What is Dual Core Processor? Pros, Cons & More

What is Dual Core Processor?

A Dual Core Processor is a type of computer processor that contains two independent central processing units (CPUs) or “cores” within a single physical package.

These cores work together to process instructions and data, which allows for faster and more efficient multitasking, as well as improved overall performance when running multiple applications simultaneously.

Dual core processors are commonly found in modern desktop and laptop computers, as well as in some mobile devices, gaming consoles, and other electronic devices that require high processing power.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A dual core processor is twice better than the single core processor because it has two separate processors in one. However, the speed of its performance may not always double.
• The dual core processors provide better results because the workload is divided between two cores and does not need switching between threads frequently while dealing with two applications at the same time.
• The dual core processor will however consume more power than a single core processor and all of its power may not be utilized always by most of the applications you run on your system.

Understanding Dual Core Processor

If an integrated circuit is equipped with two execution cores, then that IC is called a dual core processor.

Each core has its separate Cache memory, ALU, Control Unit, FPU, Register, and each core can work as efficiently as a single core CPU.

These two cores of the IC are interlinked to each other. So, this type of processor can perform almost twice the speed of a single core processor.

Plenty of dual core processors are available in the market such as Intel core duo, the dual-core PowerPC G5, and the AMD X2.

On a single silicon chip, the developers of these processors have combined two processor cores. Check out Differences Between Dual Core and Quad Core Processor.

The developers had to try their best to reach such an effective result; the process was not an easy one.

Some advanced systems such as the PowerPC G5 Quad provide four cores to the users by using two separate dual core processors together to offer 4 times performance that of a single core processor.

Importance of Dual Core Processor

A dual core processor is twice as powerful as a single core processor. The processing ability is also twice than that of a single core processor.

But, it doesn’t mean that the processing speed will be twice. That is because some applications don’t utilize the full power of the processors.

Only some operating systems and some software use the full power of a multi-core processor.

The programs that are optimized for multi-core processors can run faster in a dual core processor than a single core CPU.

The Pros

• A dual core processor can provide a better performance than a single core processor.
• A dual core processor can provide more prominent results by dividing the processing procedure between the cores.
• While a dual core processor runs two or more than two applications, it boosts its performance accordingly. While switching between different threats a single core processor has to stop for a while, which indirectly affects the performance of the PC. But, in a dual core processor, the CPU doesn’t need to frequently switch between threads. This is because a dual core processor is able to handle two operations simultaneously.
• Some dual core processors come with the hyper threading feature. By using this feature, the processor can manage the two threads at a time.
• Clock Speed of most of the dual core processors is comparatively higher than that of a single core processor.

The Cons

• If a single core processor has higher clock speed than a dual core processor, then the performing speed of the single core processor will be better.
• Most of the applications don’t utilize the whole power of a dual core processor. Only some operating systems and some advanced programs utilize its complete capacity. It seems like a car equipped with an 8 cylinder engine runs on 4 cylinders most of the times.
• A dual core processor consumes more energy to run in comparison to a single core processor.
• Other multi-core processors like quad core or octa core are more powerful than the dual core processors. A processor with a higher number of cores can handle more number of operations.

Questions & Answers:

Conclusion

In this era of octa core processors, dual core processors are still in existence. This is enough for anyone, to understand weather a dual core processor is good or not.

A dual core processor is not as powerful as quad core or octa core processors; but dual core processors have the ability to run most of the software. But, the speed will differ from the better processors.

Most important reason of dual core processor’s survival in this era is its price, which is lower than the other processors of higher cores.