Vendors push quad-core desktops on wary users
November 23, 2008 nnyq.com editPC vendors are launching more and more computers with dual- and quad-core processors, promising users that the expensive machines can juggle more applications at work or play better games at home.
But amid the marketing blitz, some consumers are asking whether all the extra power is really necessary, since their basic desktop software runs fine on traditional Athlon and Pentium chips.
"Most users don't even use the processor that they have now if they've purchased something within the last year or two," says Gary Wallin, director of technical services for Incentra Solutions, an enterprise IT services firm in Boulder, Colo.
"Those people can totally 'get by' with older single-core processors. My current laptop is not a dual-core anything, and I'm able to do my job without lag."
Despite that reluctance, chip vendors are rushing new designs to market, such as Intel's product launches last year: Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad for desktops, and its dual-core Woodcrest and quad-core Clovertown Xeon chips for servers. At the same time, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is developing a Phenom quad-core desktop chip, due out later this year, to complement its dual-core Opteron and quad-core Barcelona server chip, which is due out in August.
Power users will certainly find a way to use the extra boost in multicore chips for high-end games, IT administration, software development, or virtualization, Wallin said. But single-core chips offer the average user plenty of processing capacity to handle tasks such as sending e-mail, surfing the Web, displaying pictures, and playing an occasional simple game.
Those users can find a sweet spot of PC value by purchasing a computer one or two levels below the latest release, buying perfectly capable machines for pennies on the dollar, he said.
In fact, users lose out when they make purchases based on advertisements for trendy gadgets such as quad-core processors or Apple's iPhone, said Davood Sedaghatfar, an IT management consultant in Virginia.
"The multicore technology is way overrated for public use. I think the manufacturers use these terms and technotalk to make people think they are getting the whiz-bang stuff! But in reality, I do not think the public uses even 2 percent of the power and functionality," Sedaghatfar said.
However, chip vendors insist that consumers are getting their money's worth, since modern processor design offers more benefits than simply computing power. Multicore chips can generate less heat than conventional processors, allowing them to fit in smaller, thinner PCs. They are also more power-efficient since they use small 45-nanometer or 65nm transistors instead of 90nm parts.
