Avoid buying computers with Intel Dual-Core

[someguy51]

Accoring to a security expert, they contain lots of bugs which can be exploited by virus makers. Some of the bugs are unfixable and cannot be worked around (a software patch can't fix it). The only way they could fix some of the problems is to do a recall and replace everyone's processor. So I would wait to buy until they got everything worked out...

Here are some links:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardwar.../1124256.shtml
http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=118296441702631

[Azure]

Dual core? Or core duo? I've used a dual core before, never had a problem.

[Burninator]

Mine has a sticker that says Core 2 Duo...which is that?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Mine has a sticker that says Core 2 Duo...which is that?

I think thats different from the 2 I mentioned. A more recent model.

[Kerplunk]

Many of the bigger ones look to be known and fixed:

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33889730
http://www.geek.com/immediate-core-2-fixeroo-released/

Taking a look at the AMD errata list they have a few issues that could get interesting too. Stuff like this is pretty standard these days...unfortunately.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Azure

I think thats different from the 2 I mentioned. A more recent model.

no, it's the same thing. Intel's dual cores are called Core 2 Duo.

Anyway, this sounds like more e-mail fear spamming like those "most dangerous virus of all time!" things you get. This is nothing to get riled up over. It's no serious threat. Every processor has these bugs and errata. This is absolutely normal.

[Flames0910]

every intel chip you buy nowadays will be a dual core....sounds like somebody wants people to buy AMD chips

[Juventus3]

Originally Posted by TanguayFan

every intel chip you buy nowadays will be a dual core....sounds like somebody wants people to buy AMD chips

No kidding. This thread miswell read "Avoid buying Intel computers"

My apple is a Duo Core 2 and the thing has never so much as froze.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Juventus3

No kidding. This thread miswell read "Avoid buying Intel computers"

My apple is a Duo Core 2 and the thing has never so much as froze.

Your apple wont have the same vulnerabilities that a PC will.

lAlso, there is a difference between Dual Core and Core 2 Duo. Intel Dual Core came out a few months before Core 2 Duo, but it was still on a 32 bit chipset. A few months later AMD released the AMD Turion 62 X2 and Intel had to release a 64 bit chipset based dual core processor to compete.

[photon]

Just because nothing's happened so far isn't a good reason to think nothing could happen.

I think the most important risk is the possibility that arbitrary code could be executed (meaning viruses and trojans and such), the OS being attacked in ways that current virus scanners may not be capable of combating.

But that just means that the defenses will have to adapt, as they always do.

Not a reason not to buy Core 2 stuff if you are a consumer, but if you're a shared hosting provider (for example) where you have multiple customers on a single box and they depend on the security you provide, this could be a risk worth tracking.

[photon]

Originally Posted by alltherage

Your apple wont have the same vulnerabilities that a PC will.

lAlso, there is a difference between Dual Core and Core 2 Duo. Intel Dual Core came out a few months before Core 2 Duo, but it was still on a 32 bit chipset. A few months later AMD released the AMD Turion 62 X2 and Intel had to release a 64 bit chipset based dual core processor to compete.

Actually the bugs are in the processer so it will be vulnerable on OSX as well, though the code to exploit it would necessarily be unique to that OS. But OSX and Windows and Linux all eventually generate the same machine code.

And actually the Core Duo chips did have the 64 bit extensions in them but they were turned off for the mass market versions of the chips. The server version of the same chips had 64 bit extensions enabled. Intel does this quite a bit.

[The_Dude]

I just bought an Intel CPU for almost $700. I hope it works great.