CPU Development: Too fast,Too furious?

• Solo core.[For ages!!]


• Hyper threading.(fools computer into thinking it has two cores.)[sometime in 2003]


• Dual core.[2005]


• Quad core-[late 2006,almost 2007]


• Octo core-coming 2008!

[PS:I chose Intel's processor line up since they developed faster than,for example-AMD.]

Look at that!Can we go faster than this?We have gone from single to eight cores in just three years!This is defying Moore's Law!

Don't you feel we are going too fast right now?

I bet a lot of you would have bought a Pentium 4 in those days,replaced by one with HT technology.Got hands on it,find it outdated by pentium D.Then find out its defects.Get a Core2 Duo.Then get a Core2 Extreme.Worried about the octo core already?

I dont know about this.Today, we have barely adjusted to dual-core processors.And now quad-core has arrived?Fantastic.

The issue is- even today,VERY few applications are MULTI-THREADED for even dual core processing, remember?You get a new app, chances are, it wont utilise all the cores on your processor, unless it is a high end 3D editing app or such.

In simple terms?Intel and AMD are not giving time for-

1. Us (We the people, not the U.S.!)
   
2. The applications commonly used etc etc...............

-To adjust to new age, multicore processors.Even before applications get used and modified to use dual-core processing, companies create quad core, to give extra confusion.

What is the confusion, you may ask?I'll describe it using myself-

Here's the scene-I made a new software.My software's basic version itself is in high demand.I plan everything well, after spending a lot of money to develop a new, more advanced version of my software.

Then,I find myself between a rock and a hard place.Do I make applications for dual or the quad-core processors?!?Both type of processors are in circulation.Both are popular.I cannot make both,without running skint or bankrupt.Do I ignore the vast amount of dual-cores already in circulation?Or do I focus on future technology, which seems to be spreading well too?As if that wasnt enough, I also hear about octo-core coming up soon..............

Enough to give me several sleepless nights!!!!

It looks like Intel is worried about AMD catching up, though AMD's Athlon 64 X2 did not really touch Intel Core2 duo's performance!

Intel is aiming too high...

There is so much more that could be done to improve dual core processors itself, which has not been done yet.

• It could be shrunk at least a bit more,especially AMD's, which are still manufactured under 90 nm process.AMD is planning to shrink it to 65nm soon, but Intel is already using 65 nm, and will switch to 45 nm quite soon!!The smaller, the better.


• They could poke around and try reducing heat generation, which is always a nuisance.
  
• Plus, they could try making processors that bring back high clock-speed too.


• Then there is energy efficiency.The more, the better, though the Core2 Duo is already good in that area.

Mainly-it's the suspense that is broken!If it didnt arrive already, we would have seen a lot of dual core processors, then slowly moved to quad core after we just cannot get more stuff out of dual core processing.

I dont know about you.You may fantasise and say the faster it gets here the better,but thats not the case.The more time one technology is kept alive,the more refined it gets.The more we can learn from this technology,and use this knowledge to create better technologies in future.

Statement to support my statements?

'Slow and Steady Wins The Race.'