AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Tonkadad, Dec 25, 2005.

  1. Do they really make a difference, being dual core with regular software?
     
  2. No manufacturer ever said so.
     
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  4. Most important is the fact that all this fuzz about speed is mostly due to commercial interests.
    Intel and AMD prefer to sell topline CPU's because the price increases exponential while the performance doesn't.
    The differences in performance with a good average PC sometimes can't even be mesure with a stopwatch.
    On top of that for numbercrunching you don't need superpower.

    Buying the fastest CPU has no correlation with the performance of the trader.
    So if you buy a PC buy that CPU where the increase of the price matches with the increase of the performance of the CPU. Don't pay 50% more for a CPU that is 2% faster.

    I run Tradestation, Esignal, Excel, Internet Explorer and my brokers software on a P4 2.4 GHZ with 512Mb of RAM without any problems.
    I even have an old backup PC AMD K6 500Mhz that does the same job. Only at the startup he is slower.

    It is like comparing a Ferrari 360 with a Porsche Carrera GT.
    The Porsche is slighty faster but costs 3 times the price of the Ferrari.
    A a good trader/investor you should keep an eye on the rate of return of your investment.
    On the other hand, if you are succesful as a trader you can buy anything without bothering about the price.
     
  5. depends on how "regular" the software really is.

    the dual core processors are faster in most cases because there are many threads and processes running at the same time when a operating system is running

    however, not many applications will directly take advantage of having a dual core processor, because they do not use threads, or do not use them effectively.

    if you are running IB, you might able to see some difference, because Java Virtual Machine uses threads extensively.

    if you are upgrading for performance, the difference of the new processor performance will be satisifactory

    if you are upgrading just for the sake of having dual core. you might be disappointed.

    tomshardware.com have alot of benchmarks regarding this topic...

    but dual core does not mean it doubles the speed of the CPU.



     
  6. I got a Pentium D, comparing with a Pentium 4 2.2 GHz I had before is really much more faster, I run a lot of programs at same time, no problems.
     
  7. nkhoi

    nkhoi

    HP Pavilion Dual Core 1,100 after rebate


    AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 4200+ dual-core - 2.0GHz
    FREE UPGRADE from 512MB to 1024MB 400MHz (2x512)
    250GB 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive
    LightScribe Double Layer 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW drive
    256MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce 6600, TV-Out and DVI
    Integrated 5.1 Capable Sound w/ front audio ports
    $50 REBATE HP vs19c 19in Flat Panel

    ITEM 959113

    conditions:

    had to be costco member, request Wallet coupon book,
    valid 2/20-2/25 only, apply coupon and instance $100 of at register to get the saving.
     
  8. Norp

    Norp

    Do you have anymore specifics, links, phone numbers how I buy this computer?

    What brand is it?
    I am a costco member

    thanks
    Norp
     
  9. nkhoi

    nkhoi

  10. mrtwo

    mrtwo

    Basically, if the application uses multiple processing threads to execute tasks in parallel, you will experience a significant performance boost, otherwise you will not be gaining much.

    When I optimize systems using Amibroker for example (Amibroker doesnt use multiple threads during optimization), CPU usage of my dual-core machine stays around 50% - the one thread Amibroker uses consumes all the processor time of one of the cores while the second one is idle.

    I hope that helps :)

    Peace,
    MrTwo
     
    #10     Jan 6, 2006