While the answer might be obvious, it is not as straightforward as “more cores are better”.
First of all, we need to be on the same page when comparing CPU (Central Processing Unit) technologies. There are big differences in computing performance between different brands, different generations of processors, and between different model lines. So for the sake of this argument, we will compare the same brand processors within a single model line and generation.
The answer is – Maybe. Cores Vs. MHz depends on the software.
It depends on how efficiently the software that you are using can exploit multiple cores of processing power – that is, how well the program(s) can multi-thread. If a program can use only one core at a time, there will be no or very little difference between that program’s performance on a dual core or 4 core or even 8 core processor. What small gains you will see would be from the operating system being able to take care of its business on the idle core(s). In this scenario, a less expensive dual core processor like an Intel Core i3 running at 3.2 GHz may outperform the three-to four times more expensive Core i7 Quad core (8 with Hyperthreading) CPU running at 2.4 GHz.
Having multiple cores comes into play when you are using programs that can make good use of multithreading, or if you are multitasking many programs at once. So if you are writing a letter in a word processor, web browsing, calculating a big spreadsheet, and searching through emails all at once, theoretically your OS can hand each program its own core, so you can keep them all running at top speed. (the perfornamce gains are not linear, however, because all the cores have to share the same memory, hard drive and interfaces).
More advanced programs, such as graphic and video production software, have been programmed with the ability to split their tasks up into smaller chunks, and hand each chunk to a different core for processing. Again, the performance gain is not 4x the original single core speed, because there is overhead to breaking it into chunks and recombining the results, and not all tasks can be distriubuted evenly but it can be substantially faster.
So if you mostly use one program at a time, then a higher clock-speed dual core processor will be best for you. If you multitask several programs then look at a 4 core, and if you use heavy computation programs that can exploit multiple cores or if you are a professional creator, look for 4, 8, or more cores.
Articles:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406293,00.asp
Programs that can use 4 or more cores fully (incomplete list, of course)
- Many programs that do video rendering or file format conversion
- Many engineering and scientific programs
3D Studio MAX using Mental Ray Renderer (>99 % of 4 cores)
Adobe Creative Suite programs – Since version CS4 some of the Adobe programs also benefit from video card acceleration
(Article http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/adobe-cs5-cuda-64-bit,2770.html )
Adobe Premiere Elements v3.0.2 (52-85 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
AutoGK v2.40 (30-53 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
Cakewalk Sonar
Cineform: Aspect HD
Cinema 4d Rendering (>99 % of 4 cores)
Dr. DivX v2.0.0 (47-65 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
DVDShrink v3.2 (~90 % of 4 cores)
Lightwave 3D (>99 % of 4 cores)
MainConcept/Elecard: H.264 Decoder
MainConcept/Elecard: H.264 Encoder
Nero Suite 7.x (>90 % of 4 cores when encoding)
Noise Ninja v2.13 (~80 % of 4 cores when doing the noise reduction on an image)
Pinnacle Studio
Sony Vegas 7.0e (83-100 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
TMPG XPress v4.2.3.193 (65-100 % of 4 cores depending on source type, filters, etc.)
Winrar v3.70 (~85-90 % of 4 cores on benchmark; ~75% in practice)
x264 v0.55.663 (>99 % of 4 cores when doing the 2nd pass of a 2 pass encode)
Yamaha/Steinberg Cubase, Nuendo
Games: Games are progressively getting recoded to use more than 2 cores effectively. Here is a partial list of games that have been reported to use 4 cores.
- Activision: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
- Atari/Warner: Witcher 2
- Capcom: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
- Codemasters: Race Driver 3
- EA: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Crysis 2, Dragon Age II
- Eidos: Deus Ex
- Koch Media / Sunflowers: Anno 1701
- NCSoft/NetDevil: Auto Assault
- Primal Software: Heavy Duty
- Rockstar: Grand Theft Auto IV
- Sega: Empire Total War
- THQ/Gas Powered Games: Supreme Commander
- Ubisoft: Farcry 2
- Valve Software: Half Life 2; Episodes, Team Fortress 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- Duke Nukem – 3 core
- Bulletstrorm – 3 core