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Topic: Dual core or Quad core... |
babycop |
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General Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 488 Last: Feb 27, 2010 [view latest posts] |
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Category: General Gaming Posted: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 12:37 am |
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Hello...I've been doing some reading on the topic, and I've found that for gaming, a quad core doesn't bring any noticeable improvements since games aren't formatted to take advantage of more than 2 cores. However, for daily applications, it does bring improvements in speed and framerate.
I would like your opinion on the following:
1) Do you suggest a dual core or a quad core conisdering the fact that the main activity would be gaming?
2) What type of applications are we speaking of that should take advantage of the quad core?
3) Do you think games will soon take advatange of the four cores?
4) Finally, the Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (230$) and the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (300$) are fairly the same price. Is the extra 70-80$ worth the extra 2 cores? In the long run, is it worth to get the quad core now instead of upgrading from a dual core to a quad core later?
Thank you for your opinions, and if you got any suggestions on processors, plz let loose.
-Babycop |
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hansgrubber |
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General Member Since: Aug 7, 2004 Posts: 196 Last: Jul 6, 2009 [view latest posts] |
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babycop |
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General Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 488 Last: Feb 27, 2010 [view latest posts] |
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|DA|DarkDilbert |
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General Member Since: Jun 5, 2006 Posts: 675 Last: Apr 29, 2008 [view latest posts] |
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hansgrubber |
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General Member Since: Aug 7, 2004 Posts: 196 Last: Jul 6, 2009 [view latest posts] |
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Category: General Gaming Posted: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 01:17 am |
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Quote: So you have a fairly good dual core...why would you want a quad core? What would you use it for?
lol same thing I use a dual core for....With computers you should always buy the best you can afford,,,to get the most use in long run out of it.even though it isn t same as it was 5 yrs ago when your puter went out of date in 2 yrs, things have slowed down.your talking about $80 diff.....lol my ram alone was $400....get quad core |
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babycop |
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General Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 488 Last: Feb 27, 2010 [view latest posts] |
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Category: General Gaming Posted: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 01:21 am |
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Supreme commander is one of the very few games that make use of 4 cores just like lost planet at the moment. When comparing the Core 2 Duo E6850 to the Core 2 Quad Q6600 which go for the same price, the quad core wins the race in those 2 games.
However, to win the race in other pc games, the quad core needs to be overclocked. However, I am not one of those who wants to mess with overclocking. So it seems that for gaming, the dual core is the right choice for now, especially since that the Core 2 Duo E6850 has a clock speed of 3.0 GHz vs the Core 2 Quad Q6600 which has 2.4 GHz. The only thing the quad core has is an extra 4MB of L2 cache...
And again, I'm a fan of pc games and dual core seems to have the upper hand compared to quad core. If I was a big user of photoshop or other such applications, I would choose the quad core.
I'm basing this on a comparison found here:
Xbit Labs |
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foyleman |
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Preferred PLUS Member Since: Nov 7, 2001 Posts: 95762 Last: Apr 13, 2021 [view latest posts] |
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babycop |
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General Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 488 Last: Feb 27, 2010 [view latest posts] |
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Category: General Gaming Posted: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 02:54 pm |
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Thanks Foyleman. Yeah I would love my pc to run COD4 and Crysis at high settings...so I would think a dual core would be a wise choice (the Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0ghz). Also its price range seems acceptable to me since for 300$ it usually comes in 2nd place for gaming applications right behind the Core 2 Extreme QX6850 which goes for 1000$. Even in simple office applications, the quad cores trail behind the dual cores.
And you're right when saying the graphics card needs a lot of memory to improve gaming. The only problem is that it doesn't seem to be the right time to purchase a 3d card. There is no word on when the new Nvidia cards supporting DX 10.1 will be out. Is it worth getting a 8800 GTX though?
Finally, one thing bothering me is which motherboard to choose. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for in a motherboard...can anyone give me a few pointers on where to start?
Thanks again
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foyleman |
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Preferred PLUS Member Since: Nov 7, 2001 Posts: 95762 Last: Apr 13, 2021 [view latest posts] |
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Category: General Gaming Posted: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 04:44 pm |
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When choosing a motherboard, determine what you need.
If you have broadband or use the lan a lot, then you need gigabit ethernet.
If you don't have or want a separate audio card, then you need audio. However, if you want to record quality audio, you must go with a separate audio card.
If you want SLI technology (two pci-e nvidia cards), then you need those dual 16x pci-e slots.
Have other pci cards? You'll need a place to put them.
How much memory do you want? at least 2 gig, but maybe 4 gig? Do you have memory that you want to use? then you need the motherboard to support that fsb (bus speed like 533, 800, etc.).
Currently, my favorite motherboard is the Asus Striker. I prefer asus motherboards with intel chips because they have been consistently good over the years.
Finally, match the motherboard with the chip. If you go with the chips mentioned, they require a 775 chipset connection. |
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babycop |
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General Member Since: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 488 Last: Feb 27, 2010 [view latest posts] |
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