When you say dual core processor you immediately think of a very advanced piece of technology. That is because dual core refers to a physical processor made of two execution cores. Together with their caches and cache controllers they form a single integrated circuit also know as a silicon chip.

These reside side by side to each other on the same die. In traditional (single core) processors when instructions are given to it the processor must order, execute, and then selectively store in its cache for quick retrieval. With dual core processors instruction are handled by each of them so that when one is executing the other can be accessing the system bus or executing its own code.


Dual core processors provide a boost to the processing power of operating systems like Windows XP which use extensively multitasking technology. Windows XP, for example, uses a technology called TLP or thread-level parallelism for multitasking which allows users to run multiple tasks in parallel. This means that you can browse the Internet, scan your computer and listening to music at the same time. Dual core processors handle with ease the multiple threads of the programs with an increase in efficiency and performance. Most programs need to support TLP to benefit from the full power of dual core processors but you will see an increase in performance even in those that don't support TLP.

These days Windows XP and most applications run on it already support multithread technology. Among these applications the ones that are used for editing and creating music files, videos and graphics have been known to support multithread technology because they need to perform operations in parallel.

The introduction of dual core processors also brought new levels of energy efficient performance. Having a dual core processor reduces the energy consumption compared to the usage of 2 separate processors each with only one core. Unlike two separate processors, a dual core processors also has better communication between the cores with less travel time for data and better quality of the signal.


The first dual core processor was released by Intel in 2005. The Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 as it was called ran at 3.20 GHz, supported Intel's Extended Memory 64 Technology, had the FSB frequency at 800 MHz and was optimized to run 32-bit applications on advanced 32-bit operating systems. It also featured two 16-KB Level 1 data caches and two advanced 1 MB transfer caches (on-die, full speed Level 2 cache with 8-way associativity and Error Correction Code (ECC). Able to support Hyper-Threading Technology the Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition 840 delivered a powerful processor for desktop computers that were based on Intel NetBurst micro-architecture.

Today Intel uses the new Hafnium-based Intel® 45nm Process Technology to build its processors. Hafnium (Hf) is a chemical element on the periodic table with similar qualities to zirconium from a chemical point of view. Among it's qualities that make it suitable for use in processors is the fact that is corrosion resistant and highly ductile. Introducing hafnium into silicon chips was determined to be a great way to reduce electrical leakage and at the same time enabled engineers to build smaller, more energy-efficient and performance-packed processors. This allows to increase dramatically the processor's energy efficiency, thus equating to more powerful computing experiences and greater flexibility of design. Whether at home, at work or traveling the processors build with this new technology bring a new boost to performance for all computers.

You know Asus has a wide variety of products. Well, I decided to buy a Silent Knight II CPU cooler last year and from what I have seen thus far, the cooler is only slightly better than the stock one, even though it comes with an impressive design. Now Asus is updating the cooler lineup with the Royal Knight.

The Royal Knight cooler retains the all-copper buildup of its predecessor and integrates 6 heat pipes. It doesn’t look that massive anymore, as this time, Asus wanted to give it a British Chevalier allure. To fit the new medieval style, Asus included a motif comprised of a crown, an eagle and a coat of arms.
The cooler also includes a 120mm LED fan (22 dBA noise) with a top-flow design and PWM function. The massive corona fin design of the previous cooler is replaced with a twin wing-shaped copper fin design that expands the heat exchange area for improved thermal performance.

Here is some additional info:
- CPU support:
Intel Core 2 Extreme (LGA 775)
Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo (LGA 775)
Intel Pentium processor family (LGA775)
AMD Phenom FX/X3/X4 (Socket 1207/AM2+)
AMD Athlon 64 FX/X2 (Socket AM2/AM2+)
AMD Athlon X2 (Socket AM2/AM2+)
- Cooler dimension / Net Weight 131mm(W) x 140mm(L) x 138mm(H) / 790g
- Connector: 4 pin
- Fan dimension 120 x 120 x 25 (mm)
- Fan speed 800 ~ 1,300 rpm ±10%

No availability and price details for now.

AMD introduced a couple of months ago the Cinema 2.0 program which will allow game developers and film producers to include photorealistic characters and objects in their works without the need of render farms. Analysts said that photorealism in CGI would be attained in about 5 years, but AMD/ATI has now teamed up with Image Metrics and claim that they are able to render photorealistic characters and environments and integrate them seamlessly into games and movies. First, take a look at what happened at the AMD conference in New York a week ago.





Now, let’s take a closer look at that Emily clip.

As you can read from the clip itself, Emily was produced using a new modeling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated. The Emily you see in the clip is practically the digitized version of actress Emily O’Brien. According to TimesOnline, this is considered to be one of the first animations to have overleapt a long-standing barrier known as 'uncanny valley' - which refers to the perception that animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness.

The team at Image Metrics has also taken care of the facial animations in Grand Theft Auto computer game. The basic aim of the company is to overcome the traditional difficulties of animating a human face, for instance that the skin looks too shiny, or that the movements are too symmetrical, but without using motion capture devices. So that’s how they came with the Light Stage superscanner you can see in the first two clips.

OK, we have the technology to make photorealistic characters in upcoming videogames, but what kind of supercomputer do we need to actually play at smooth frame-rates? AMD claims we only need a decent quad-core CPU coupled with their latest Radeon HD 4870X2 graphics cards, which can process up to 2.4 TFLOPS.

I reckon we won’t get to see characters as detailed as these before DX11 gets introduced later next year. They will double the processing power, anyway, but AMD representatives say that the line between what is real and what is computer generated will still remain visible up until 2020.

I finally decided to buy some new components. I set my eyes on an Intel X48-powered motherboard from Asus which I thought would be one of the most feature-packed model out there, but it turns out that it’s already outdated. Motherboard manufacturers have started to come up with models powered by the bran new Intel P45 chipset, and now I’m confused again.

CPU3D reports that one of the best Intel-based motherboards available could prove to be ASRock’s P45R2000-WiFi because it is currently the only model to support FSB2000 MHz (via OC). As far as memory support goes, this model supports both DDR2 and DDR3 modules. DDR3 modules are becoming pretty affordable these days and soon, the DDR2 memory support will be discontinued.

Other standard features that come with the P45R2000-WiFi motherboard include the latest PCIE2.0 specifications for improved graphics performance, Dual Gigabit LAN, free bundled WiFi-802.11g module, ALC890 Audio Codec for 110dB sound quality and all solid capacitors design. There’s no support for SLI configurations. The ASRock motherboard has two PCIE2.0 graphics slots which allow users to choose x16 for single card or x8/x8 for Cross Fire.

The P45R2000-WiFi motherboard seems to be offering a very good price/performance ratio, as online retailers have it for around $150.

The PCI (Peripeharal Component Interconnect) standard was created in 1993 and it was quickly adopted by motherboard manufacturers as a reliable solution to boost the performance of video cards in particular. Then 3D accelerators appeared and the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) was created in order to offer even more performance gains for the graphics cards. Apparently, the last AGP standard, the 8X, hit a bottleneck and PCI made a surprise return in the form of PCI Express in 2004. All of these standards were created by Intel. Although some say there isn’t much of a performance gain over the AGP 8X with the first PCI-e and even the second version of this standard, Intel is willing to change this perception and plans to release the third generation some time in 2010.

The good news is that the existing PCI Express 2.0 hardware will still work once motherboards switch to the PCI Express 3.0 standard. PCI-SIG chairman Al Yanes has recently disclosed more details about the PCI-e 3.0 connector, which should be able to manage speeds as fast as 8.0 gigatransfers per second

Yanes confirmed that the only real difference between PCI Express 2.0 and 3.0 has to do with the electrical specifications. The actual hardware itself will not see any major optimization, with PCs using one socket and servers two.

However, the 3.0 specs will be decided only by the end of 2009, with testing scheduled for the second half of 2010.