Macbook Pro i7 multithreading question

[minws13]

From what I have read, the i7 macbook pros have hyperthreading which means 4 cores 8 threads.

So, since most applications are not multithreaded, using 1/8 cpu power is not good right? Wouldn't it be good if out of 4 cores we had 1/4 cpu power (double) for no multithreading applications (i.e. excel)?

I would really love to have some views on the matter, I haven't found an answer on the web yet.

Thanks in advance!

 

[nicklad]

From what I have read, the i7 macbook pros have hyperthreading which means 4 cores 8 threads.

So, since most applications are not multithreaded, using 1/8 cpu power is not good right? Wouldn't it be good if out of 4 cores we had 1/4 cpu power (double) for no multithreading applications (i.e. excel)?

I would really love to have some views on the matter, I haven't found an answer on the web yet.

Thanks in advance!

It's already done. Your answer should be found in the links below:

http://www.intel.com/technology/product/demos/turboboost/demo.htm

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us...ology/turbo-boost/turbo-boost-technology.html

 

[minws13]

http://www.intel.com/technology/product/demos/turboboost/demo.htm

Wow, great link, thanks! Very informative.

However I would like to see a benchmark on a singlethreaded application running on an i7 compared to a quadcore with 4 threads.

This 1/8 threads thing, even with the turbo boost technology is king of confusing without real statitsics by intel. Maybe I'm asking for too much.

 

[thundersteele]

From what I have read, the i7 macbook pros have hyperthreading which means 4 cores 8 threads.

So, since most applications are not multithreaded, using 1/8 cpu power is not good right? Wouldn't it be good if out of 4 cores we had 1/4 cpu power (double) for no multithreading applications (i.e. excel)?

I would really love to have some views on the matter, I haven't found an answer on the web yet.

Thanks in advance!

Most applications don't really need that much CPU power. You can be sure that each application is at least using 1/4 cpu power if it is running alone. Since there is turboboost, it's probably closer to 1/2 of the cpu power if you have a single process running.
Multi-core CPUs have been around for quite a few years now. Applications that really need all available CPU power, and have not been rewritten to benefit from multi-core CPUs, should probably be abandoned.

Then of course, you also miss the other great benefit of multi-core CPUs - you can run a few demanding applications, and at the same time still browse the internet or do some text editing. With just one core/one thread, the system would be mostly unusable.

 

[grahamnp]

This 1/8 threads thing, even with the turbo boost technology is king of confusing without real statitsics by intel. Maybe I'm asking for too much.

Which part of it confuses you? It doesn't really work the same as 8 cores so a single threaded application actually gets to use up to 1/4 of the CPU power before Turbo Boost kicks in. Hyper Threading is basically each core being able to handle 2 thread to better utilise resources. The performance speed up is 10% at best.