Dont know lf XP is using dual core to full potential

[Guest]

I have an Intel Duo 2.66 GHz dual core processor, 512 MB DDR2 RAM and Intel
motherboard with 945G chipset.

Previously, I had a Pentium 4, 1.9 GHz processor, 512 MB DDR1 RAM and a slow
Mercury motherboard.

Obviously, the new system should be noticably faster than the old one.

The problem is, except for the first few days of using the new system, there
is no big difference in performance. Every thing is as slow as the old
system. Sometimes, it is even slower than the old system.

I don't know whether XP is using the dual core to the fullest potential. Of
course I see 2 logical processors in everything from the Performance tab in
the Task Manager to the System Properties and in console text in games. But I
don't see any change in performance (most of the time) compared the old
system.

Will Windows XP automatically use the dual core to the max., or is there any
way to tell it to do so?

Am I missing something? - should I do anything - change any setting after
installing the new dual core processor?

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hi Dil

Windows XP has only limited support for Dual core systems. The only way to
get the best out of them is too asign each process in Windows to each a core.
Open Task manager and choose process and set the process to use one of the
cores. This will only improve programs that are open but unfortunatly there
isn't much more you can do. Some games recognise the dual cores and use them
at the same time but this wont double your performance. Bus speeds are the
main bottleneck as dual cores dont have dual buses and the same goes for the
Memory. Upgrading your Ram to the fastest possible speed for your motherboard
will help and making sure you get all the latest patches for your games. Half
life 2's source engine has just added dual core support so more will follow.

 

[Guest]

I never knew we could set processes to use a particular core. It is
unfortunate we can't do anything beyond than that!

I got some performance boost by setting the process that runs all the time
in one core and the rest in the other core.

Anyway, thanks for the help and the other information.

- C. Senthil Kumar

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

I have an Intel Duo 2.66 GHz dual core processor, 512 MB DDR2 RAM and Intel
motherboard with 945G chipset.

Previously, I had a Pentium 4, 1.9 GHz processor, 512 MB DDR1 RAM and a
slow
Mercury motherboard.

Obviously, the new system should be noticably faster than the old one.

The problem is, except for the first few days of using the new system,
there
is no big difference in performance. Every thing is as slow as the old
system. Sometimes, it is even slower than the old system.

I don't know whether XP is using the dual core to the fullest potential.
Of
course I see 2 logical processors in everything from the Performance tab
in
the Task Manager to the System Properties and in console text in games.
But I
don't see any change in performance (most of the time) compared the old
system.

Will Windows XP automatically use the dual core to the max., or is there
any
way to tell it to do so?

Am I missing something? - should I do anything - change any setting after
installing the new dual core processor?

Thanks.

Your "Core Duo" can't be used to its full potential because Intel makes its
"Core Duo" processors from two single cores fused together; these cores
cannot communicate natively on the die, and must go out to the Northbridge
chipset to communicate, increasing latency and consuming clock cycles in
doing so.

You should have done your research prior to buying; if you wanted true dual
core speed, you should have gone AMD, which makes true dual core (not "Core
Duo") processors.

Bobby

 

[Carl Kaufmann]

Your "Core Duo" can't be used to its full potential because Intel makes its
"Core Duo" processors from two single cores fused together; these cores
cannot communicate natively on the die, and must go out to the Northbridge
chipset to communicate, increasing latency and consuming clock cycles in
doing so.

You should have done your research prior to buying; if you wanted true dual
core speed, you should have gone AMD, which makes true dual core (not "Core
Duo") processors.

Bobby

What you are describing is how the Pentium D chips work. In Core Duo
and Core 2 Duo chips the cores communicate through the L2 cache which
is shared between the two cores. This is faster than going off-die
as in the D chips.

 

[Guest]

A little out of place but does anyone know if there is more dual core
support in windows vista?

 

[frodo]

not true. not even close. an old wive's tale at best.

don't even try to play w/ affinity, it won't amount to a hill of beans
except in very rare circumstances.

Ditto, more myth. Yes, AMD X2 is better than Pentium D, but not for that
reason.

-----------

One Question: Just to be sure, is it "Core Duo", "Centrino Duo", or "Core
2 Duo"? They are not the same thing.

-----------

Ok, your first statement raises a red flag: "except for the first few
days..."

So, it was fast(er) when you first set it up? Well, it should be, because
of the clock speed increase alone. The dual cores MAY not cause a single
specific application to run faster (a 3D game for example), but the system
as a whole really should be faster. And with a VERY NOTICABLY increase in
"responsiveness".

I would check for the usual culprits, spy/malware/virus etc. Excess
startups, excess services. HD that is not set for DMA.

Install the latest Intel Chipset Drivers - they WILL be newer than what's
included XP, and you SHOULD install them.

Timely Question (24AUG06) - You didn't install the intel wireless driver
package that was just released this week, did you? It has a bug that eats
cpu cycles; they're woring on a fix.

Did you defrag it at least once since setup? The first defrag WILL make a
difference, subsequent ones not so much. DO NOT turn off the background
defrag (prefetch) - do NOT turn off the Task Scheduler (it runs the
backgrond defrag). [I don't mean to imply this will fix your problem - it
won't. But it's good advice none the less!].

Go into task manager (ctrl-shift-esc), performance tab, View | CPU History
| choose One Graph per CPU. Keep that on desktop and work for a while.
look at the graphs, both should show activity except when idle. Run a
couple of apps at once, say a CD rip in your media player and IE browsing
around. Both graphs should show reasonable activity.

----------

run some benchmarks; try the LAME Single-threaded and LAME Multi-threaded
ones, the later WILL run faster on your system - if it doesn't you've got
a problem.

Your insticts are right, it SHOULD run faster. Keep at it 'til you find
out why it doesn't seem to be doing that!!! And report back!

Good Luck.