication of certain parts of the processor (mainly cache and architecture related components).

A dual core CPU is two actual cores on one die.

Hope this gross oversimplification helped

[Flumps]

Originally Posted by fyrestrtr

Hyperthreading is the simultaneous processing of two threads (processes) at a given time.

The "old" CPUs can only do one task a time. Hyperthreading allows parallel tasks to occur because some parts of the CPU are duplicated; thus appearing as two CPUs to the operating system and allowing parallel tasks.

Bottom line is that a HT CPU only has one processor core; it only appears as two due to duplication of certain parts of the processor (mainly cache and architecture related components).

A dual core CPU is two actual cores on one die.

Hope this gross oversimplification helped

nicely detailed, but down to the point. Thanks

[rghf]

Performance wise the following are (very very rough) idea of performance increases you can expect in ideal circumstances

P4 2.8Ghz 100%
P4 2.8Ghz with HT - 110%
Dual Core P4 2.8Ghz - 200%

or something like that

[Flumps]

Originally Posted by a2b2

Performance wise the following are (very very rough) idea of performance increases you can expect in ideal circumstances

P4 2.8Ghz 100%
P4 2.8Ghz with HT - 110%
Dual Core P4 2.8Ghz - 200%

or something like that

what about it being an AMD Athlon 3.8 Dual core can I still expect a 200% performace increase if not more?

what about the system running vista?

the new system I mean.

do you recommending running vista? the best version i mean ultimate. or should I stick with XP pro. ( I personally dont find anything wrong with XP PRO.)

[Burhan]

In order to get those performance gains though, the applications that you are running must be programmed for multi-processor (not multi-threaded).

Nearly all modern applications are multi-threaded (which means, the application can do two things at once). Simple example of this is your browser. It can download a file, while you are still browsing. That's multi-threaded (or multi tasked).

If you take the a program that is multi-threaded and stick it on a dual-core CPU, you will notice that only one of your cores is being used, the other one is at or near idle. This is because even though the application is multi-threaded, it doesn't know how to split the different threads among the two distinct cores.

However, a multi-core aware program will distribute the tasks (threads) among the two CPUs giving you the increase in performance.

Its a subtle difference but it translates into a great performance dip if you are not aware of this. One easy (non scientific) way to check what your application is doing is to monitor the processor graphs in task manager in Windows. You should see nearly equal load on both cores if the application is developed for multi-core/multi-processor architecture.

[VentureMaker]

From my experience. If you plan to use HSphere on your server - don't go with HT, HSphere won't 'eat' it

Dual Core - this is a really powerful thing, because there two physical CPU 'cores'.

[Flumps]

Originally Posted by fyrestrtr

In order to get those performance gains though, the applications that you are running must be programmed for multi-processor (not multi-threaded).

Nearly all modern applications are multi-threaded (which means, the application can do two things at once). Simple example of this is your browser. It can download a file, while you are still browsing. That's multi-threaded (or multi tasked).

If you take the a program that is multi-threaded and stick it on a dual-core CPU, you will notice that only one of your cores is being used, the other one is at or near idle. This is because even though the application is multi-threaded, it doesn't know how to split the different threads among the two distinct cores.

However, a multi-core aware program will distribute the tasks (threads) among the two CPUs giving you the increase in performance.

Its a subtle difference but it translates into a great performance dip if you are not aware of this. One easy (non scientific) way to check what your application is doing is to monitor the processor graphs in task manager in Windows. You should see nearly equal load on both cores if the application is developed for multi-core/multi-processor architecture.

thats a really handy thing to look for. thank you for pointing that out

hshpre

I was not on about a server with dual core, I am talking about a personal system.