Almost all processors available today from Intel and AMD are quad core or dual core processors. Which type of processor is best for your specific computing needs depends on the applications that you most often use.
History
Dual core processors first arrived in 2006, while quad cores first arrived in 2007. Despite the difference in the number of cores on the processor, dual and quad core processors have the same origins and use the same architectures.
Productivity Applications
Quad cores have a slight performance advantage in most productivity applications like Microsoft Word or Excel. The advantage is so minute, however, that is undetectable in the normal day-to-day use of these applications.
Games
The performance of dual core and quad core processors in games depends on the game being played. Some games are optimized for quad cores and run faster on them, while those that are only optimized for dual cores will run better on dual core processors.
Rendering
Quad core processors are much faster than dual core processors when rendering 3D objects and animations because rendering programs are usually optimized to use at least four cores. The performance advantage can be up to 50% in favor of quad core processors for these types of applications.
Video Editing
Video editing software is also optimized when using multiple cores, and therefore shares the up to 50% performance advantage in favor of quad core processors. Video decryption software, used to rip DVDs, also performs better with quad core processors.
Tags: core processors, quad core, dual core, dual core processors, performance advantage, quad core processors