The first computer processors with multiple cores appeared on the consumer market in the mid-2000s, but many users still do not quite understand what multi-core processors are and how to figure out their characteristics.
Video format of the article "The Whole Truth About Multicore Processors"
Simple explanation of the question "what is a processor"
The microprocessor is one of the main devices in the computer. This dry official name is often abbreviated to simply "processor"). Processor - a microcircuit, comparable in area to a matchbox... If you like, a processor is like a motor in a car. The most important part, but not the only one. The car also has wheels, a body, and a turntable with headlights. But it is the processor (like the motor of the car) that determines the power of the "car".
Many people call a processor a system unit - a "box" inside which all the components of a PC are located, but this is fundamentally wrong. System unit- this is a computer case along with all its constituent parts - hard disk, RAM and many other parts.
Processor function - computing... It is not so important which ones. The fact is that all the work of a computer is tied exclusively to arithmetic calculations... Addition, multiplication, subtraction and other algebra - this is all done by a microcircuit called a "processor". And the results of such calculations are displayed on the screen in the form of a game, a Word file, or just a desktop.
The main part of the computer that deals with calculations - here, what is processor.
What is a processor core and multicore
From time immemorial processor "ages" these microcircuits were single-core. The kernel is, in fact, the processor itself. Its main and main part. Processors also have other parts - say, "legs" - contacts, microscopic "wiring" - but the very block that is responsible for calculations is called processor core... When the processors became quite small, the engineers decided to combine several cores at once inside one processor "case".
If we imagine a processor as an apartment, then the core is a large room in such an apartment. A one-room apartment is one processor core (a large room-hall), a kitchen, a bathroom, a corridor ... A two-room apartment is like two processor cores along with other rooms. There are three, four, and even 12-room apartments. Also in the case of processors: inside one crystal-"apartment" there can be several cores-"rooms".
Multicore Is the division of one processor into several identical functional blocks. The number of blocks is the number of cores within one processor.
Varieties of multi-core processors
There is a misconception: "the more cores a processor has, the better." This is how marketers who are paid to create these kinds of delusions try to present the case. Their task is to sell cheap processors, moreover, at a higher price and in huge numbers... But in fact, the number of cores is far from main characteristic processors.
Let's go back to the analogy between processors and apartments. A two-room apartment is more expensive, more convenient and more prestigious than a one-room apartment. But only if these apartments are located in the same area, are equipped in the same way, and they have similar repairs. There are weak quad-core (or even 6-core) processors that are much weaker than dual-core ones. But it's hard to believe it: still, the magic of large numbers 4 or 6 against "some" two. However, this is exactly what happens very, very often. It seems like the same four-room apartment, but in a dead condition, without renovation, in a completely remote area - and even at the price of a luxurious "kopeck piece" in the very center.
How many cores are there inside a processor?
For personal computers and laptops single core processors have not really been produced for several years, and it is very rare to find them on sale. The number of cores starts with two. Four cores - as a rule, these are more expensive processors, but there is a return on them. There are also 6-core processors, which are incredibly expensive and much less practical. Few tasks are capable of gaining performance on these monstrous crystals.
There was an experiment by AMD to create 3-core processors, but this is already in the past. It worked out pretty well, but their time has passed.
By the way, AMD also produces multi-core processors, but, as a rule, they are noticeably weaker than competitors from Intel. True, their price is much lower. You just need to know that 4 cores from AMD will almost always be noticeably weaker than the same 4 cores from Intel.
Now you know that processors have 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 cores. Single and 12-core processors are rare. Tri-core processors are a thing of the past. Six-core processors are either very expensive (Intel) or not so strong (AMD) to overpay for the number. 2 and 4 cores are the most common and practical devices, from the weakest to the most powerful.
Multi-core processor frequency
One of the characteristics of computer processors is their frequency. Those same megahertz (and more often - gigahertz). Frequency is an important characteristic, but far from the only one.... Yes, perhaps not the most important one yet. For example, two nuclear processor with a frequency of 2 gigahertz - a more powerful proposal than its single-core brother with a frequency of 3 gigahertz.
It is completely wrong to assume that the frequency of a processor is equal to the frequency of its cores multiplied by the number of cores. To put it simply, a 2-core processor with a core frequency of 2 GHz common frequency is by no means equal to 4 gigahertz! Even the concept of "common frequency" does not exist. In this case, CPU frequency is exactly 2 GHz. No multiplications, additions or other operations.
And again, let's "turn" the processors into apartments. If the height of the ceilings in each room is 3 meters, then the total height of the apartment will remain the same - all the same three meters, and not a centimeter higher. No matter how many rooms there are in such an apartment, the height of these rooms does not change. Also clock frequency processor cores ... It does not add or multiply.
Virtual multicore, or Hyper-Threading
There are also virtual processor cores... Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology makes the computer “think” that there are actually 4 cores inside a dual-core processor. Much like the one and only HDD is divided into several logical — local drives C, D, E and so on.
Hyper-Threading is a very useful technology for a number of tasks.... Sometimes it happens that the processor core is only half involved, and the rest of the transistors in its composition toss about idle. The engineers figured out a way to make these idlers work, too, by dividing each physical processor core into two “virtual” parts. As if a large enough room was divided into two by a partition.
Does it make practical sense to v-cores trick? Most often - yes, although it all depends on specific tasks... It seems that there are more rooms (and most importantly, they are used more rationally), but the area of the room has not changed. In offices, such partitions are incredibly useful, in some residential apartments too. In other cases, there is no sense at all in blocking the room (dividing the processor core into two virtual ones).
Note that the most expensive and productive class processorsCorei7 without fail equipped withHyper-Threading... They have 4 physical cores and 8 virtual ones. It turns out that 8 computational threads work simultaneously on one processor. Less expensive but also powerful processors Intel class Corei5 consist of four cores, but Hyper Threading does not work there. It turns out that Core i5s work with 4 threads of computing.
Processors Corei3- typical "middle peasants", both in price and in performance. They have two cores and no hint of Hyper-Threading. In total, it turns out that Corei3 only two computational threads. The same applies to frankly budget crystals. Pentium andCeleron... Two cores, no hyper-threading = two threads.
Does a computer need a lot of cores? How many cores does a processor need?
All modern processors are powerful enough for common tasks... Browsing the Internet, chatting on social networks and by e-mail, office tasks Word-PowerPoint-Excel: weak Atom, budget Celeron and Pentium are also suitable for this work, not to mention the more powerful Core i3. Two cores for routine work more than enough. Processor with large quantity cores will not bring a significant increase in speed.
For games, you should pay attention to processorsCorei3 ori5... Rather, gaming performance will not depend on the processor, but on the video card. Rarely does a game require the full power of a Core i7. Therefore, it is believed that games require no more than four processor cores, and more often two cores will do.
For serious work like special engineering programs, video encoding and other resource-intensive tasks really productive equipment is required... Often not only physical, but also virtual processor cores are involved here. The more computational threads, the better. And it doesn't matter how much such a processor costs: for professionals, the price is not so important.
Are there any benefits of multi-core processors?
Of course, yes. At the same time, the computer is engaged in several tasks - at least the operation of Windows (by the way, these are hundreds of different tasks) and, at the same time, playing the movie. Playing music and browsing the Internet. Text editor and included music. Two processor cores - and these are, in fact, two processors, will cope with different tasks faster than one. Two cores will do this somewhat faster. Four is even faster than two.
In the early years of the existence of multicore technology, not all programs were able to work even with two processor cores. By 2014, the vast majority of applications are well aware and able to take advantage of multiple cores. The processing speed of tasks on a dual-core processor rarely doubles, but there is almost always a performance gain.
Therefore, the ingrained myth that, supposedly, programs cannot use multiple cores is outdated information. Once upon a time it was really so, today the situation has improved dramatically. The benefits of multiple cores are undeniable, this is a fact.
When a processor has fewer cores, it's better
You shouldn't buy a processor with the wrong "the more cores, the better" formula. This is not true. First, 4, 6 and 8-core processors are significantly more expensive than their dual-core counterparts. A significant increase in price is not always justified in terms of performance. For example, if an 8-core is only 10% faster than a CPU with fewer cores, but it will be 2 times more expensive, then such a purchase is difficult to justify.
Secondly, the more cores a processor has, the more power-hungry it is. There is no point in buying a much more expensive laptop with a 4-core (8-thread) Core i7 if this laptop will only handle text files, browse the Internet and so on. There will be no difference with a dual-core (4 threads) Core i5, and the classic Core i3 with only two computational threads will not yield to its more eminent "colleague". And from a battery like this powerful laptop will work much less than the economical and undemanding Core i3.
Multi-core processors in mobile phones and tablets
The fashion for several computational cores within one processor applies to and mobile devices... Smartphones, along with tablets with a large number of cores, almost never use the full capabilities of their microprocessors. Dual-core mobile computers sometimes really work a little faster, but 4, and even more so 8 cores is a frank overkill. The battery is consumed completely godlessly, and powerful computing devices are simply idle. The bottom line is that multi-core processors in phones, smartphones and tablets are just a marketing tribute, not an absolute must. Computers are more demanding devices than phones. They really need two processor cores. Four won't hurt. 6 and 8 are overkill in common tasks and even in games.
How to choose a multi-core processor and not be mistaken?
The practical part of today's article is relevant for 2014. It is unlikely that in the coming years, something will change seriously. We will only talk about Intel processors. Yes, AMD offers good solutions, but they are less popular and more difficult to figure out.
Note that the table is based on processors from 2012-2014. Older designs have different characteristics. We also did not mention rare CPU variants, for example, a single-core Celeron (there are some even today, but this is an atypical option that is almost not presented on the market). You should not choose processors solely by the number of cores inside them - there are others, more important characteristics... The table will only make it easier to choose a multi-core processor, but specific model(and there are dozens of them in each class) should be bought only after thorough acquaintance with their parameters: frequency, heat dissipation, generation, cache size and other characteristics.
| CPU | Number of Cores | Computing streams | Typical area of application |
| Atom | 1-2 | 1-4 | Low-power computers and netbooks. Task Atom processors- minimum power consumption. Their performance is minimal. |
| Celeron | 2 | 2 | The cheapest processors for desktops and laptops. The performance is sufficient for office tasks, but these are not gaming CPUs at all. |
| Pentium | 2 | 2 | As inexpensive and low-performance Intel processors as Celeron. An excellent choice for office computers. Pentiums are equipped with a slightly larger cache, and, sometimes, slightly higher performance compared to Celeron |
| Core i3 | 2 | 4 | Two is enough powerful core, each of which is divided into two virtual "processors" (Hyper-Threading). These are already quite powerful CPUs at not too high prices. A good choice for a home or a powerful office computer without special demands on performance. |
| Core i5 | 4 | 4 | Full 4-core Core i5 processors are quite expensive processors. Their performance is lacking only in the most demanding tasks. |
| Core i7 | 4-6 | 8-12 | The most powerful but especially expensive Intel processors. As a rule, they rarely turn out to be faster than the Core i5, and only in some programs. There are simply no alternatives to them. |
A short summary of the article "The Whole Truth About Multi-Core Processors." Instead of a synopsis
- Processor core- his component... In fact, a standalone processor inside the case. Dual Core Processor - Two processors inside one.
- Multicore comparable to the number of rooms inside an apartment. Two-room apartments are better than one-room apartments, but only with other things being equal (location of the apartment, condition, area, ceiling height).
- The statement that the more cores a processor has, the better it is Is a marketing gimmick, a completely wrong rule. After all, an apartment is chosen not only by the number of rooms, but also by its location, repair and other parameters. The same goes for multiple cores inside a processor.
- Exists "Virtual" multicore- Hyper-Threading technology. Thanks to this technology, each "physical" core is divided into two "virtual" ones. It turns out that a 2-core processor with Hyper-Threading has only two real cores, but these processors simultaneously process 4 computational threads. This is a really useful feature, but a 4-thread processor cannot be considered a quad-core.
- For Intel desktop processors: Celeron - 2 cores and 2 threads. Pentium - 2 cores, 2 threads. Core i3 - 2 cores, 4 threads. Core i5 - 4 cores, 4 threads. Core i7 - 4 cores, 8 threads. Notebook (mobile) CPU Intel have a different number of cores / threads.
- For mobile computers, energy efficiency (in practice, battery life) is often more important than the number of cores.
"The more cores a processor has, the better and more powerful it is" - a persistent myth spread by marketers and sellers mobile technology... However, it has nothing to do with reality.
For example, the 2016 iPhone 7 performance leader runs on a 4-core Apple processor A10, the top chips from Snapdragon - 820 and 825, also have 4 cores, while among the MediaTek processors, the gaming performance of which is traditionally not the best, solutions for 10 cores (Helio X30) have already appeared and 12-core chips will soon appear.
Who's Who in the Processor Market?
The vast majority of smartphones are manufactured on processors from Qualcomm and MediaTek. The giants of the industry - Apple, Samsung and Huawei, develop and use their own chips, but they can be found exclusively in the smartphones of these companies. Also, in ultra-budget gadgets, Spreadtrum processors are sometimes used, but, for obvious reasons, they cannot compete with chips from leading manufacturers.
If we compare the chips Qualcomm and MediaTek, then the latter are inferior in terms of their characteristics. The weak point of MTK has always been mediocre graphics performance due to the use of Mali video accelerators. So, even smartphones with top-end chips like Helio P20 often pull 3D toys worse (graphics rendering, micro-freezes and FPS sagging) than devices running on mid-range Snapdragon 625 and 652.
However, the key advantage of MediaTek products is the lower cost. It is to MTK chips that we owe the fact that even budget smartphones have now become bug-free devices that you can comfortably use. MKT processors are not gaming, but in terms of the smoothness and speed of a smartphone, power consumption, multimedia and wireless functions, they are no worse. And if you do not play heavy 3D toys on your phone, then the differences between Snapdragon processors and MediaTek probably won't.
8-core smartphones with Snapdragon processors
All 8-core processors presented in the rating are created according to the 28 nm process technology and have the ARMv8 architecture; these are mid-range chips used in respective smartphones. There are no flagship devices in this collection, top-end devices work on 820 and 821 dragons.
Snapdragon 430 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S and Nokia 6
Redmi 3S Is one of the best-selling smartphones of the last year. This is an excellent budget employee who will not lose its relevance in the near future, although the 4th generation of Redmi has come to replace it. The gadget is equipped with 16/2 GB of memory expandable, quality 5 inch screen and a capacious 4100 mAh battery, from which the smartphone can live for 2-3 days without any problems. In Antutu Benchmark 3S is gaining 42 thousand parrots. Price - from 8000 rubles.
Nokia 6- the first smartphone of the once cult manufacturer on the Android platform. It was the use of a 430 dragon in a device for $ 250 that many did not like, but Nokia 6 takes others: it has a flagship design and a very high-quality assembly, a cool main camera and a good amount of memory - 64/4 GB + a microSD slot. The result in Antutu is 44 thousand parrots. Nokia 6 is not supplied to Russia and you can buy a smartphone only in Chinese online stores.
Snapdragon 617 - Moto G4 and Alcatel Idol 4
Moto g4- middle peasant with large high-quality screen(IPS 5.5 '' FHD), 16/2 GB expandable memory, 13/5 MP cameras and a 3000 mAh battery. The specs are nothing outstanding, but Motorola's attention to detail does its job and the G4 can be called one of the most enjoyable smartphones in its price range. The result in the Benchmark is 45 thousand parrots. Price - from 15 thousand rubles.
Alcatel Idol 4- a flagship at an adequate price, in which the main emphasis is not on performance (16/3 GB memory + Micro-SD), but on multimedia capabilities... Idol 4 boasts an excellent 5.2 '' FHD IPS screen (older version 4S comes with a helmet virtual reality), high-quality stereo speakers with an amplifier and a dedicated audio chip, which ensures high-quality music reproduction in headphones. Weakness the smartphone has a battery, it is only 2610 mAh. The result in the Benchmark is 46 thousand parrots. Price - from 14. thousand rubles.
Snapdragon 625 - Huawei Nova and Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
Huawei Nova- one of the few Huawei smartphones running on a Snapdragon chip, and not on a processor self-developed HiSilicon Kirin. This compact model with 5 '' FHD IPS screen and 32/3 GB of memory, the main features of which are cool design and good camera 13 MP, one of the best in its price category. The result in the Benchmark is 64 thousand parrots. Cost - from 20 thousand rubles.
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime- the successor to the popular Redmi 3S came out immediately in 3 modifications, the most interesting of which is the Prime version with a 625 dragon, 32/3 GB of memory and a 5 '' FHD screen. This is one of the best in terms of ratio / price and quality of average peasants with good gaming performance(benchmark - 65 thousand) and impressive autonomy(confident 2-3 days from one charge). Cost - from 10 thousand rubles.
Snapdragon 652 - Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra, LG G5 SE
Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra- the flagship tablet phone for those who are not chasing record-breaking performance. Powered by a fresh 652-dragon, the ZF3 Ultra has a lot of memory - 64/3 or 128/4 GB, expandable with cards up to 1 TB, cool camera by 23 MP with optical stabilization and laser autofocus, as well as a thick 4600 mAh battery. However, the main advantage of the smartphone is the huge 6.8 '' FHD IPS screen, ideal for consuming any media content. The result in the benchmark is 78 thousand parrots. Price - from 37 thousand rubles.
LG G5 SE- the younger version of the flagship from LG, which differs from the G5 exclusively in the use of the 652 dragon instead of the 820. This is an unusual modular smartphone with the ability to connect additional accessories, including a dedicated DAC, a photo module with optical zoom and an additional battery. The G5 SE is also interesting in terms of characteristics - 2K 5.3 '' IPS screen, 32/3 GB of memory + flash drives up to 2 TB, dual camera 18 + 8 MP and 8 MP front module, removable 2800 mAh battery. Benchmark - 79 thousand parrots. Price - from 24 thousand rubles.
Snapdragon 810 - Nexus 6P and Moto X Force
Nexus 6P- the last of the released Nexuses, after which the corporation concentrated on developing its Google pixel... The device is remarkable pure Android, stereo speakers, long time autonomous work and excellent hardware - a 5.7 '' FHD AMOLED screen, 34/64/128 GB of memory and 3 GB of RAM, a 3540 mAh battery, 12 and 8 MP cameras. The result in the benchmark is 85 thousand parrots. Price - from 30 thousand rubles.
Moto x force – unique smartphone, the screen of which (according to the manufacturer) cannot be broken. Able to survive any falls and merciless exploitation, the X Force does not pump up even in terms of hardware - a 2K 5.4 '' AMOLED screen, 32/3 GB of memory, a 21 MP camera and a 3760 mAh battery. This is a balanced device, which is slightly inferior in characteristics to the current flagships, which is considered one of the best smartphones released by the MOTO brand recently. Benchmark - 75 thousand parrots. Price - from 37 thousand rubles.
8-core smartphones with MediaTek processors
It was MediaTek that in 2013 launched the first 8-core processor for smartphones - MT6592. Today, the most popular eights are MT6753, MT6750 and Helio P10, made using a 28 nm process technology. Consider the most successful smartphones with 8 core MediTek processors.
MediaTek MT6753 - Lenovo Vibe X3 Lite and Ulefone Power
Vibe X3 Lite- the younger version of the flagship X3 from Lenovo, characterized by balanced characteristics and affordable price... On board the gadget is 32/2 GB of memory + a slot for Micro-SD, 5.5 '' FHD IPS screen, 13/8 MP cameras and 3300 mAh battery. The device is notable primarily for powerful stereo speakers, but its gaming performance is not the best, in the X3 Lite Benchmark it is gaining only 37 thousand parrots. Price - from 11 thousand rubles.
Ulefone power- Chinese with a huge 6050 mAh battery, 5.5 '' FHD IPS screen, 16/3 GB of memory and 13/5 MP cameras. At first glance, nothing outstanding, but from one charge this gadget is able to work for 3-4 days, which makes it an excellent choice for those who do not want to depend on an outlet. Benchmark - 32 thousand parrots. Price - 9 thousand rubles on AliExpress.
MediaTek MT6750 - Meizu M3s and Bluboo Maya MAX
Meizu M3s is a popular budget employee with ideal build quality, traditional for Meizu, and good for its price (7 thousand rubles) characteristics: 5 '' HD IPS screen, 16/2 GB of memory, 13/5 MP cameras, 3020 mAh battery. The smartphone is made in metal case, it is compact, fits comfortably in the hand and pleases with fast work due to the well-optimized Flyme shell. Benchmark - 37 thousand parrots.
Bluboo maya max- the older version of the popular ultra-budget phone from Bluboo, notable for its metal body, the presence of a fingerprint scanner and very good hardware. Onboard the smartphone is a 6-inch HD IPS screen, 32/3 GB of memory, 13/8 MP cameras and a 4200 mAh battery. Nice touches include USB-C support and IP63 waterproof rating. Benchmark - 41 thousand parrots. Price - from 9 thousand rubles on AliExpress.
MediaTek Helio P10 - Meizu M5 Note and SONY Xperia XA
Meizu M5 Note- one of the most attractive in terms of price / quality ratio smartphones from Meizu. For a little over 10 thousand rubles, you get a device with a 5.5 '' FHD IPS screen, 16/32 + 3 GB of memory and a slot for a flash drive, a cool camera and a 4000 mAh battery. In the Benchmark, the gadget is gaining 47 thousand parrots, you can play even the most demanding 3D toys on medium graphics settings.
SONY Xperia XA- smart-looking smartphone with frameless screen that you can love at first sight. Specifications - 5 '' HD IPS screen, 16/2 GB memory + Micro-SD, 16/8 MP cameras and a 2300 mAh battery. Benefits - Availability NFC module and good photo quality. Disadvantages - the lack of an oleophobic coating on the screen and a ridiculous battery capacity. Benchmark - 47 thousand parrots. Price - from 16 thousand rubles.
8-core smartphones with Exynos processors
The latest generation of Samsung's Exynos chipsets can be considered the most technologically advanced 8-core processors on the market. The Korean company makes its chips using the 14 nm process technology and uses them only in the production of its own devices. An exception - Meizu Pro 6 Plus, which came out with a processor similar to the one used in the Galaxy S7.
Exynos 7880 - Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 (2017)
Smartphones Galaxy line A 2017 is outwardly as close to flagship Galaxy S7. These are beautiful devices in a ceramic case with waterproof IP68 standard. Smartphones run on the same chipsets but differ in some characteristics.
Galaxy A5 has 5.2 '' FHD Super AMOLED screen, 32/3 GB of memory with support for flash drives up to 256 GB, cameras with a resolution of 16 MP (both main and front), as well as a 3000 mAh battery. In the older version of the Galaxy A7, larger diagonal screen - 5.7 '' and thicker battery - 3600 mAh. Both devices have an NFC chip and full support for Samsung Pay.
Smartphones have an attractive design, cool cameras, good battery life, but they do not impress with gaming performance. In the benchmark, both devices gain 60 thousand parrots. The price is 33 and 28 thousand rubles for the A7 and A5, respectively.
Exynos 8890 - Galasy S7 and S7 Edge, Meizu Pro 6 Plus
Galasy S7 and S7 Edge- the flagships of 2016 from Samsung are successful, no matter which side you look at, confirmation of this can be found in the huge demand for both models of smartphones. Specifications Regular and Edge versions are identical - 5.1 '' SuperAMOLED 2K resolution screen covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 32/64 GB of built-in and 4 GB of RAM with support for flash drives up to 200 GB, 3000 mAh battery with fast charging, and 12 and 5 MP cameras, which are some of the best on the market. The result in the benchmark is 131 thousand parrots. Price - from 44 thousand rubles for the S7 and from 54 thousand for the S7 Edge.
Meizu Pro 6 Plus – the only flagship Chinese company on the Exynos 8890 chip. The main advantages of the Pro 6 Plus are the gorgeous sound in headphones (there is a dedicated DAC and amplifier) and a cool camera that can compete with A-brands. The device is good in terms of hardware (2K Super AMOLED screen, 64/4 GB of memory, 3400 mAh battery), has an excellent build quality and excellent performance. The only disappointing feature is the lack of a memory card slot. The result in the benchmark is 113 thousand parrots. Price - from 35 thousand rubles.
8-core smartphones with HiSilicon Kirin processors
Kirin chipsets are developed by Huawei and are used exclusively in the company's smartphones.
Honor 8 with Kirin 950
Honor 8 is one of the most beautiful smartphones of 2016. Ceramic body The devices are visually impressive, but disappointing in practice due to their increased susceptibility to scratches. According to the characteristics, Honor 8 stands on a step between the middle peasants and the flagships - 5.2 '' FHD IPS screen, 32/64 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of expandable RAM, a dual camera with 12 MP and 5 MP front camera, a 3000 mAh battery, the presence of NFC ... Among the shortcomings, we note only mediocre autonomy and a quiet main speaker, in all other respects the Honor 8 is extremely good. The result in the benchmark is 95 thousand parrots. Price - from 27 thousand rubles.
Huawei Mate 9 with Kirin 960
The Mate 9 is Huawei's flagship, the company's most expensive and most powerful smartphone. The characteristics of the device speak for themselves - a reference 5.9 '' FHD IPS screen, a 20 + 12 MP dual camera with 2x optical zoom, optical stabilization and phase detection autofocus, 64 + 4 GB of memory with a slot for a flash drive and a 4000 mAh battery ... The result in the benchmark is 128 thousand parrots. Price - from 47 thousand rubles.
For those interested in luxury 8 nuclear smartphones , we recommend paying attention to Huawei mate 9 Porshe Desing. This gadget costs 1400 euros, for this money you get the device in unique design with a 2K AMOLED screen, 256 GB of main and 6 GB of RAM and cameras developed by Leica. There are simply no alternatives to this model in the assortment of other A-brands.
Get discounts in online stores Aliexpress, M.Video, Svyaznoy and others using the cashback service Letyshops.ru. Extension for Chrome.
Widget from SocialMartYou may also like ...
In fact, nothing like this happens. To understand why an eight-core processor does not double the performance of a smartphone in half, some clarification is required. The future of smartphone processors is already here. Octa-core processors, which only recently could only be dreamed of, are becoming more widespread. But it turns out that their job is not to improve the performance of the device.
These explanations were published in the article "Octa-core vs Quad-core: Does it make a difference?" on resource pages Trusted Reviews.
The terms "eight-core" and "quad-core" themselves reflect the number of cores in the CPU.
But the key difference between the two types of processors is the way the processor cores are installed.
With a quad-core processor, all cores can run simultaneously, enabling fast and flexible multitasking, smoother 3D gaming, faster camera performance, and more.
Modern eight-core chips, in turn, simply consist of two quad-core processors that distribute different tasks among themselves depending on their type. More often than not, an eight-core chip has a set of four cores with a lower clock speed than the second set. When a complex task needs to be done, of course, a faster processor is taken over.
A more accurate term than "eight-core" would be "dual-quad". But it doesn't sound so pretty and is not suitable for marketing purposes. Therefore, these processors are called eight-core.
Why are there two sets of processor cores?
What is the reason for the combination of two sets of processor cores, transferring tasks to one another, in one device? For energy efficiency! This solution is necessary for a smartphone powered by a battery, but not for a head unit that is constantly powered by on-board network car.
A more powerful CPU consumes more power and the battery needs to be recharged more often. A rechargeable batteries a much weaker link in a smartphone than processors. As a result, the more powerful the smartphone processor, the more capacious battery he needs it.
At the same time, for most tasks of a smartphone, you do not need as high computational performance as it can provide. modern processor... Moving between home screens, checking messages, and even web navigation are less CPU-intensive tasks.
But HD video, gaming and photo manipulation are such tasks. Therefore, eight-core processors are quite practical, although this solution can hardly be called elegant. A weaker processor handles less resource-intensive tasks. More powerful - more resource-intensive. As a result, the overall power consumption is reduced compared to a situation where only a processor with a high clock speed would handle all tasks. Thus, the dual processor primarily solves the problem of improving energy efficiency, not performance.
Technological features
All modern eight-core processors are based on the ARM architecture, the so-called big.LITTLE.
This eight-core big.LITTLE architecture was announced in October 2011 and allowed four low-performance Cortex-A7 cores to work together with four high-performance Cortex-A15 cores. ARM has since repeated this approach annually, offering more capable chips for both sets of processor cores on the eight-core chip.
Some of the major chip manufacturers for mobile devices focused their efforts on this sample of "eight-core" big.LITTLE. One of the first and most notable was Samsung's own chip, the famous Exynos. Its eight-core model has been used since the Samsung Galaxy S4, at least in some versions of the company's devices.
More recently, Qualcomm has also started implementing big.LITTLE in its eight-core Snapdragon 810 CPU chips. It is on this processor that such well-known novelties of the smartphone market are based, such as Htc one M9 and G Flex 2, which is LG's great achievement.
In early 2015, NVIDIA unveiled the Tegra X1, a new super-powerful mobile processor that the company is targeting for car computers... X1's main function is its "console-challenging" GPU, which is also based on the big.LITTLE architecture. That is, it will also become eight-core.
Is there a big difference for regular user?
Is there a big difference between a four- and eight-core smartphone processor for the average user? No, in fact it is very small, according to Trasted Reviews.
The term "eight-core" is somewhat confusing, but in reality it means duplication of quad-core processors. The end result is two independent quad-core kits that work together on a single chip to improve energy efficiency.
Is an eight-core processor needed in every modern device? There is no such need, for example Apple provides decent power efficiency to its iPhones with a dual-core processor.
Thus, the eight-core ARM big.LITTLE architecture is one of the possible solutions to one of the most important problems concerning smartphones - battery life. As soon as another solution to this problem is found, the trend of installing two quad-core sets in one chip will end, and such solutions will go out of fashion.
Hello everyone. So let's talk today about the nuclei, or rather, about their number. Everything is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. So if you answer right away, then of course 8 cores are better than 4, here I think it's easy to understand why, well, more cores more power.
But here's the thing. An 8-core processor from AMD is cheaper than a 4-core processor from Intel. And Intel, before socket 2011-3, has no eight-core processors at all! Or is there? Well, it seems not! There are quad-cores that support the Hyper-threading technology, so in Windows they are seen as eight-cores. That is, you see, not everything is so simple. More important point this is what AMD's 8-core processor loses in terms of performance Intel processor with 4 cores. That is, you see, the kernels are different, so to speak. Although I think that everyone already knows that Intel processes are more optimized and more productive than AMD, there is no doubt about that.
So what to think, which is better? Here it is also important to understand better for what. Let's deal with the process first, Intel has three main models, they are i3 (2 cores / 4 threads), i5 (4 cores), i7 (4 cores / 8 threads). For games, you can take the i7, this is enough not only for modern games but also for future ones, it seems to me. i5 also fits well, it has 4 cores, it will handle all modern games. Yes, and i3 will pull many games at medium, and even at high, unless, of course, the video card does not disappoint.
I can't give a definite answer which is better than 8 cores or 4. If you choose among Intel, and if you mean cores, not threads, then of course 8 cores are better. But look what a joke there is. In general, a lot of cores are good, but here's what else is interesting. For example you take i7 and play the game, everything is fine. But if you took the i5 and overclocked it, the result would be the same as if you were using the i7! And there would be a reserve for future games. 4 cores with a high frequency, for example 4.6 GHz, will cope a little better with one resource-intensive task, that is, a game, than i7, for example, with a frequency of 3.8 GHz. All the same, i5 is cheaper than i7
The high frequency and the number of cores are not exactly the same thing. For example, for an office computer, you can take an i5, everything will be fine. Or you can take Pentium G3258, for example, overclock it to 4.6 GHz, or a little less, and everything will be fine too, although there are two cores. Multiple cores allow you to perform multiple tasks at the same time. A high frequency allows you to complete one task, but as quickly as possible. This is, roughly speaking, of course you can run several programs too ..
For office programs I see no point in multiple cores. Better two, but at a high frequency. For modern games, it seems to me that 4 cores at a high frequency are best. For all sorts of Photoshop, resource-intensive programs, of course, you should already take the i7.
By the way, I'm not sure at all, but socket 2011-3 seems to support only i7 family processors, that is, the most productive ones.
There is also a moment, so you can take the i7 on the 1155 socket, well, as an example. Or you can take an i5 on a 1151 socket. In principle, so roughly speaking, it immediately seems that the i5 will be much weaker. Yes, everything is correct, but NOT MUCH, the fact is that socket 1155 is an obsolete socket, and 1151 is a new and modern socket. So the i5 on socket 1151 will be somewhere close to the i7 on socket 1155. And if you overclock the i5 still, then in general there will be beauty. What am I doing this for? Kernels are nuclei, but choose not only their number, but also look at the modernity of the kernel, so to speak, this is my advice to you
Well guys, these are the things, a little porridge-malasha turned out, because I still did not answer that 4 cores or 8 cores are better. So I will write again that Intel (except platform 2011-3) does not have processors with 8-cores, there is a maximum of 6 cores, and then this is an outdated socket 1366. Second, there are full-fledged 8-core AMD processors that are inferior in power 4-core Intel. And the most important thing: for modern games it is better to take an i5 and overclock it (overclocked models come with the letter K), while I advise the socket 1151. If you need to work in powerful programs, then i7 is better, it will make sense, so to speak. If you don't have a lot of finances, but you want to play, then take the i3. The entire Core I * family, these are generally productive processors, whatever one may say.
AMD FX: 8-core processors first came to desktops
How one of the big. LITTLE
In practice, the concept of big. LITTLE was first tested on Samsung Galaxy S4
How big. LITTLE in MediaTek MT8135
Modern Combat 5 is the first game optimized for MediaTek MT6592
Highscreen Thor showed "real" 8 cores before anyone else in Russia
For comparison, desktop systems have a much longer history - tens of years. However, the world's first 8-core desktop processor did not come out until October 2011. Then the chips AMD FX-8120 and FX-8150 went on sale. Their frequency is 3.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz, respectively, and in Turbo mode Core bumps up to 4 GHz and 4.2 GHz.
The new items worked on the basis of the Bulldozer multithreaded architecture, which AMD considered as a "golden mean" between parallel processing of several threads by one core and ordinary scaling with the allocation of its own instruction thread for each core. The fact is that in Bulldozer, every two x86 cores are initially combined in pairs into a single module. In fact, you get a set of four dual core processors with shared L2 cache and math coprocessor. The main opponent of this approach is Intel Hyper-Threading technology, when one physical core can turn into two logical ones and process two independent processes simultaneously.
The beginning of 8-core mobile processors was laid by ARM, which grants licenses for the development and production of processors with the same architecture. In 2011, ARM first announced the big.LITTLE concept, which offers several principles of interaction between cores with different ARM architecture options within a single processor. For example, a combination of two clusters of cores can be implemented in one chip: the high-performance Cortex-A15 and the energy-efficient Cortex-A7. This is how ARM responded to the desire of users to get powerful mobile devices with a good margin of autonomy.
The most common variant, big. LITTLE is based on the principle of processing a task with only one cluster - an application cannot be simultaneously distributed across cores with different microarchitectures. The starting point for the application is the Cortex-A7 cluster, as the performance needs of the big. LITTLE switches the task to neighboring Cortex-A15 cores. One of the most important issues for ARM was minimizing the time for transferring tasks between clusters, otherwise, with a high interval, all the advantages of this concept would be lost. ARM has successfully resolved the problem with a procedure spend of no more than 20 microseconds (or 0.00002 seconds).
In 2013, Samsung developed its own 8-core processor using the ARM big. LITTLE, and released the flagship Samsung smartphone Galaxy S4. True, the public's enthusiasm for the 8-core was not particularly loud - users quickly figured out that they received, in fact, two quad-core processors. The underlying Samsung Exynos 5410 processor "overclocks" up to 1.6 GHz with Cortex-A15 and up to 1.2 GHz with Cortex-A7.
The combination of capacities has paid off. For example, the British resource Which? compared the autonomy of eight smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 1020. telephone conversations Samsung came out on top with 1,051 minutes, 280 minutes ahead of the closest HTC One. In terms of surfing the web, the gap with competitors was not as striking, but the South Korean flagship still outperformed its Mini version by 11 minutes. Later, the Samsung Exynos 5410 was replaced by the improved Exynos 5 5420, with a 20% increase in performance due to an increase in frequencies and the installation of a new graphics chip ARM Mali-T628 MP6. This processor is used in Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which also comes in a version with a 4-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800.
By the way, in July last year, the MediaTek MT8135 processor was officially presented, which also uses the big. LITTLE, but with clusters of two cores. The main feature was that MediaTek was the first to release a processor with a heterogeneous algorithm of operation. If in Samsung processors Since tasks could not be performed simultaneously by cores of different architectures, configuration restrictions were removed in MediaTek MT8135. Both all four cores and one Cortex-A15 with two Cortex-A7s can work in the processor at the same time. This is, in fact, the second variant of the practical implementation of the big.LITTLE concept.
Last November, MediaTek announced the world's first "real" 8-core processor for mobile devices, the MediaTek MT6592. The platform has the ultimate scalability, being able to load both one core and the whole eight. In this case, the processor frequency can be set up to 2.3 GHz, depending on the manufacturer's wishes. specific device... The choice in favor of ARM Cortex-A7 caused some disappointment, but I still wanted to see faster Cortex-A15 cores. MediaTek explained that in the process of preparing the chipset, it did tests in different configurations, and it was Cortex-A7 that turned out to be the most optimal choice to achieve a balance of performance and power consumption. Among the notable features of the MediaTek MT6592 is support for 4k / Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) video playback. In addition, this processor implements the Clear Motion technology - a proprietary development for converting video with a frequency of up to 30 fps to "smoother" from 60 fps.
A natural question arises about the demand for full-fledged 8-core processors, because most of the current applications for Android in best case use four cores optimally. Here, the position of the Taiwanese chip maker looks quite logical: MediaTek MT6592 is aimed at mid-range smartphones, with the growing popularity of which (and it is just constantly growing) will come to the attention of developers. And it is difficult to expect instantaneous formation software base for a new and so far unique processor. It is already known that the shooter Modern Combat 5, one of the most anticipated games of this year, will be optimized for MediaTek MT6592. It should be assumed that Gameloft will continue to cooperate with MediaTek.
The number of smartphones released with MediaTek MT6592 does not yet exceed even one dozen models. In Russia, the first smartphone with this processor was going to launch the Fly brand on sale, but it was outstripped by Highscreen with the Highscreen Thor model. The example of the new item shows that with the MediaTek MT6592, second-tier brands have the opportunity to produce truly flagship products, and not just devices of the lower price segment.
The Highscreen Thor uses a 5MP front and 13MP rear camera, 2GB of RAM, and a Sharp IPS screen Full resolution HD and made using OGS and Full Lamination technologies. The picture is completed by a thin (7.6 mm) case, two interchangeable rear panels(glossy white and matte black) and traditional B-brand smartphones support for two SIM-cards. Note that by the end of last year, brands of the second echelon for the first time brought the prices of certain new products closer to the border of 15,000 rubles, so the price of 13,490 rubles for Highscreen Thor is not surprising.
Another participant in the 8-core race will soon be Huawei with top processor Kirin 920. However, one should not expect fundamental technical innovations - the platform will be built on the ARM big.LITTLE principle. The price of smartphones with this processor will clearly exceed 20,000 rubles, the debut model should be the expected in June Huawei Ascend D3.
