To the core
LXF199 included articles on how to build a Linux PC. My main PC which I built some years ago has an Intel i5-750 CPU @ 2.67 GHz, with four cores and no hyperthreading, running Xubuntu 14.04, mainly for commercial use with Thunderbird, Firefox, OpenOffice, GIMP, Inkscape and numerous utilities.
I notice that the system monitor seldom shows CPU load over 25% - indicating that most of the time the computer is only using a single core running as fast as it can. This indicates to me that a cheap i3, or even dual core Pentium will run Linux as fast as an expensive i7 with hyperthreading giving 8 - 16 threads. Could you please consider running an article that explains how multiple cores are used in Linux, and what applications can use them to advantage.
Interesting insights. It’s true day-to-day desktop use will not push even five-year old processors much at all. I have the exact same CPU in my desktop at work and the newer Intel Core i5 2500K at home and they never feel slow for desktop use. However, if you’re running video processing or modern games then it’s a different story.
But yes, it can get a bit confusing as to what truly takes advantage of multiple-cores. One thing I can say is that HyperThreading is an automatic Intel technology that maximises hardware pipelines within the processor by creating virtual threads.
As for the GPU technology you might be thinking of Intel Quick Sync, which I think is Windows-