A dual CPU system is always a better machine then a single CPU system! OK Let the flames start!!!
I would take a dual 500 over a single 1 GHz, even if the bus speeds differ by 33Mhz and here is my reasons why. ---- 1 ---- So What if the OS is not multi-threaded? This does not mean it does not support multi-tasking... True Mac OS 9 is does not support a dual CPU. This is a blanket statement. It means Mac OS 9 is not a multi-threaded OS. This does not stop you from running applications that support dual processors, applications that are multi-threaded. Multi-threaded (dual processor supported) applications have been around since Mac OS 8, or earlier. You can run more then one process at a time! How many applications today consist of a single binary file that does NOT fork in memory half a dozen times? No matter how fast a single CPU is it still can only run a single process! A dual CPU can run two simultaneous processes. A quad CPU can run 4 simultaneous processes. Get the picture. Just because the operating system or application is not multi-threaded (has the ability to run on multiple processors at once) does not mean it will not take advantage of multiple CPUs. Example. Run a Photoshop filter and burn a DVD at the same time. Both processes will not exceed the 500 MHz limit of the CPU but both will run at the same time. A single 733 MHz will run one app, switch, run the second app, switching at a frequency of 2 micro seconds typically. True, overall you will see an average speed increase of 40% with a dual processor as opposed to a doubling of speed that you would expect. Why? How often is your computer really doing two things at once? How often is your CPU waiting for an I/O to complete before it can execute an instruction? The CPU is always faster then; PCI bus, RAM, IDE controller, Video Controller, jerk behind keyboard, etc, etc, etc ---- 2 ---- Stability Why does a multi-tasking operating system crash? How could a operating system with protected memory regions hang? What if a poorly written piece of code is executing on your single processor and puts the CPU into a loop? You go down faster then the titanic!!! An instruction could hang your CPU and leave your system in a hung condition with an open data base file. Push the reset button and corrupted your 5 Terabyte ORACLE database and you are now an out of work DBA. (little exaggeration going on) If you had a dual CPU the above problem could have been avoided! CPU-0 is hung, toast, dead, AWOL, DOA, etc, etc, ... But CPU-1 is still available. You terminate the hung processes with a force kill and CPU-1 kills the hung process and cleans up the mess left on CPU-0. Your system is still up and available. If the video is frozen, don't fear!!! Telnet in to the Mac remotely and kill off the hung process by hand, you do know that Mac OS X is BSD Unix under the covers? Right? ---- 3 ---- Those pesky system processes keep creating LAG on my online games!!! TCP/IP, IDE controllers, System I/O Commands, moving the mouse, keyboard buffer, swapping memory, video cards and Burning CD/DVDs create large amounts of system tasks. These system tasks must be completed before your application can get is fair shake of the CPU. System tasks run at a higher priority then user tasks. If your IDE drive has to perform an I/O your application will be forced to wait until the IDE controller completes its task. An IDE controller requires system CPU cycles to compete an I/O operation, this is why smart SCSI and smart Fibre Channel devices are in SERVERS and not dumb IDE controllers. Transfers from RAM to SWAP take massive amounts of CPU overhead to complete. All computer systems use SWAP Memory no matter how much physical ram you have. For instance on an HP-UX system, for every kilobyte of physical ram that a process requires a kilobyte of swap space is pre-allocated in the event that, that process will have to be swapped out. A second CPU would sure be handy to take care of those nasty system processes while you wipe out the dark forces in Halo. ---- 4 ---- System responsiveness A dual 500 will run not a program faster then a 733 but it will feel faster. When the CPU is "busy" and you move the mouse or press a key to launch a new program, the single CPU must stop executing the first application and launch the second application. Your single system will be "laggy", the mouse may not move smoothly and keys pressed on the keyboard will pause a second before displaying in your console. AGAIN TO THE RESCUE! CPU-1, it has nothing else better to do than wait for you to give it a command. Even though CPU-0 is at 100% utilization, CPU-1 will most likely be at 2% utilization. It has plenty of cycles free to move the mouse or accept instructions from the keyboard. Sure your system can not rip a DVD faster then a 733 MHz system but you can surf the net, touch up a few JPEG files and listen to MP3s without creating a coaster. The system will not pause or give you the beach ball of doom for minutes at a time. ---- 5 ---- The most important reason to have a dually!!! KEWLNESS!!! Really why do you have a Mac over a PeeCee? Because of Kewlness factor! Any one can have a 2 GHz PeeCee - woo hoo... There is no excitement in that. You have a Mac? This always causes a second glance at your computer work station by your envious PeeCee peers. Why do you think Apple uses so many resources to always look good? They could have put a G5 i-mac in a beige case just as easily? Now when your envious PeeCee peer says, "YOU HAVE A MAC!" you can respond with the cocky response, "yep, it's a dual CPU". Your envious PeeCee user will drop to their knees and worship you and your Mac. ---- RANT is complete ---- >From a Server stand point, it is a NO BRAINIER. More CPUs are more important then Mega Hertz. From a user standpoint it is not so easy. If you plan on playing the latest games at the full frames per second the faster the processor the better. You must examine why you want this Mac and what you plan on using it for. Mega Hertz to compare the speed of computers is the equivalent of using Horse Power to compare cars. It is a Flashy Buzz Word that really means NOTHING! A RISC CPU will typically out perform a CISC CPU at double its rated clock speed. Why? The amount of pre-fetched instructions it can queue up. (the subject of another rant) A 400 Horse Power Hot Rod with bias ply tires and drum brakes at 180 Miles Per Hour is a little un-nerving when performing a simple lane change, a 200 Horse Power Toyota Supra can weave in and out of traffic like its on fire? Which one is really going faster? You must examine what you are going to do with your system before you ask the simple question, "Which one is faster, a dual 500 or a single 733". If you could not tell already, I am bias towards dual CPUs and Toyota supras. Enjoy your new toy! -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
