JUNE 2006 MA XIMUMPC
DUAL—CORE
You’ve got a dual-core CPU, but do you know how to
use it? Follow along as we show you how to trouble-
shoot your dual-core problems, and put your new CPU
to work in ways you never dreamed possible!
SURVIVAL GUIDE
F
ew technology launches are
ever bug-free. Whether it’s SLI,
DDR memory, or SATA, there’s
always something broken at fi rst.
That’s why we were surprised at the
relative painlessness of the dual-core
CPU rollout. For the most part, the
hardware works exactly as expected.
On the software side, however, the
scenario is not as rosy.
The big issue is games. Some dual-
core users complain that their new
CPU renders games either super-slow
or super-fast (the latter dubbed by one
website as the “Benny Hill Effect”).
These anomalies are rare but well-doc-
umented. They stem from a bedeviling
blend of Windows issues and software
that was written before anyone ever
dreamed a desktop PC would boast
dual processors.In the old days, when dual-proces-
sor machines were limited to worksta-
tions, only a few developers bothered
to qualify their applications for two-
CPU confi gs. Thus, the two cores
sometimes get out of sync when run-
ning older games or apps. And when
the cores are out of sync, the software
crashes, stutters, hangs, or all of the
above. The problems are limited to a
relatively small number of games and
applications, but every dual-core user
is a potential victim.
Maximum PC is here to help.
We’ll walk you through the problems
and remedies, and get your system
patched up in no time. Despite these
issues, dual-core is still the bee’s
knees. To prove it, we’ll show you
some dual-core tricks that will leave
your single-core friends salivating.BY GORDON MAH UNG