With the advancements being made in android ics. Yes dual cores are necessary with whats available to users now. Quads are next in line.

 

I think using engine choices in a car as a metaphor might explain it in simple enough terms. Lets say a basic single core chip is like your average 4 cylinder sedan, and maybe there are some single cores that are at the high end of single core performance, maybe like a turbo or supercharged 4 cylinder car. We could call the dual cores 6 cylinder engines and the quad cores 8 cylinder engines.

Will a 4 cylinder get the job done? Of course, but if you value getting there faster at the expense of higher energy consumption then maybe a 6 or 8 cylinder would suit you.

Maybe you've got a 4 cylinder turbo or supercharged lightweight car that is pretty close in performance to some 8 cylinder cars, but what happens to that lightweight forced-induction 4 cylinder when you need it to accelerate through the Rockies with all of your family and luggage on board? Maybe an 8 cylinder would do the job easier and more efficiently when the demand on the engine is high.

And, more cores is a marketing point...more is better, just like marketing cars.

Not a perfect metaphor, but I think it illustrates the principle. My layman's take on the question of how many cores do you need

 

well said! :congrats:
a fine illustration of how to understand the technology. and i might add as well the fact that the larger processors, (mentioned as 6 and 8 cylinder engines) will take more fuel to do the same job. efficiency is the key to true power. if an engine wastes fuel to do its job, it is inefficient. in the case of a 4 cylinder engine which has a turbocharger or supercharger installed, the energy produced is far more than without.
i feel a single core processor can be plenty powerful if unburdened by excessive demands on its available power. hence the removal of bloatware that takes processor cycles away from the main functions of the device.
making the demand less will make the processor more efficient and reduce the need for larger battery packs or constant charging cycles.
we need to make operating systems more like racing vehicles, better efficiency and less burden on the power consumption.

 

Another point to make could be something I read some time ago...


Google race to zero or race to idle.

It discusses the differences between CPU's completing a task and once its done it idles. So is it more efficient to use a great battery life single core or a more power hungry dual core which finishes the task quicker and gets to idle faster thus saving battery...

Food for thought!

 

http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/applications-power-management/race-to-idle.php

Found a link

 

Moot point described above.

Different cpu's will have different architecture, clock speeds, cache, and cores.

dual/quad core can actually hinder performance in some cases.

If you are googling for links, look for processor affinity, cores vs threads, and how to compile software for multiple cores to take advantage of those cores.

I typically compile software for the use of 32 cores as our standard now. Just letting the processor affinity work on a binary designed for single core probably won't run as fast as if it's designed to get on all 32 cores.