Duo, Quad, or Six Core CPU for a program that utilizes one core?

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AnimeSpiritZ

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I'm interested in purchasing a CPU specifically for one program which utilizes only one core (intensively). For this scenario, assuming they're all clocked at the same speed, would a Quad or Six Core perform any differently?



I'm also looking for suggestions for the best single-core throughput CPU for the money (~300$) if there are any.

I've heard that the Haswell series wasn't impressive in its cooling capabilities, but is the 4790K the same? And is this perhaps the better option for the scenario I mentioned? :heink:


Currently I'm interested in purchasing these:
LIAN LI V354B Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112300
CORSAIR H80i CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181057

I'm not sure if the CPU Cooler is sufficient for overlocking to ~4.5GHz or higher with that case.
Suggestions/tips for videos cards, motherboards, and anything else would be pretty cool too since I've never built a compact desktop before. This will be under a Micro ATX.
 
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synphul
The additional cores shouldn't hinder single core speed/performance no. The only issue that can sometimes be caused by more cores is when overclocking, take two cpu's with the same architecture and the difference is one has 4 cores and the other has 6 or 8 - the one with more cores will require more voltage during an overclock and put more stress on the vrm's. It can cause higher temps to be reached and require better cooling. So in some cases of overclocking it's more beneficial dropping from say an 8 core to a 6 core.
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Jdogz427

Jdogz427

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DUDE YOU TOTALLY NEED THE AMAZING NEW 18 CORE XEON!!! jk
get a really good quad core, don't spend extra money on a high end hex or octa core CPUs they will not be worth the extra investment unless you plan on making a lot of money or have money to burn for no reason. An overclocked quad-core intel will suit it fine, overclock it, keep it nice and cool, use a custom loop or a high end AIO to try and get higher overclocks, keep it cooler and make it last longer. the intel cpus have better individual core performance than AMDs and will do nicely.
 
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popatim

popatim

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If your program only uses one core and you don't do anything else on it then you don't need much more than a dual core and you should get the highest clocked supported cpu you can.

If your program runs better on Intel, you might consider the Pentium G3258. Its the only dual core that Intel actually allows you to overclock and it does it very well. The normal clock speed is 3.2GHz and has been overclocked to at least 4.8GHz.. Be aware that Intel has disabled a bunch of features, including Hyper-Threading, VT-d, TSX, vPro, AES-NI, and TXT.
 
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AnimeSpiritZ

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Well the extra cores will help with another activity (Virtual Machines) as a side benefit. You mentioned that I wouldn't need any more than a duo core, is this to say that the performance on a duo core would perform better than a quad/six core clocked at the same speed? (assuming full load on the single core being used)
 
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popatim

popatim

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I answered the question you asked. namely would a single core program benefit by being run on a multi-core cpu. beyond being able to run the OS on another core and devote a core entirely to the one app, having 2 or 16 more cores wont help the app.

Now you seem to want to do more but I'm not sure what question you're trying to ask.
I think you need to specify performance of what?
The 1 core program? - no since it cant use the extra cores it wont see a performance improvement.
Other programs at the same time - yes. thats the whole point of multiple cores.

if you want virtual machine, I tend to only build with VT-D enable processors for those.
 
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synphul

synphul

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If you're running a vm, you'll probably want a quad core (i5) or hyperthreaded quad core (i7). A 6 or 8 core from amd may work well but the issue is the clock for clock performance is lacking compared to intel and will affect the program which is single core intensive. You can't really compare clock speeds from different platforms, it's not the same. It's only meaningful with two cpu's in the same family/architecture.

In other words, if you were looking at two core i5 4th gen cpu's and one was 3.1ghz and another is 3.5ghz, then it's meaningful. The 3.5ghz is faster. If you try comparing a 4.5ghz amd 8 core to a 3.5ghz core i5, the core i5 will still be faster in single threaded applications because intel processes more per clock (per ghz) than amd does.

Given the tech that's out there today especially if you're considering a vm, I wouldn't go with anything less than 4 cores. Even if your primary program you want to run won't use all 4 cores, other aspects of the pc running (such as windows and anything else it's doing in the background) will use the additional cores. Even when only running one application, more is going on in your pc than just that program.
 
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AnimeSpiritZ

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Yeah I think I might've been unclear with the way I wrote it. Basically what I'm wondering is whether a 6-core would hinder the performance of a program that utilizes only one core, compared to a quad core (or perform worse in other words, due to it having more cores).
 
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synphul

synphul

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The additional cores shouldn't hinder single core speed/performance no. The only issue that can sometimes be caused by more cores is when overclocking, take two cpu's with the same architecture and the difference is one has 4 cores and the other has 6 or 8 - the one with more cores will require more voltage during an overclock and put more stress on the vrm's. It can cause higher temps to be reached and require better cooling. So in some cases of overclocking it's more beneficial dropping from say an 8 core to a 6 core.
 
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