A multi-core microprocessor is one which combines two or more independent processors into a single package, often a single integrated circuit (IC). A dual-core device contains only two independent microprocessors. In general, multi-core microprocessors allow a computing device to exhibit some form of thread-level parallelism (TLP) without including multiple microprocessors in separate physical packages. This form of TLP is often known as chip-level multiprocessing, or CMP.

Still, with the right applications, dual-core will speed up many kinds of computing tasks, from the exotic to the everyday.

Parallelizeable applications, such as video processing, will proceed faster, while background, yet resource-intensive, applications -- such as virus scanning -- will run at full speed with less impact on the responsiveness of the user interface.

Close this window