Which one's better an Intel Core Duo or a hyperthreaded P4?

Hungry ghost · 07-26-2007, 09:54 AM

Hi people, I'm currently using a hyperthreaded Pentium 4, 3.06 Ghz, 64 bits (model LGA775) on a Biostar motherboard (model P4M800-M7A). For more details, this is my 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' output:

Code:

processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 15
model           : 4
model name      : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
stepping        : 9
cpu MHz         : 3073.938
cache size      : 1024 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 1
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 5
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips        : 6154.82
clflush size    : 64

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 15
model           : 4
model name      : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
stepping        : 9
cpu MHz         : 3073.938
cache size      : 1024 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 1
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 5
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips        : 6147.70
clflush size    : 64

Ok, now I'm considering buying an Intel Core 2 Duo and selling my current machine to a friend. The specs of this Core Duo are: CPU: 2.13Ghz; RAM: DDR 512mb (though, I'd ask them to put 2Gb's of RAM); HD: 160 GB.

So, would there be a noticeable performance boost using the Intel Core 2 Duo over my current P4? (I use it mostly for desktop and gaming, and something that amaze me a bit is that the Core 2 Duo is actually a bit cheaper than the prize I paid last year for my P4).

Regards, and thanks in advance for your answers.

AlucardZero · 07-26-2007, 10:09 AM

Core 2 Duos are way better than P4s.

Hungry ghost · 07-26-2007, 10:14 AM

Yes, that's what I guessed, but I thought that being my P4 hyperthreaded with more Ghz than the Core 2 Duo, the difference would not be too much

Well, then I guess I'll buy the Core 2 Duo in a couple of weeks, when I have the money

amd0freak · 07-26-2007, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odiseo77

Yes, that's what I guessed, but I thought that being my P4 hyperthreaded with more Ghz than the Core 2 Duo, the difference would not be too much

Well, then I guess I'll buy the Core 2 Duo in a couple of weeks, when I have the money

woot. a post i can actually help. im new to linux (installed Slack 12 last week) but very good with hardware.

anyway, the 3.06 P4 does 3060MHz (3060 million cycles per second)

each cycle, it can do 6 operations

multiply 3060X6 for 18360 million operations per second

the 2.13 Core 2 Duo does 2130MHz (2130 million cycles per second) PER CORE

each cycle, it can do 12 operations FOR EACH CORE

multiply just like before, double for dual core and subtract inefficiencies (~15%)

2130X12=25560 theoretical operations per core

AnsX2 for dual core gives us 51120

subtract inefficiencies (15%) for a total of 43452 operations per second

theoretically it COULD BE 51120 but realistically it will be around 43452...which is WAY MORE THAN TWICE THE PROCESSING POWER (almost thrice) OF THE 3.06GHz P4.

now Core 2 Duo's overclock nicely even with crap cooling. on a $30 heatsink/fan i got my 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo (E6400) to 3.6GHz where it runs at 100% load 24/7 stable (folding)

at 3.4GHz overclock (AVERAGE overclock with 2.13GHz C2D) it will be 70k (69360-81600) ops per second. which pwns its about 5 times the cpu power of teh p4 then

manlydan · 07-26-2007, 02:42 PM

Yeah, a hyperthreaded processor is only one processor that is logically partitioned to imitate 2 processors.

A dual core processor is literally 2 processors.

So while a 3GHz hyperthreaded processor is better than a "non-hyperthreaded" 3GHz processor, a 2GHz dual core processor is still much better because there are 2 processors working simultaneously.

Hungry ghost · 07-26-2007, 05:12 PM

Hi people, thanks a lot for clarifying this to me (I don't know much about hardware, but that was what I was guessing). Then I'll definately go for the core 2 duo machine

amd0freak · 07-30-2007, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manlydan

Yeah, a hyperthreaded processor is only one processor that is logically partitioned to imitate 2 processors.

A dual core processor is literally 2 processors.

So while a 3GHz hyperthreaded processor is better than a "non-hyperthreaded" 3GHz processor, a 2GHz dual core processor is still much better because there are 2 processors working simultaneously.

not only this, but on the core 2 duo, each cycle it does twice the ops, per core. that in a sense quadruples it.

rkelsen · 07-30-2007, 05:43 PM

What I want to know is how long it takes to convert a 1 hour avi file to the dvd compatible mpeg2 format with a core2.

Hungry ghost · 08-11-2007, 10:38 AM

Hi people, just to let you know, I bought the core duo (core 2 duo 2 ghz, 2 gb of ram)... so far, so good; it's fast as hell, and runs smoothly, I can't even hear the processor fan sound I heard on my P4. And openoffice opens like in one second (really fast compared to the 2 secs or more it took to open on my P4).

As for the conversion speeds, I haven't converted a movie yet, but I did ripped a cd to mp3 and it took like two minutes (or maybe less, I'm not sure).

Greetings!!

manlydan · 08-12-2007, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkelsen

What I want to know is how long it takes to convert a 1 hour avi file to the dvd compatible mpeg2 format with a core2.

You can't get an accurate time based simply on the processor. How much ram you have, how large a processor cache you have, all the way to how much resources are being used by other processes running in the background play a part in how fast your machine will be.

With that said, a dual core processor is going to be faster than a single processor for all the previously mentioned reasons, but that is pretty much all that can be said about it.

jedi88ph · 08-15-2007, 05:54 PM

Could you suggest an ASUS board for Core 2 Duo processor that is supported by Linux, preferably Centos? Thanks!

angryfirelord · 08-15-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jedi88ph

Could you suggest an ASUS board for Core 2 Duo processor that is supported by Linux, preferably Centos? Thanks!

Pretty much anything should be supported, but for reference I have an Intel 965 chipset that works fine.

Avoid anything with a JMicron SATA controller as those have issues.

Electro · 08-15-2007, 07:34 PM

A Core 2 Duo processor may not be as fast as a single core processor that is designed to handle single thread applications better than a micro-architecture core. Video, sound, and image editing are single threaded.

Also stay away from motherboards that has a Marvell NIC and SATA chips. I suggest motherboards from Abit or Gigabyte. Asus are expensive for the quality and the amount of problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amd0freak

woot. a post i can actually help. im new to linux (installed Slack 12 last week) but very good with hardware.

anyway, the 3.06 P4 does 3060MHz (3060 million cycles per second)

each cycle, it can do 6 operations

multiply 3060X6 for 18360 million operations per second

the 2.13 Core 2 Duo does 2130MHz (2130 million cycles per second) PER CORE

each cycle, it can do 12 operations FOR EACH CORE

multiply just like before, double for dual core and subtract inefficiencies (~15%)

2130X12=25560 theoretical operations per core

AnsX2 for dual core gives us 51120

subtract inefficiencies (15%) for a total of 43452 operations per second

theoretically it COULD BE 51120 but realistically it will be around 43452...which is WAY MORE THAN TWICE THE PROCESSING POWER (almost thrice) OF THE 3.06GHz P4.

now Core 2 Duo's overclock nicely even with crap cooling. on a $30 heatsink/fan i got my 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo (E6400) to 3.6GHz where it runs at 100% load 24/7 stable (folding)

at 3.4GHz overclock (AVERAGE overclock with 2.13GHz C2D) it will be 70k (69360-81600) ops per second. which pwns its about 5 times the cpu power of teh p4 then

A multi-processor setup is not cumulative. Also Pentium 4 processor only can do 3 instructions per cycle. A Core 2 Duo can handle up to 12 but it may average about 4 to 6.

A threaded application can make a multi-processor behave like one processor.

rkelsen · 08-21-2007, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electro

Video, sound, and image editing are single threaded.

And this, my friends, is why I won't be upgrading any time soon.

What is the point if doing any real work takes just as long (or possibly longer) as it does on an older setup?

My 3 year old P4 can convert a 1 hour video (avi) file to DVD quality mpeg2 in about 20 minutes, depending upon the quality and level of compression. This is using mencoder from the mplayer package under Slackware 12.

If a newer processor can do better, I'll upgrade.