Whenever we plan to get a new laptop or desktop, we first look into the configuration of that laptop. And the first thing listed in the configuration is the core. Now, with so many types of cores available in the market, one is bound to get confused over which to go for. There are many types of cores like Dual-Core, Quad-Core, Hexa-Core, Octa-Core, etc. Here, we will understand what these ‘names’ really mean and we will focus more on ‘Dual-Core’ and ‘Quad Core’ since they are the most used ones.
Dual Core vs Quad Core
A core is a part of a processing chip. There is only one processing chip in a computer. Generally, it is called the CPU. The processing chip can have any number of cores for eg. one, two, four, six, eight, etc. Currently, the best you can get is an 18-core chip in the market.
In simple terms, a dual-core CPU has 2 chips while a quad-core CP has 4 chips. ‘Quad’ is a short form of Quadruplet. Each core is a processor in itself but all cores share the same package, resources, and cache and work in sync together. Chips are processing elements and a higher number of chips stands for higher capacity for processing tasks simultaneously.
You should also read our detailed article explaining the difference between Intel Core i3, i5, i7, and i9 processors.
Power Consumption
The more the no. of cores, the higher the power consumed by the CPU. This is because when the CPU is on, it supplies power to all the cores simultaneously & not just to one at a single point in time.
Heat
As you can predict, the more the cores, the more is the heat generated by the processor. Therefore, in Quad-Core processors, manufacturers have to come up with better cooling solutions.
Speed
The next factor of comparison is speed. Most people think that the more the number of cores the more is the speed of the processor. But this is not the case. The speed of the processor is determined by the clock speed of each core and the architecture. Let us explain this with the help of an example. A dual-core CPU with a higher clock speed than a quad-core CPU will give much better speed and performance than a quad-core CPU.
Price
The price of a processor doesn’t depend on cores. It depends on the clock speed & architecture of the core. But if the clock speed & architecture of both ‘dual-core’ & ‘quad-core’ are the same then ‘quad-core’ i.e. more no. of cores will fetch a much higher price.
This was a brief understanding and comparison of a ‘dual-core’ and a ‘quad-core’ processor. For any questions, drop a comment below!
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