Dual Core vs. Quad Core (Motorola, iPhones, capable, application)

[Canaan-84]

Can someone more tech savvy explain the difference between the two? I was under the assumption that the more cores you had the more powerful and faster your device performed. However, looking at youtube comparisons between IPhone 5s (dual-core) and Galaxy S4 (quad core) the differences are not much different in terms of web browsing, though using speed tests from benchmark apps showed that the iPhone 5s had higher speed scores. So how can a dual-core be faster than a quad-core? The same appears to apply to tablets as the new iPad Air (Dual-core) outperformed the 2nd generation Google Nexus 7 (quad core) by a good margin.

Throwing more cores at something doesn't magically make it faster. Performance is not just a function of how many cores you have.

The software has to be written to take advantage of it, and the degree to which more cores even can help depends on the particular problem being addressed.

[dontaskwhy]

Gotta agree that having more processor cores means nothing unless you have an OS capable of utilizing the additional cores. 🔢

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by dontaskwhy

Gotta agree that having more processor cores means nothing unless you have an OS capable of utilizing the additional cores. 🔢

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Both phones mentioned by the OP is capable of utilizing the cores that they have.

[Thegonagle]

It's just different approaches done by different processor manufacturers (like Qualcomm, Nvidia, Motorola, Apple, etc.), and even among different models from the same manufacturer.

There's a lot of variation between manufacturers designs, and there's a lot more to it than just the number of cores they can fit on the chip. There's also clock speed, and the amount of work each core can actually do per clock cycle.

If the cores in a dual-core are twice as capable as the cores in a quad-core, then performance will be very roughly equal. The simplest way I can think to state it is algebraically: 1+1+1+1 = 2+2

Originally Posted by Thegonagle

If the cores in a dual-core are twice as capable as the cores in a quad-core, then performance will be very roughly equal. The simplest way I can think to state it is algebraically: 1+1+1+1 = 2+2

For well optimized programs, yes. For programs that aren't so well optimized, the system with two really fast cores is going to blow the system with 4 slower cores out of the water.

[jerseyexpat]

Originally Posted by Canaan-84

Can someone more tech savvy explain the difference between the two? I was under the assumption that the more cores you had the more powerful and faster your device performed. However, looking at youtube comparisons between IPhone 5s (dual-core) and Galaxy S4 (quad core) the differences are not much different in terms of web browsing, though using speed tests from benchmark apps showed that the iPhone 5s had higher speed scores. So how can a dual-core be faster than a quad-core? The same appears to apply to tablets as the new iPad Air (Dual-core) outperformed the 2nd generation Google Nexus 7 (quad core) by a good margin.

You can't compare APPLE phones to Android phones. Both strategies for keeping us wanting more are entirely different.

Apple, same body better processors.

Android, different bodies same processors.

Over time both OS phones get better...and the processors get better, more efficient, and faster.

OVERALL, it's a marketing tool to keep companies making money, more than pure fact as to which one is better.

You won't notice the difference when you own one and use it daily. Of course phones will get faster as more demand and better quality phones will drive up prices as they all ready are.

[jerseyexpat]

I am sure that 2015 Processors for upcoming smart phones are all ready designed and that both APPLE AND ANDROID have made a plan as to what they want the OS's to look like at that time. It's their job to engineer and make money and all we can do is wait and spend the money to fuel the demand.

[futbol]

Android phones (for example) run on Linux, which is built in this case to handle symmetric multi processing (SMP) on multi-core. Speed will be determined by the processor architecture (ARM, x86, etc.), number of cores, memory/cache, and clock frequency.

When IC (chip) vendors specify 'multi-core' they mean the cores that the operating system will run on. Most mobile applications processor vendors have many cores for other purposes. For example, there are independent cores to handle the graphics, multimedia, the actual network/modem connection, and other uses.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Canaan-84

Can someone more tech savvy explain the difference between the two? I was under the assumption that the more cores you had the more powerful and faster your device performed. However, looking at youtube comparisons between IPhone 5s (dual-core) and Galaxy S4 (quad core) the differences are not much different in terms of web browsing, though using speed tests from benchmark apps showed that the iPhone 5s had higher speed scores. So how can a dual-core be faster than a quad-core? The same appears to apply to tablets as the new iPad Air (Dual-core) outperformed the 2nd generation Google Nexus 7 (quad core) by a good margin.

Despite what some will tell you, the CPU is the least important factor. It goes, from order of importance: apps --> OS --> CPU with apps being the most important.

Apple is faster on two cores because:
1. Apple designs iOS to work with its processors.
2. Apple designs the processors to work with iOS.

Then you have the apps that are:
1. Designed to work with A5/A6/etc. processors.
2. Designed to work with iOS.

So, iPhones are faster because everything is designed to work optimally with each other.

Samsung, like all Android handset manufacturers, not only throws their own tweaks onto Android OS, but also utilize various brands of hardware. The Samsung Galaxy S4 might be built with a specific processor brand, but Android is not designed specifically for that CPU, not is even the S4 for that matter. And the apps....the same app (or web browser) will give different performance from handset to handset.