WinXP Home Edition take advantage of Athlon X2 processor?

[Brian]

Hi all,
I recently upgraded to an Athlon X2 3800+ dual-core processor. I am
currently running WinXP Home Edition with SP2 and all patches. How can I be
assured that WinXP Home is taking advantage of the dual-cores? Task Manager
does show 2 graphs under CPU and the My Computer Properties does "see" the
new processor, but I was thinking the computer would perform much faster
(opening Windows Explorer, launching Photoshop, etc. etc.)

Would upgrading to WinXP Pro. gain me anything?

Thanks much!
Brian

 

[Guest]

Hi all,
I recently upgraded to an Athlon X2 3800+ dual-core processor. I am
currently running WinXP Home Edition with SP2 and all patches. How can I be
assured that WinXP Home is taking advantage of the dual-cores? Task Manager
does show 2 graphs under CPU and the My Computer Properties does "see" the
new processor, but I was thinking the computer would perform much faster
(opening Windows Explorer, launching Photoshop, etc. etc.)

The actions you've mentioned don't benefit from parallel execution too much.
Suppose you are a poor Bedouin with just two wifes.
Can you have a baby in 4.5 months?
No, you still need 9 months - but then you get two babies.

Would upgrading to WinXP Pro. gain me anything?

Pro is definitely better than Home edition.
Then you'd be a well doing Bedouin, with a herd of camels,
and license for two more wifes

Thanks much!
Brian

--PA

 

[Yves Leclerc]

XP will only take advantage if the software you are using (besides XP) is
"dual processor" aware, which most as still not.

 

[Brian P.]

Only XP Pro supports SMP and can take advantage of multiple or dual core
processors. Your HAL would also need to be upgraded to a multiprocessor HAL.
For any apps to take advantage of both processors they would need to be
multithreaded. Processor Affinity can then be managed through task manager.

Brian P.
A+, Network+, MCP