   running problems w/ AMD dual core.
  anybody know if CPU intensive programs take advantage of dual core processors?i just read an article that cpu intensive programs, like DVD/video encoding and using photoshop will actually see better performance than a single core.   
  If the CPU is a bottleneck and they are multithreaded then yes, they will have a big performance improvement.If the app has other bottlenecks (like memory requests, disk loads, or bus transfers) then you won't see an improvement.If there is only one thread, then the OS can schedule all the work to keep one core very busy, but that's not too big of a performance benefit.   ;  Many CPU intensive programs are designed to be multithreaded. I know many 3D rendering packages (3DS MAX, and Maya, and probably others) and video editing software do this. However many other apps (especially games) are not designed this way. You will just have to find out if the specific sftware you use can take advantage of this.Also, even if the software is mostly singlethreaded, it will allow ou to run two CPU-heavy processes more efficiently (such as a virus scan and a game).   ;  Why did you have the word 'problems' in the thread title? Are you running into problems?I just got my brand new AMD64 X2 3800+ dual core set up yesterday.Everything seems to run fast, but I dont know if thats due to the dual-coreness or not. For example, I wish I could open task manager and see if both, or just one, cores are running full-tilt while Im playing Doom3 for example. If both were running at 100% then I would assume there must be some kind of benefit.In general, I think the deal is:Dual core has benefits when running:1 or more multithreaded applicationsOR2 or more singlethreaded applicationsThe logic here being that 2 singlethreadeds can be treated like 1 multithreaded by the OS.COD2 and Quake4 have come out with a patch that takes advantage of Dual core, and HL2 is working on one I believe.I think I might write a simple program to test some stuff out. Which language is the easiest to spawn new threads? I know c++ can do it, but I seem to recall its really complicated, and there are tons of different types of threads etc.Im pretty sure Visual Basic 6.0 isnt multithreaded but correct me if im wrong.What about Java?   ;Quote:Original post by Sr_GuapoAlso, even if the software is mostly singlethreaded, it will allow ou to run two CPU-heavy processes more efficiently (such as a virus scan and a game).Yea, I think this logic is right, but specifically for a virus scanner, I dont know what the benefits will be. The virus scanner needs to use the hard drive and so does the game, so no matter how many processors you have, the hard drive can only do one thing at a time.   ;Quote:Original post by AndreTheGiantWhat about Java?When it comes to Java I believe it depends on the VM.   ;Quote:Original post by AndreTheGiantI think I might write a simple program to test some stuff out. Which language is the easiest to spawn new threads? I know c++ can do it, but I seem to recall its really complicated, and there are tons of different types of threads etc.Im pretty sure Visual Basic 6.0 isnt multithreaded but correct me if im wrong.What about Java?I know C# has multithreading capabilities (and therefore I assume VB.NET does as well), but I don't know if you have acces to these...   ;  cool. im looking into getting an AMD 64x2 3800.i put the word problem in the subject line because i read about a few people having their AMD dual core machine crashing or resting for no apparant reason.and i know stability was a problem with AMD in the past.so i need to just be very certain that my new investment is not going to give me any kind of problem whatsoever.!   ;  Yeah I have an ongoing thread about my new computer woes.  Don't worry, I don't think it's the processor, which was incredible when the OS wasn't resetting.  It's looking more and more like a driver conflict with the mobo and xp.  I highly recommend the cpu.   ;  Well Ive been noticing wierd problems on my new machine, but I cant tell wether its the CPU or not. I download things and they cant unzip, it says crc mismatch. but on another computer it works.Battlefield2 crashes to the desktop occasionallyThe sound in some games is crackly/glitchy Some other stuff i forget.I assume if there was a real problem with the processor, it would blue screen me?   