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Question

adding multi core processor speeds together

Hey people, I would like some experienced opinions on processors speeds.

There is a lot of eBay and amazon shops advertising dual core processors by adding the core speeds together i.e. 2x2hz means the processors speed is 4ghz.

Is this completely misleading?

As firstly the processor will not reach that speed, secondly no manufacturers spec that speed and thirdly you wouldn't advertise a 3.5ghz quad as a 14ghz processor!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Windows-7-Dell-Latitude-D630-Laptop-4-0Ghz-2Gb-Ram-80GB-Cheap-6-Months-Warranty/230980829801?rt=nc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251701883975

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Any time you talk performance, lot of discussion follows.
Jan 14, 2015 1:46AM PST

For starters you've got hyperthreading on some Intel chips but no AMD ones. Then you've got RAM speeds. Then 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes and speeds. Also there's whether or not the software can take advantage of multiple threads. When you have a performance monitor and watch some tasks, you'll see CPU utilization peak at a fraction of 100% even when there's little or no hard drive activity. Speaking of which, you have to consider that hard drives operate in milliseconds whereas the CPU and RAM operate in nanoseconds. That's a difference of a factor of a million, so if you have an I/O bound application running, it's going to slow way down. One good indicator is the Windows Experience Index which shows CPU, memory, graphics, and disk performance ratings. There's also the Windows Resource Monitor which gives a dynamic second by second graph of some of these things including network activity, another possible gating factor.
Any way you slice it though, the marketers are always going to look for ways to hype their products whether we like it or not.

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adding multi core processor speeds together

Ok thanks, a little bit too much information.

so are you saying a hyperthreded 2ghz dual core processor would be able to do one process at 4ghz?

and we should not have to put up with blatant misleading adverts, i am going to complain to the advertising agency.

http://asa.org.uk/Consumers/How-to-complain.aspx

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I'm saying performance is a complex discussion.
Jan 14, 2015 3:12AM PST

You have to take all the factors I mentioned into account when talking about performance. A hyperthreaded processor is capable of doing two things at once, just like a dual core AMD processor can. However you have to have a workload composed of two tasks in order to take advantage of that capability. That's not always the case. In the case of a single application, it's not easy to write code to do that, some can some can't. So even though you have the capability to do twice as many calculations at once, it's not always the case that you have the workload to take advantage of that. Marketers usually want to tell you the good sounding things and not mention the not so good sounding things. That's legal, but if you're smart, you'll run these claims through the appropriate mental filters.

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adding multi core processor speeds together

thank you for replying.

But my question was not complex.

In BASIC clock speed principle, would a 2ghz dual core be able to achieve a clock speed of 4ghz, disregarding any overclocking or overrun of clock speed.

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Yes your question is that complex.
Jan 14, 2015 3:45AM PST

If it was simple folk would have answered it without delay.

You have a start on learning computers, don't let this stop you or slow you down.
Bob

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Here's a simple answer
Jan 14, 2015 3:59AM PST

No unless you have the right conditions, yes under the right conditions. There's your simple answer.
`
If you want to know what those conditions are, you have to understand my two prior posts. Let me give you an analogy. Suppose I show you a body of water, just the water without showing the shore or giving you any description, just a picture of the water's surface. Now I ask the simple question, are there fish there? The answer requires more information than that picture and simple question. Sorry, but as Sargent Friday would say, "just the facts". Happy

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adding multi core processor speeds together

Albert Einstein once said 'If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough'

my questions is on CLOCK SPEEDS, not hard drive or ram speeds.

but i will take from your answer that if you had a laboratory hardware setup in a test situation, a 2ghz cpu core could process at 4ghz

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I've seen folk lose their cool over trying to add clocks
Jan 14, 2015 4:53AM PST
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R. Proffitt

Where's your opinion on the issue or are you just a troll?

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R. Proffitt

That link refers to 'More cores or more GHz' as a choice, which is not my question at all.

I'm saying more core does not double, triple, quadruple etc the achievable clock speed.

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So you've answered your question?
Jan 14, 2015 5:13AM PST

There are some folk that want more cores to add to the GHz speed of the chip and those folk are lost for a while until they get more seasoned.

About your Ebay listings. I see folk noted you must apply your mind filter. If you don't, well I have a bridge for sale.
Bob

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joker

my opinion was already stated in my question.

i do not claim to be an expert in the feild.

You dont have anything helpfull to add so best you go back to the hole you came from with your 'folk' bob

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Apply your filters.
Jan 14, 2015 5:45AM PST

I think you are asking why ebay folk do this as well as is it misleading.

It's only misleading to those not in the know. I don't mind discussing computers but like a parachute your mind has to be open to work.
Bob

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I gave you a simple answer, did you miss it?
Jan 14, 2015 5:36AM PST

Here it is again.

No unless you have the right conditions, yes under the right conditions. There's your simple answer

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Thanks

Thank you wpgwpg, i did acknowledge your answer a few posts back did you miss that?

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You didn't say what test conditions.
Jan 14, 2015 5:50AM PST
In general the answer would be no. Under the right special conditions the answer could be yes.
I assure you Bob is by no means troll. It seems some folks get testy when they're unable to understand someone trying to answer their question.
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Let me share an app I use that really leverages cores
Jan 14, 2015 6:13AM PST

HANDBRAKE is one of the best apps I've seen push all the cores and threads to the max.

It's almost as if your 2 by 2GHz CPU is working as a single 4GHz CPU. So for the folk that want to believe that 2 times 2 = 4 for CPUs, this would be the test.

-> Why don't we just to GPUs for a moment. Imagine if someone applied this thinking to the core count in a Titan GPU?

For this fun we read http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-titan/specifications

That's 2688 cores at about 0.837 GHz so that multiplies out to some 2249 GHz using those Ebay folk ideas on the matter.

Now what is that good for?

1. Video transcoding.
2. Bit mining.
Maybe some NSA work.
Bob

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great

thanks gotta love GPUs.

i am abit clearer now that in a situation like bit coin rigs, 'proccessors will be working as a single 4GHz'

but i suppose NVidia do not state anywhere they achieve 2249 GHz

lets clear things up
i am not a ebay 'noob'
i put together my own rig years ago
AMD phenom black x4 3.5ghz
DDR3 1600mhz
GTX460

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great

But obviously my knowledge is nowhere near the depth of yours which is the reason I'm on here

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I don't know much about computer but...
Jan 14, 2015 11:37AM PST

I got a chuckle on that one.

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I know a lot about computing

Your two problem is your not intelligent enough to realise the context of my question in the first place, "everything is relative" and my question was about advertising laptops not modified mining rigs.

Iv done 10years of architectural computer aided design, add completed the networking section of
An IT degree which included setting up intenal networks through VM ware.

So your only fooling yourself if you think I'm "simple folk" just because I'm not an expert in processing.

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(NT) I get a chuckle on this one too.
Jan 14, 2015 3:26PM PST
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Thanks for that.
Jan 15, 2015 12:42AM PST

This area has been brought up a few times and there's not much you can do about Ebay or sellers that try to multiply up the GHz like that. I think you have to use, as the others put it, your mind filters. These folk are not Jedi.
Bob

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Answer
Ok, I am going to agreed with you here.
Jan 14, 2015 2:57PM PST

It is misleading (I think it should be illegal).