Dual Core Processor - Explained

Dual Core Processor -
As people demand more from their computer and the tasks that computers handle become more complicated and demanding, computer manufacturers are trying hard to increase speed in order to keep up with demand। Increasing the speed of the CPU has been the traditional way to keep up, since a faster CPU can do a task faster and then quickly switch and work on the next task. However, there is a limit to how fast processor can work, due to size, complexity and heat issues. Better performance how to come from another source - dual core processing.Obviously having two CPUs working together would improve performance, but two processors working together is more expensive, and would create problems with the mother board and chipset hosting them. So the computer engineers came up with another approach: take two CPUs, and push together in to one chip and you get the power of two CPUs, that only take one socket on the motherboard. Dual core technology allows for the power of two CPUs (also known as cores, hence the name "Dual Core") with a cost that is less than two separate chips. So the "Dual Core" processor is a CPU with two separate cores on the same die, each with its own cache (and newer chips allow cache sharing which improves the functionality of the processor). It's the equivalent of getting two microprocessors in one.
How does it work? In the single core processor the CPU is fed strings of instructions it must order, execute, and then selectively store in its cache for quick retrieval। When data outside the cache is required, it is retrieved from the random access memory (RAM). Accessing this data slows down performance to the maximum speed of the RAM (or the maximum speed of the bus that connects the RAM to the CPU), which is far slower than the speed of the CPU. The situation is gets more complicated and difficult when we start multi-tasking. In these cases the processor must switch back and forth between two or more sets of data streams and programs. CPU resources are depleted and performance suffers.In a dual core processor system each core handles incoming data strings simultaneously to improve efficiency. Since two heads working on the same problem is better then one, so are two hands or two processors. When one is executing the other can be accessing the system bus or executing its own code. Adding to this favorable scenario, both AMD and Intel's dual-core flagships are 64-bit (which increases the amount of data the CPU can process at one switch).
Is it worth it? There are subtle differences between the Intel and AMD dual core systems (how they combined two cores onto one chip, and the speeds they run each core at) that affect how much of a boost in performance you can get from having a dual core CPU। Also, different types of programs get differing benefits from having a dual core chip.To utilize a dual core processor, the operating system must be able to recognize multi-threading. An operating system with multi threading will take advantage of the dual core, because the scheduler has twice the CPU processing power. The scheduler is the part of the windows operating system which tells the CPU what program to be running at any given time. When we multi task and run a lot of programs simultaneously, a computer can begin to seem slow, since Windows' scheduler has to divert the computer's CPU resources in many directions. With a dual core processor the scheduler suddenly has twice as much CPU resource to work with. This would allow the scheduler to have one core run specifically for a video editing, while using the other core to do "background" things that keep the rest of the system running. Software will only take advantage of dual core processing if the software has simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT) written into its code. SMT enables parallel multi-threading wherein the cores are served multi-threaded instructions in parallel. Without SMT the software will only recognize one core. Adobe Photoshop is an example of SMT-aware software. SMT is also used with multi-processor systems common to servers. If you are running a single program and it is not "multi-threaded", you will not see a benefit from more than one CPU or core.
So… Dual-core processor, offer immediate advantages for people looking to buy systems that boost multitasking computing power and improve the throughput of multithreaded applications. An Intel dual-core processor consists of two complete execution cores in one physical processor both running at the same frequency speed. Both cores share the same packaging and the same interface with the chipset/memory. Overall, a dual-core processor offers a way of delivering more capabilities while balancing energy-efficient performance. It seems that dual core processors are the first step in the multi-core processor future.