Core Size Differences In Multiple And Single Core Processors

[mkhcpa]

Hello:

Do multiple core processors in general have smaller cores with less capacity per core compared to cores on single core processors?

I recently purchased my first computer with a multiple core processor and after installing a new version of Norton Antivirus that has a system monitor feature I started getting high CPU usage message alerts from Norton Antivirus just about every time I open Microsoft Money 97 and Honestech MPEG Editor 4. These programs have served me well for years and work fine on the computer in question.

In my unqualified speculation is it likely the core on a single core processor has more capacity than any one of the eight cores on my eight core CPU and as a result the usage reaches 100 percent capacity quicker and because everything runs only on one core of the eight core processor it results in less processing capacity?

[henriok]

Interessting question. The general answer is no. A core in a multi core processor is not a "dumbed down" version of a single core processor. And cores are getting more and more complicated electronically (the amount of transistors, and transistor layout) as the years progresses.

You can look at a processor like a manufacturing plant. If the factory is making 8 different products but only has one production line, there's a lot of efficiency losses in switching between manufacturing the different products. If the factory had eight production lines there would be no switching as each product could get a dedicated line, reaching a much higher degree of productive utilization.

This might be one reason why you are reaching higher utilization for certain tasks on a eight core processor as a task can get a core entirely to itself. You should remember that high CPU utilization could be a good thing. The machine/application is able to use the resources available to a higher degree.

However applications might be coded in a faulty manner so that it's wasting resources on meaningless tasks. It's hard to tell in this case as I'm not particularly familiar with the products you mentioned.
But I can say this, that a video editing/compressing software is a typical kind of software that would utilize a multi core processor better than most other software.

Microsoft Money 97… it's a 17 year old application. It not programmed to make use of multi core processors, but it can be made to eek out every available resource since it would be starved way back when. It isn't starved today though, but it's probably not aware of that so it takes what it can. Even if it hogs one core though you still have 7 left for every thing else your computer does. That said, Windows was a very different operating system in 1997 so it can be an effect of that too…

[mkhcpa]

Thanks for your time and information