what happens after 4 core cpu's

[her34]

next year we'll see 4 core cpu's. maybe a year after that 4 core will be as common a purchasing option as 2 core is today. but what about after that?

will there be any point in upgrading a system with 4 core cpu?

if you have a 2 core right now, will you even bother upgrading to 4 core?

 

[alimoalem]

it's like asking why upgrade to 2 cores? i already have a cpu with a core in it...why does it need two? but dual core is becoming the norm nowadays, isn't it? when it comes to gaming, i doubt there'll be much need for anything beyond a quad core, but with amd's aquisition of ati, the gpu and cpu may be combined so that'll be the "next next" generation of cpus i suppose

 

[mayest]

16 cores, of course!

 

[George Powell]

In fact I don't intend to upgrade until 4-core comes along.

 

[ProfJohn]

Once software comes out that make dual core really work the way it should then quad core and more becomes a good idea. Each doubling of cores only offers like a %50 increase in speeds though, so adding core after core is not as good of a solution as increasing the power of each core.

I think the next big thing is going to be 2 dual core CPUs in the computer, ala Apples PowerMac systems with dual CPUs. Rumors are that the new MacPros are going to have this setup.

 

[raincityboy]

shoot for the moon I guess...

 

[MplsBob]

I saw an article on it. AMD is shooting to have the 4x4 price under $1000. Also, each processor is required to have a pool of its own memory. It looks like this could get kinda pricey in a hurry. I wouldn't be surprised to see this costing over $1,000 by the time you pay for it and the required memory pools.

 

[erwos]

Easy answer: Home Theater and Home Automation PCs are driving this.

We accept a lot of compromises in our computer use that we shouldn't have to - after all, you do turn off Thunderbird or Outlook before you start gaming right? But why should you, really?

Imagine being able to stream multiple video and sound streams (all of which are being transcoded in real time, to every room) to every room of your house all while playing Quake 10 with no slow down. Maybe your computer will be able to, in real time, check the weather, optimize your HVAC, and give you a warning about the upcoming blizzard. That's not something even remotely imaginable with a single dual-core CPU, but might be more possible with 8 or 16 cores.

Give me more processing units, and I'll find more ways to use them.

-Erwos

 

[Bobthelost]

Originally posted by: erwos
Give me more processing units, and I'll find more ways to use them.

-Erwos

Crap will expand to fill the space allocated for it.

-Bob

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost

Originally posted by: erwos
Give me more processing units, and I'll find more ways to use them.

-Erwos

Crap will expand to fill the space allocated for it.

-Bob

Let's find a happy medium. Current systems can take full advantage of 2 cores during daily usage, and I would be able to use 4 cores (if they were at the same price point) for some very intensive tasks, like multi-threaded video encoding in the background while playing an SMP-enabled game.
For enthusiasts, I think there's a definite future market for 4+ cores. Multi-threaded video encoding is already here, and will probably also be able to take advantage of as many cores as you give it in the future. Also, games will most likely become increasingly multi-threaded. Think of one thread on one core handling the game engine, another handling collision detection, another doing physics calculations, another feeding the graphics card, another doing sound, and another one or two handling live decompression and loading of game and texture files in the background.
For the regular user, though, I think 4 cores is the maximum, at least with todays task scheduler structure. Figure one core for background apps, one core for internet or productivity software, and maybe a multi-threaded video-playback app running on the last two cores.

 

[HannibalX]

For general office use (not developers mind you) dual core CPUs are a waste.

The gaming and software developers are driving this change IMO.

 

[jackschmittusa]

My guess is that by the time we pass 16 cores, there will only be one computer per household, sitting in a closet, and everyone will use small, handheld flatscreen thin clients connected wirelessly (ala StarTrek). There may also be paperthin screens of huge size hung on walls to provide entertainment and data to groups. The government will also have a ball tapping all of the wireless, voice recognition mics we will hang all over our homes. And that may lead to numerous punchlines about a HAL9000 voice in the bedroom saying something like "Was that a request for action on my part Dave?".

 

[aniruddha23]

Once games start becoming SMP aware wouldnt each core dramatically improve performance.

Same goes with software too. Once software is built in a way that it will harness multiple cores to distribute tasks each additional core will speed up those applications.

 

[dakotagts]

Originally posted by: erwos
Easy answer: Home Theater and Home Automation PCs are driving this.

We accept a lot of compromises in our computer use that we shouldn't have to - after all, you do turn off Thunderbird or Outlook before you start gaming right? But why should you, really?

Imagine being able to stream multiple video and sound streams (all of which are being transcoded in real time, to every room) to every room of your house all while playing Quake 10 with no slow down. Maybe your computer will be able to, in real time, check the weather, optimize your HVAC, and give you a warning about the upcoming blizzard. That's not something even remotely imaginable with a single dual-core CPU, but might be more possible with 8 or 16 cores.

Give me more processing units, and I'll find more ways to use them.

-Erwos

This will be the driving force to controlling your home all by computer. Its out there, but it will only get better. Someday you will be able to AFFORD a complete home automation system by having a computer run every breaker and switch in your house!!!!

OOOOO i cant wait. I have seen these setups on those IWANT THAT! shows, but they are ungodly expensive.