How you can get a Linux "supercomputer" for $80First, let's properly define the trick so you can understand it.
Around 2009-ish, Intel was speeding up the megahertz in their Core 2 Duo line up and up and up and adding in multiple massive multi-threading "multi-pipeline" caches each of to the separate CPU data flows to allow what was functionally TWO computers to share workload in a trade off style fashion. Nanometer was 45nm and the things were powerful, but in a rather brute force way.
Then Intel went 22nm and the quad core processor was born. The Core 2 Duo designation hit the trash can with the 2nd year of 22nm production and the Core i3 and Core i5 designations took over. Dual Cores were still being built off the modern 22nm process, but they were considered a "step down" line now. Chip speed went up during this period, up to 3.3 gigahertz in the Core 2 Duo stuff and remained 3.3 to 4 gigahertz going forward.
It is embarrassing, but the old dual core stuff routinely outperformed the Intel Quad core stuff in real world uses for the first 4 years (what can you say, it was Intel building chips that MS didn't know how to properly use yet).
However Dell as a MAJOR CUSTOMER liked the dual core stuff as they saw
maximum real speed and power and lowest mgf cost being typified by the Core 2 duo design --- and Dell stuck with it in a big way for the next 4 years.
Dell business stuff is leased for 2, 4 and 8 years so you can see the vast sea of off-lease stuff just coming off lease is now 2-4 years more modern than my machine now, but my machine at 3.3 gigahertz running Linux Mint is
still way past overbuilt for any rational need that I have.
THE KEY IS TO USE LINUX MINT, a much lighter faster operating system. Win 7 Professional was only so-so fast on the Monolith, but Linux flat rocks when used on the old refurbished DELL boxes.
Secondary to getting better speed and power when using Linux, using MS's OS products is still an ongoing pain in the user's butt to update and upkeep, plus they will cost you more and more of your pocket money each year as they roll out into the future as MS plans to use a yearly fee system so they will "do upkeep" on your MS OS product.
Linux jest makes you smile each time you don't have to deal with updating your anti-virus and running repeated virus scans and defragging your hard drive.
..... and the world of Linux is free, as in costs nothing to acquire or to update.