Dual core motherboards?

damnyanks

Can anyone tell me if any motherboards currently exist that will support dual core CPU's when they eventually come out?

Need to get a new PC. Also will different ram be required or would bog standard ddr do?

Thanks

Khannie

Dual core cpu's are already out. Motherboards that support them are already out too. AFAIK, most existing mobo's with the correct socket only need a bios flash.

damnyanks

Ahh ok. Even the pentium dual cores? Will the release just push the current price of single core cpu's down ? What sort of MB socket should I be looking for when ordering parts then ?

Khannie

OIC, soz, don't know about the intel ones tbh. Single cored ones have fallen in price, but the lower end dual core AMD ones are very competitively priced.

For AMD64, it's socket939 at the moment. Verify on the mobo manufacturers site that it supports the X2 chips before purchasing though.

damnyanks

Anyone have any clue how big a difference there will be? Will long horn require dual cores? Don't really think I'll ever be getting it but rather future proof it as much as possible

Mainly use PC for dev (Java + .Net) doubt any new IDE's will require serious resources.

Malafus

Dual-core = More processing power, or rather, more efficient simultaneous processing. Multi-threaded applications are an absolute PAIN to design, so it'll be a while before we even see programs taking advantage of dual-cores, let alone requiring them. AFAICS, even a multi-threaded app could be run on a single-core processor, albeit slowly. Long Horn(now known as Vista) will not require dual-cores, nor will it overtly benefit from them - it is the apps run on Vista that will benefit.

And yes, Khannie, you are correct. Most socket 939 mobos will happily support Dual-cores, although some will require a BIOS flash.

Oh, and DDR RAM is the one you are looking for. Dual-core has no effect (or is it affect?) on any other component of the PC.

Khannie

damnyanks wrote:

Mainly use PC for dev (Java + .Net) doubt any new IDE's will require serious resources.

I'm a developer and have a dual processor machine in work because it allows me to have stuff compiling in the background, and potter away on whatever I want to without any loss in compile time. If you do a lot of stuff like this, then you should consider dual core.

You'll never "need" dual core. The OS can schedule multple apps on a single processor anyway, it's just much easier for it to do so smoothly with a multi-cpu / multi-core system.

Laguna

Yeah, all the relevant MOBO's on Komplett need a bios flash before they can use dual cores.