Computer speed used to be determined by actual speed - the speed at which its processor rotated. But more and more, speed has become a function of capacity as manufacturers shove more central processing units or cores into their processors to boost power and speed, private TV channel reported.
Just as people are getting used to dual-core processors, computers with four cores or quad-cores are coming on the market. Some servers and workstations already have chips with eight cores.
Now multi-core processors, chips with multiple central processing units that have their own independent processor, are here. Large systems have given way to smaller, energy efficient units.
The new standard is computing power per watt. Advanced integration techniques and energy savings were major reasons for developing multiple core processors.
Another reason was the rotational speed of the old processors. As they got faster, they gave off more heat... sometimes-reaching uncomfortable levels.
The number of transistors in a processor will continue to double every two years, and researchers will continue to encode more sophisticated commands into the silicon. There are already processors with eight cores on the market with no end in sight for processor capacity.
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