OpenMP with Intel Core i3?

Hey,

You are correct, all programs that require direct access to the cache will not work with virtual processors. Since D0 architecture was released with the i7 Cores, the i5's and i3's have also been released, all of these new processors use a technology called Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) to create these virtual cores.

You can disable HT on all 1366 and 1156 motherboards(i7,i5,i3 Socket), this will allow you to boot using only your physical cores. This shouldn't have a huge effect on system performance as for the most part, unless you put the system under semi-heavy load, all except 2 cores will be parked.

As for an i3 though, I would not recommend using a 64bit Operating System as your core count is significantly lower. Stick to the 32bit operating systems. Another great product is Windows7 Starter, this is a lightweight OS that is optimized for use with Intel's Atom Processor(1.6Ghz) and 1-2GB of RAM but also performs very will on the i3 platform.

In laptops , i've got confidence all the middle i3/i5/i7 processors are twin center different than for a handful. So i might get the middle i5 , it is going to grant you slightly greater overall performance once you're doing activity's. i'm not sure , in case you particular the CPU kind extensive kind's then we'd be waiting to tell you what CPU to get.