What is CPU Core and is an Octa-Core Better than a Quad-Core

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: July 31, 2019

We may notice that our phone’s CPU is developing towards multicore. But you might wonder why is that and what is the difference among varies cores. Here we will provide you with a wider picture of CPU.

What is CPU

Before giving you the insight into the CPU, the basic concept you should know is the definition of it. CPU, the abbreviation of Center Processing Unit, is the control center of the logical part and the core component of a mobile phone. The microprocessor in the phone is similar to the CPU of computers. Simply put, it is equivalent to human’s brain.

All the data to be processed must be accomplished by CPU. The management of all parts of the mobile phone can not be done without the command from the microprocessor.

The microprocessor can achieve control purposes by running software in the memory and utilize the database in the memory. CPU can be divided into two categories: central processor CPU and graphics GPU.

What is CPU Frequency

You may also have heard of CPU frequency, which is also an important index of CPU’s performance. It is the clock frequency of the mobile phone CPU.

Simply put, it is the frequency of the work during CPU operation(the number of synchronization pulses occurring within one second), whose unit is Hz. It also determines the speed of the computer. With its increasing development, it has evolved from MHz in the past to GHz today.

In general, in the same series of microprocessors, the higher the main frequency is, the faster the speed of the execution of the instruction and higher the processing ability. But for different types of processors, it can solely be reckoned as a reference.

Since the frequency do not necessarily represent the operation speed, so under certain circumstances, chances are that the actual operation speed is low though it has a CPU with a higher frequency. Therefore, the frequency is only one aspect of the performance of the mobile phone CPU and can not represent the overall performance.

What is CPU cores

Many people may heard of dual core, quad core and the like when purchasing a new phone, so what exactly does it means? Well, it is the number of the CPU of the mobile phone.

Though we have mentioned that the frequency should be considered as a reference of the CPU overall performance, the improvement of the frequency plays a decisive role in CPU performance.

If the frequency is too high, however, it will bring about a sudden increase in power consumption, generating a large amount of heat, leading to a shortened life of CPU. Therefore, a feasible solution of increasing the number of CPU while maintaining the frequency has come into being.

What is the difference of quad core and octa core

Since the multicore processors have become the mainstream, we are no stranger to dual core, quad core and octa core. Today, we will take quad core and octa core as an example to explain the difference between them.

The quad core processor means that your mobile phone has four CPU processors. Compared with its dual counterpart, it owns many features such as better performance and faster response.

Many mobile phones today use quad-core processors because of its faster response speed and smooth web-browsing, which enjoy popularity among youngsters.

Similarly, the octa core means that your phone has 8 core CPU processor, but we should note that actually, the octa core are divided into two types: one is double quad core, which means though it has 8 cores, they can not work at the same time.

Moreover, these two sets of quad core performance are different. When system needs deal with huge resources, say, playing games, it will use the quad core of higher performance to work. On the contrary, when we only need to use some basic functions, the system will switch for the other quad core.

The other is the truly eight cores, which can work together and enhance the performance of the phone.

So the key point is, is it really that the octa core mobile phone has a doubling of performance than quad core ones? The truth is, the difference may not be so big as you might think.

From a structural point of view, there is no difference since they are both based on ARM (a kind of microprocessor). In fact, when judging mobile phones, tablets and other equipment, we should not only see their CPU performance but also other indicators like endurance balance, working frequency and packaging mode.

So many of us do not feel the difference between the quad core and octa core. Take iPhone for example, it always use dual core processors, but few of us think it is worse than quad core or octa core mobile phones.

Conclusion

As is mentioned above, there is not so much difference between the quad core and octa core and the general quad core can basically meet our needs. However, it is undeniable that mobile phones are constantly upgrading. Just as the dual core has evolved into quad core, the upgrade to octa core is also a trend.

With the increasing demand for the mobile phone performance, maybe the octa core mobile phone will be as popular as quad core ones soon.