Dual Core And The Future of Gaming

Will games that harness dual-core CPU power be something to get excited about?

Intel and AMD's introductions of dual-core processors may have ushered in a new age of computing, but so far, these new architectures have done little to radically change the PC gaming experience. As our tests showed in the Pentium D 840 dual core processor works only as fast as the single-core Pentium Extreme Edition counterpart with an equal clock speed. A Pentium Extreme Edition with a faster clock speed thus runs faster than the dual core Pentium D.

Of course, we won't discount how Windows XP is already equipped to take advantage of AMD and Intel's dual-core designs by accommodating a significant number of program threads. This means that, in addition to those many nagging programs that start up every time you boot up your PC, you can run many more processor-intensive programs without worrying about your PC slowing down as much, compared to single-core CPU platforms. You can thus frag away at those hideously scary adversaries in Doom III, while in the background you download a video file, run Outlook Express and keep dozens of Web browser and word processor documents open with less risk of your PC glitching up.

Still, dual core processing, like 64 bit computing, is mostly in wait of applications as well as games to harness its power. However, according to AMD and Intel, graphics vendors and game developers, it is just a matter of months before 3D game graphics see a new age in gaming power and intelligence.

"Developers who take the time and effort to multi-thread their games should allow you to one day really get twice as much CPU power," Richard Huddy, manager, ISV Relations, for ATi in Europe, Middle East and Africa. "The [benefits] will vary from a handful of a percent of a performance improvement, to dramatically different physics and AI."