“How Much CPU Power Is Really Needed?”

Posted by on 04/11 at 01:21 PM Permalink
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Let’s start off with some rhetorical questions. How often do you proactively and manually do a virus scan on your system when you check your email? Do you use Photoshop for more than just editing out red-eye (or at all)? When was the last time you multi-tasked with lots of programs? (More than just running FireFox, iTunes and Microsoft Word simultaneously) While most mainstream computers today have multi-core processors that can juggle several tasks, it can get confusing about how much processing power is really required for simple everyday applications. This article will discuss how multi-core CPUs relate to everyday real life computing needs.

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    Posted by Ed Stewart  on  04/11  at  02:54 PM

  1. You left a lot of good info out of this article by not mentioning Linux which is more at home utilizing multi core processors and miltitasking than any of the microsoft junk software.
    I get paid to support and repair windows but do my important work with Ubuntu 64 bit Linux, Ed

    2. Posted by Dave Post  on  04/11  at  03:13 PM

  2. Recently, I have been installing Atom based Nettops in offices using web based applications or doing basic word processing.  Even a server based database with local client environment seems to work fine.  Most of these end-users don’t run multiple apps.  They probably check email once or twice a day.  Viewsonic has the VOT132 which comes with Win7 Home Premium and can be upgraded to Pro over the Internet from Microsoft.  So far, it works just fine in this situation.

    3. Posted by Chad Steele  on  04/11  at  03:28 PM

  3. If you have to use a microsoft product get the fastest processor and the most memory you can afford.

    bill gates and his pitiful company has always been 5yrs behind the technology curve. Too little and way too late. Also don’t run any MS OS until there is at least one service pack available.

    MS is so utterly woeful at writing operating systems even a quad core with 8Gig of ram is barely enough to keep the overblown, overhyped, ugly bloatware running.

    4. Posted by random  on  04/11  at  04:39 PM

  4. hmm for thost part i used a celeron 850 mhz
    and it would run fast enough it just depends on how many programs you have running just use msconfig to turn most startup programs off
    back on topic i did upgrade to a p4 2.4gig i found in a dumpster(needed hdd) and i know someone who still uses a pentium 2 so you really do not need much cpu

    5. Posted by S Gilley  on  04/11  at  04:48 PM

  5. Amount of memory is usually more important to the average person than the CPU, at least once you get to a certain level with the CPU.  The most noticeable slowdowns occur when swapping apps in and out of memory to disk.  Not to mention many games and image apps like a lot of memory.

    6. Posted by Glen Ellis  on  04/11  at  05:41 PM

  6. Good perspective on Computing Power.
    First, Examine the Purpose of the computer.
    Second, Acquire a computer to Serve this Purpose.

    7. Posted by Russ Locascio  on  04/12  at  03:13 AM

  7. Of interest is the comment that software manufacturers find it labor-intensive to write code that uses more than one CPU.

    As a former Large Mainframe Capacity & Performance Analyst with IBM Corp., I recall that it was the operating system that determined which program got hold of a CPU. The executing software could care less so long as it was allowed to process and complete in a reasonable time.

    I don’t see it as different in a PC. It is the operating system that should be allocating the CPU to execute the code.

    Running two applications on a PC with dual processors simply requires Windows to manage which running applications gets the processor.

    Priorities come into play here. Some tasks must have immediate access. Others can wait without consequence.

    Applications, or parts thereof, can be ‘swapped’ in and out of main memory from a disk staging area as the need arises.

    In all this, it is Windows that must manage the system resources. Your statement makes it appear that the application programmers are holding back when that is not the case.

    Get Microsoft to write the code to fully utilize the Intel processor.

    8. Posted by Harold D. Cummings  on  04/12  at  04:38 AM

  8. I have an AMD X2 3.0 w/2g RAM. I find this is a big help when d/l multiple P2P file and burning the discs and doing some email or surfing or Majong/solitare simultaneously. If I had the money I would buy a Gazillion core processor. As in many things in life “Size DOES matter”:-).

    9. Posted by Ben Leverett  on  04/12  at  06:18 AM

  9. It may be that most of us don’t need quad or even hexa-core processors, but I for one do.  My reason being, I run Internet explorer (sometimes with many multiple tabs), my antivirus app. is always open, and sometimes even my system optimization program.

    10. Posted by george mills  on  04/12  at  08:54 AM

  10. Since I am looking to purchas a new computer, this artice has opened my eyes to things that I was unaware of.  Being a senior citizen I have problems understand all the computer jargon and it is articles like this that keep me informed.

    thank you.

    11. Posted by Tom McCabe  on  04/12  at  10:47 AM

  11. Interesting article but incomplete for my purposes as you said nothing about video editing and burning which I am into right now with Pinnacle Studio 11 software.

    I find that when using this software on a Dell 8250 Vista with 1 GB RAM it tends to choke when I try to edit a 2 hour long old converted 8 mm home movie silent film. It seems to me with that application you need “guts” in a CPU and a lot of RAM along with a fast and roomy hard disk.

    I believe that type of application requires a fast system with optimized RAM, CPU and disk along with Win 7.

    12. Posted by Lance Chambers  on  04/13  at  12:53 AM

  12. Most of the CU power in modern machines is wasted and left unused - UNLESS you’re a top end gamer, undertaking complex modelling or performing high end math.

    Few people seem to realise that most budget CPU’s will perform every task they will even want to perform at top speed.

    I also feel that for many purchasers questions are about CPU computing needs are simply not asked or even considered. Guys just want the latest and the best and they’ll pay for it just for the cred and thrill of it.

    Dumb but probably true.

    13. Posted by ipit  on  04/13  at  06:30 AM

  13. Thanks for sharing your knowledge...I really enjoying to read your post

    14. Posted by Computer Help  on  04/14  at  03:54 AM

  14. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information. I am completely agreeing with you.

    15. Posted by SR5  on  04/15  at  02:51 AM

  15. Let alone the servers I run, the netbook I carry on person most often has an Intel Atom 1.33 Ghz processor...and I can’t open more than 4 tabs on IE!!

    16. Posted by peddu  on  04/21  at  03:52 PM

  16. Processing Power
    Often known as CPU power, CPU cycles, and various other names, processing power is the ability of a computer to manipulate data. Processing power varies with the architecture (and clock speed) of the CPU — usually CPUs with higher clock speeds and those supporting larger word sizes have more processing power than slower CPUs supporting smaller word sizes.

    Facts About Processing Power
    Here are the two main facts about processing power that you should keep in mind:

    Processing power is fixed

    Processing power cannot be stored

    Processing power is fixed, in that the CPU can only go so fast. For example, if you need to add two numbers together (an operation that takes only one machine instruction on most architectures), a particular CPU can do it at one speed, and one speed only. With few exceptions, it is not even possible to slow the rate at which a CPU processes instructions.

    Processing power is also fixed in another way: it is finite. That is, there are limits to the CPU performance you can put into any given computer. Some systems are capable of supporting a wide range of CPU speeds, while others may not be upgradeable at all[1].

    Processing power cannot be stored for later use. In other words, if a CPU can process 100 million instructions in one second, one second of idle time equals 100 million instructions that have been wasted.

    If we take these facts and look at them from a slightly different perspective, a CPU “produces” a stream of executed instructions at a fixed rate. And if the CPU “produces” executed instructions, that means that something else must “consume” them. The next section describes what these consumers are.

    3.2.2. Consumers of Processing Power
    There are two main consumers of processing power:

    Applications

    The operating system itself

    Applications
    The most obvious consumers of processing power are the applications and programs you want the computer to run for you. From a spreadsheet to a database, these are the reasons you have a computer.

    A single-CPU system can only do one thing at any given time. Therefore, if your application is running, everything else on the system is not. And the opposite is, of course, true — if something other than your application is running, then your application is doing nothing.

    But how is it that many different applications can seemingly run at once under Red Hat Linux? The answer is that Red Hat Linux is a multitasking operating system. In other words, it creates the illusion that many different things are going on simultaneously when in fact that is not possible. The trick is to give each process a fraction of a second’s worth of time running on the CPU before giving the CPU to another process for another fraction of a second. If these context switches happen quickly enough, the illusion of multiple applications running simultaneously is achieved.

    Of course, applications do other things than manipulate data using the CPU. They may wait for user input as well as performing I/O to devices such as disk drives and graphics displays. When these events take place, the application does not need the CPU. At these times, the CPU can be used for other processes running other applications without slowing the waiting application at all.

    In addition, the CPU can be used by another consumer of processing power: the operating system itself.

    The Operating System
    It is difficult to determine how much processing power is consumed by the operating system. The reason for this is that operating systems use a mixture of process-level and system-level code to perform their work. While, for example, it is easy to use top to see what the process running the system logging daemon syslogd is doing, it is not so easy to see how much processing power is being consumed by system-level I/O-related processing.

    In general, it is possible to divide this kind of operating system overhead into two types:

    Operating system housekeeping

    Process-related activities

    Operating system housekeeping includes activities such as process scheduling and memory management, while process-related activities include any processes that support the operating system itself (including system daemons such as syslogd, klogd, etc.).

    Improving a CPU Shortage
    When there is insufficient processing power available for the work that needs to be done, you have two options:

    Reducing the load

    Increasing the capacity

    Reducing the Load
    Reducing the CPU load is something that can be done with no expenditure of money. The trick is to identify those aspects of the system load that are under your control and can be cut back. There are three areas to focus on:

    Reducing operating system overhead

    peddu
    hostcats.com

    17. Posted by Computer Repair  on  04/22  at  03:09 PM

  17. Cpu power will always increase!

    18. Posted by Swift Computers  on  05/03  at  02:40 AM

  18. Hey! Your blog is very informative for many purpose like build a PC, install any software & as well as give knowledge about branded & best computers peripherals. Yeah! this is also right when you say “First, Examine the purpose of computer” because this is the first & necessary step after that we start other research about computer’s parts.

    But i suggest one major factor who is most important for any type of users & this major factor is “IT Support & Services”.When we purchase a computer so this is our right to know about their services.

    If you include this factor then your blog is helpful for more other users.

    19. Posted by R  on  05/18  at  01:02 AM

  19. Great article. This puts the average mainstream CPU of today into perspective with the minimum system requirements and recommended system requirements. It’s certainly true that even the low-end processors can perform most of the routine functions that people do everyday such as writing papers, youtube, facebook, aim, msn, play DVD’s, etc. And even perform those tasks simultaneously. Anyone who’s been using computers for a while remembers running Windows XP with a LOT less computer power and still getting by OK.

    Most people shouldn’t buy the cutting edge processors. It’s just a waste of money.

    20. Posted by William Funk  on  05/22  at  11:43 PM

  20. Excellent example of using the right tool for the job! At the pace that technology moves, There is no point in buy something you don’t need and are not going to use. (wasted money) Chances are you will need to upgrade again before you work it enough to pay for it’s self or die!

    21. Page 1 of 1 pages

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