dual core?

[bazzle83]

Is it worth it for doing graphics (photoshop, illustrator quark etc)

I heard it gives excellent performance for running multiple applications at once, which is what I do a lot, but would I be better off with a powerful conventional processor?

Bear in mind i'm not a tech junkie, just want to run my applications quicker and play with high res images. Simplified answers are appreciated. :D

[John G]

I'm not the greatest geek ever, but I will say, Yes go with dual core. As far as high res images and such, don't skimp on the ram (like 2gigs minimum imo). Plus ram is uber cheap (except from Apple 0.o).

[CamarotaDesign]

I'm on a dual processor... the old school kind before it was called dual core. I assume they are exactly the same, and for the stuff I do, (large 600 DPI photos + Illustrator open and multiple internet apps)
I would not recommend that for a single unit.

[hewligan]

Dual Processor = Two seperate chips

Dual Core = Two processor cores on one chip.

So not really the same, but for most people's purposes do roughly the same thing. Except the dual core is much, much cheaper.

And, to be honest, if you can afford it, I'd probably recommend the dual core for any computer, no matter what you plan on doing with it.

[CamarotaDesign]

Ah, thanks for the info.

[Silence04]

yeah, i'd go with a dual core processor. they are much better than a single core processor, and quite comparable to the power of dual processors.

[bazzle83]

Thanks, you've sold me it, gonna order my dual core beast now! :D

[Patrick Shannon]

It also depends on whether the programs can take advantage of the cores. According to what I was reading, for example, Apple's eight core machine isn't too good of a value right now because lots of programs aren't using the full amount yet.

I would assume that the graphics programs are designed to take advantage of at least dual core, but I never really looked up the answer for sure....and uh, I've always heard something about "assume" making something out of you and me, or something....

[reuber1]

So, is this the same thing as Intel Core Duo listed for Macbook Pro's? I'm a retard when it comes to hardware.

[steve2112]

I have a dual core 6600 2 gigs ram and getting a 2 gig thumbdrive for readyboost on my vista machine. The adobe cs3 flies nice through the machine. I have poser figure artist and painter installed as well and it works much better then my old xp machine. I also have a geforce 8800 gts but I do not think that that in particuliar has too much of an impact in regular creative programs, maybe in maya and 3dsmax stuff.

steve

[RyanDigital]

you dont want to use the core duo with CS2....trust me

if you do get one make sure your running CS3, much more smooth

[Zendada]

So, is this the same thing as Intel Core Duo listed for Macbook Pro's? I'm a retard when it comes to hardware.

Curious about that as well. That $1099 price tag is very appealing for an on-the-road-dvd-mp3-web-email-game machine.

[Patrick Shannon]

Yeah, the Core Duo is two core. The Core Solo is not, though I think only the first Intel Mac Mini generation got that at the lowest price point.

If you're talking about the regular Macbook, I definately wouldn't use that as a game machine. Nice processor, but crappy video card (Intel integrated graphics).

[MD]

getting a 2 gig thumbdrive for readyboost on my vista machine. The adobe cs3 flies nice through the machine.

You may want to check out this article
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131742-page,1-c,flashmedia/article.html
It appears that readyboost does not speed up things that much.

[doubting_thomas]

I don't think that any of the major applications are able to take full advantage
of 64 bit processors yet. There are far too many issues with drivers, and far
too many people using 32 bit processors still. 64 bit processors can run 32
bit applications, but the reverse isn't true. I'm getting ready to take the
plunge on the Mac side. The PC side was no biggie because I didn't get
Vista :cool: I still don't run any app that's truely 64 bit.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

This is what I've got: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6300, 2048MB dual-channel memory, 250 GB hard drive

It runs CS2 pretty well. No complaints yet

[Takayuki]

Dual core proccesor is a CPU with two separate cores, which can handle incoming data strings simultaneously to improve efficiency, comparing with single core it handle's income data only by it's single core, which may cause a hung up when working on a large data.
To utilize a dual core processor, the operating system must be able to recognize multi-threading and the software must have simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT) written into its code. I've read Photoshop is SMT aware.


I don't think that any of the major applications are able to take full advantage of 64 bit processors yet

I don't know about the 2d apps but in the 3d apps 64 bit is in full advantage. It's amazing how big data it can handle.:)

[RyanDigital]

i had all kinds of problems running my new macpro with CS2. now that I have cs3 its much better.. no more crashing, font issues, dissappearing swatch pallettes. etc

[steve2112]

cs2 does not work at 100% with intel based macs. You need cs3 which will work perfectly. There are known issues listed on Adobe's website with cs2 errors on intel based macs. Power pc macs work great with cs2. A little slower but whatever

steve