This week I want to talk about CPUs. Being the "brain" of the computer, nearly all processes go through this amazing little computer chip. Thus it stands to reason that the faster the better; however this whole obsession with CPU cores has exploded since I last built a computer.
CPU cores are actually just smaller CPUs, often on the same chip, that work together to share the processing tasks of a computer. This is called multitasking. By having more cores share the burden of all the different apps and tasks that people do on computers today, you drastically improve performance and reduce wear on one individual chip. Unfortunately, since CPUs are normally the hottest part of a computer, this also means more heat which has to be dealt with through heat sinks or other cooling devices.
Like I said faster is great, but most people and most software don't need the sheer computing power of higher end CPUs. Looking through sites like Newegg and TigerDirect, quad-core processors seem to be the standard for home PCs these days; but there seems to be a push for more movement towards eight-core processors.
I see the need for more processors in a system such as high-end servers and supercomputers since those machines are hosting possibly millions of unique guests. For instance, back in November of 2013 Amazon built a supercomputer that included 26,496 cores hitting around 500 teraflop/s and still is only the 64th fastest supercomputer in the world. (Brodkin, 2013)
It just seems comparable to buying a Lamborghini in an area where you'll never be able to take it above 70; a true waste.
Bodkin, John. (November 18, 2013) Amazon puts 26,496 CPU cores together, builds a Top 100 supercomputer. Retrieved from http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/11/amazon-built-one-of-the-worlds-fastest-supercomputers-in-its-cloud/
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