What is Multi Core and Multi Thread Technology on Processor

Hello everyone, back at porkaone. In this article, I will discuss Core and Thread technology in a processor. Hopefully with my explanation, you can be more selective in choosing which processor is better to support your needs.

Processor

The processor is also often referred to as the CPU (central processing unit). Called the central processing unit because it becomes the center of processing of all computer instructions or can be called the center of processing all activities on the computer.

Multi-Core

Multi-Core is a core unit that reads and receives instructions. Basically each processor can only execute one instruction at a time, until dual core technology comes where a processor can have 2 processing cores of instructions. So in this way, the processor can process instructions for more than 1 activity, so there is no long queue that causes deadlock activities. Currently available processors with 4 cores are called quadcores, processors with 8 cores are called octacores. Even today Intel's Core i9 already has 18 cores in 1 processor.

processor with 1 core

processor with 2 core

From the explanation in the picture above, a processor with more cores can process instructions faster so that this processor is more effective in supporting many tasks.

How Core Works

The way to Core or what we call the core is the premise in a processor, if you know how the processor works, it will be easy for you to understand how the core works. Here's how the processor works:

• Using ALU (Arithmatic Logic Unit) to perform mathematical operations
• then move data from one memory to another
• Make decisions and carry out other instructions.

Simply put, the processor receives feedback/instructions/input from user input such as clicking a button via the mouse or keyboard, or clicking the close button on Microsoft Word and then those instructions are sent, processed, and translated by the processor to become the output desired by the user. such as clicking the close button, the result that the user will get is to exit the application. Well, this way of working is also how the cores work on the processor, if more cores are owned by a processor, the data processing will be faster.

Multi-Thread

thread means thread, can also mean path. thread is part of the core. Thread technology allows the processor to process more structured and scheduled instructions. Because multi-thread opens more paths to enter the core so that processing is more ordered. The explanation can be seen in the image below.

Processor with dual core with 2 thread

Processor dual core with 2 with 4 thread

It can be seen that the thread is the entry point for computer instructions to the thread, Intel calls this technology hyper-thread. hyper thread on intel specifically made for the core i3, i5, i7 and i9 series processors. If we imagine that the i9 processor is Intel's fastest processor at this time, then if it has 18 cores, the total thread that the Core i9 has is 36 threads.

Cara kerja Thread

When the processor processes computer instructions. 1 core in the processor will only process 1 instruction at a time, and other instructions wait for the queue. This instruction will queue long and be sent in the form of a single thread, while in multi thread this long queue is divided into 2 so that an instruction does not have to queue up for instructions in front of it, but can be directly processed by the execution unit which was originally idle.

Pertanyaan seputar Core dan Thread ?

• Q: Why are there so many multi-core processors whose base speed is below 1-core processors?
• A: Even though the old processor has a higher base speed than a multi-core processor, it doesn't mean that a multi-core processor is slower than a 1-core processor. For example, the Intel Pentium 4 which came out in 2002 has a base speed of 2.80 GHz, and compared to the Intel Pentium P6200 which has a speed of only 2.13 Ghz but has 2 cores, the faster processor is the Intel Pentium P6200, why is it because of the base speed? equivalent to 4.2 Ghz i.e. (2.13 GHz x 2) = 4.26 GHz. That used to be, but for now there is no multi-core processor that has a base speed below 1 core.

• Q: Which is better, an Intel Pentium P6200 dual core with a base speed of 2.13 GHz with 2 or a core i3 3217u dual core with a base speed of 1.80 GHz and 4 threads?
• A : I chose the i3 3217u, although the speed is below the Intel Pentium p6200 but because the i3 3217u has more threads or paths so that scheduling and queuing instructions can run faster.