<img src="http://parcom.pronetworks.org/PROneT-News/amd_logo.gif" align="right">AMD Athlon X2 3800+ dual-core CPU
By Trusted Reviews
Friday 12th August 2005 15:51 GMT
At the beginning of the month AMD launched its latest budget processor, the Sempron 3400+. Launched on the same day was the dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800+. Right now you have the choice between single core or dual-core but before long dual-core will become very much the norm, writes Benny Har-Even.
AMD Athlon X2 3800+It's easy to understand why. They say that two heads are better than one, and eventually all applications will be coded specifically to make the best use of both processor cores. But as this conversation with Half-Life 2 developer Gabe Newell shows, it may be some time before games reap the benefits.
Either way, dual-core is still a good thing as one processor can sit doing boring stuff like running anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software as well as other housekeeping tasks, while the other does more important things, such as delivering super-realistic physics in the latest first-person shooter.
The problem is that two cores in a chip makes for a more complicated and therefore more expensive processor. The top of the range X2 is currently the 4800+. This sports a 2.4GHz clock and 2MB of Level 2 cache shared between each core. That's a lot of transistors. And more cache means, well, more cash, and the Athlon X2 4800+ will set you back
