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[Charlemagne 8]

Now that there's nothing better to do tonight than argue about semantics, I have a question for the XP whizzes (correct plural? I am both ignorant and apathetic) out there.
I just got a new Dell Computer with a 2.6 Ghz processor. It is astoundingly fast and resilient to crashes and slowdowns, especially compared to the older Win 98, 533 Khz machine I've had for a couple of years.
My question is as follows:
My performance monitor under "Windows Task Manager" indicates that I have TWO 2.6 Ghz processors. Also there are 2 listed in Control Panel - System.
Did Dell mess up or is that just the way XP handles fast processors?
I suppose I could look but what's the fun in that?
CVIII

[Robert Taylor]

Charley, I've seen this exact same thing on a coupla Dell servers here at my workplace.

I also though that Dell had been very generous.

Then I realised that this "dual cpu view" thingy within the performance task manager window seems to be because your new CPU has hyperthreading capability.

Hope this clears that up...

[Charlemagne 8]

LMV,
I put my recources into my resources. In other words, I got the best processor and the most memory I could afford and let the other stuff go, as much as possible. That's why I got a Dell "special" SoundBlaster Live card and passed on the LCD monitor. So the processor IS an HT variety. Thanks for clearing it up.
CVIII

[sraymond]

Then I realised that this "dual cpu view" thingy within the performance task manager window seems to be because your new CPU has hyperthreading capability.

I've been wondering if HT is all it's cracked up to be.  Were I to buy dual-channel RAM I could put it into action - but at something like $200+ for 1GB, I don't know that it's worth it.

Any anecdotal evidence on improvements?

Scott-

[xen-uno]

My bet is that you would get better general performance out of a dual processor setup rather a mono w/ HT...now and well into the future. A dual Athlon64 sounds very intriguing.

10^-27

[Robert Taylor]

All my CPU's at home are Athlons...

When I setup my HTPC (Leadtek Winfast mobo) I found recommendations on the 'net regarding using multiple sticks of DDR RAM to allow best performance from the onboard (Geforce 4mx) video. Apparently video performance suffers if you only use, say, 1 stick of 512Mb, instead of 2 X 256Mb.

There's always something faster out there, but if you wait a few months, prices come down to more affordable levels. I don't have the energy (or the moolah) to have the very latest thing all the time, but I like to get new stuff just after it stops being "bleeding edge".

Keeps me happy, and the missus, too...

[Bartabedian]

I've got a couple of 3gig Ht's, and they are very much what they are cracked up to be. I'm a consistent multi-tasker, in a big way. I've encoded DVD video, burned a DVD and downloaded files from the internet all on one PC at the same time, and still managed to use less than 75% of the processor. You can even easily manage each threads' priority. I've never been so productive before, that I'm having trouble filling my free time. I suppose I could play a game while all that's going on, too. I just may try that next...and there goes my productivity...lol

WP