Should I go up to Dual-Core?

hey guys

my V3142AU has a single core turion 64 2.0ghz (which is alright, as it cost me $600AUD ) but I can get a turion 64 x2 1.6ghz from ebay for about $50AUD.

is it worth me bothering to upgrade it? i dont feel the single core is too slow but it seems odd that a current generation notebook still has a single core processor (that isnt a budget model with a smelleron or a sempron)...i dont do much intensive work on this thing either. would i notice a difference? what kind of applications would appreciate dual core over the single core the most?

generally speaking, a dual core 1.6 should be faster than a single core 2.0, right?

 

In multi-threaded tasks, of course.. In most other processor intensive, single threaded tasks, there would a small lead taken by the higher clocked processor.. But For general system performance, the dual core would always feel more snappy..I don't see any reason to upgrade if you are happy with what you've right now...

 

i dunno, all my other modern lappies (mac book, HP NX8420) are all dual core, it seemed odd to me that my latest addition to the family is only single core

maybe if i can get an x2 processor a bit cheaper i'll give it a go. thanks...

 

No the dual core is not faster than a single core. You're talking about a 2GHz Turion vs a 1.6GHz one.

In multi tasking and programs designed for multi cores yes, but it anything else the single core will be faster.

 

Even if you are not using it for intensive multitasking, Windows will hog the CPU time in some occasions. Also, as applications becomes more feature rich, resource intensive and probably multi-threaded, dual core will be appreciated.

 

If you don't need it, don't get it. I think your current machine is just fine for what you're doing, and it's still a decent machine. When the time comes to upgrade I imagine dual cores will be as standard, so I'd say spend the money on something else instead.

 

Doesn't look like you really need to

 

Your single-core Turion will easily outperform the X2 in almost everything except multi-tasking and multi-threaded applications. So I would hold off until your laptop is a little older before upgrading, and by then, hopefully you can get a higher end used 65nm Tyler for the same price as a low end 90nm Taylor that you are looking at now.

I have a V2000Z with a Sempron-M, and it's just as fast as my TL-50 when it comes to regular use. The X2 only shines when I'm doing heavy multi-tasking.