Dual-core or not? best gaming cpu for a good price

[WoooSaaaW]

i dont know much about the last cpu's so i wanted some advise. i use and intel now so i dont know squat about amd. i dont care if i get amd or intel i just want the best bang for my buck.

i want to spend under $200 on the cpu but maybe more if its a huge difference. so what processor's should i be looking for? and will dual-core be a better choice then single-core?

the games i play now and BF2, and WoW if that makes any difference.

 

[Kloude]

In general current games do not benefit from Dual-core CPUs, that may change in the future though as new games are released and/or current ones patched to take advantage of multiple cores (more a question of when rather than if). Depends how long you plan to keep the CPU I guess.

ATM, the best CPUs would be Athlon64s, dual (X2) and single core. You can wait until new Intel CPUs get here (Conroe - late July at best), but they are dual core.

IMO, the best single core gaming CPU atm would be AMD Athlon64 3800+ (AM2).


but that's just my opinion......

 

[irishsk8rpatrick]

buddy..im 15..but you might think im naive or just no smart..but i think your should go with conroe..who gives a crap about amd..or games ....conroe will be fast..but not expensive..if you want a cheap dual core go with pentium D...me myself..im thinking of conroe..i justlisten to music while plaing a game..so do your self a favor...dont buy a processor for the game..buy it for lifestyle and expandablilty

 

[Slowburn]

buddy..im 15..but you might think im naive or just no smart..but i think your should go with conroe..who gives a crap about amd..or games ....conroe will be fast..but not expensive..if you want a cheap dual core go with pentium D...me myself..im thinking of conroe..i justlisten to music while plaing a game..so do your self a favor...dont buy a processor for the game..buy it for lifestyle and expandablilty

Unless your more interested in the game than lifestyle, then buy it for the game.

 

[irishsk8rpatrick]

buddy..im 15..but you might think im naive or just no smart..but i think your should go with conroe..who gives a crap about amd..or games ....conroe will be fast..but not expensive..if you want a cheap dual core go with pentium D...me myself..im thinking of conroe..i justlisten to music while plaing a game..so do your self a favor...dont buy a processor for the game..buy it for lifestyle and expandablilty

Unless your more interested in the game than lifestyle, then buy it for the game.

thats true....but i have so much school work and junk i have only time to play my orignal gameboy...with pokemon yellow major graphics there

 

[kais]

actually games have already started to support dual cores. if you want to buy a best bang for the buck cpu now, it would be an 805 or 930

 

[Heyyou27]

buddy..im 15..but you might think im naive or just no smart..but i think your should go with conroe..who gives a crap about amd..or games ....conroe will be fast..but not expensive..if you want a cheap dual core go with pentium D...me myself..im thinking of conroe..i justlisten to music while plaing a game..so do your self a favor...dont buy a processor for the game..buy it for lifestyle and expandablilty

Yeah, who gives a crap about AMD when for the past 2-3 years their CPUs have been outperforming Intel's? Also you say he shouldn't get it for gaming? The Conroe will be the best gaming chip out, and that should be one of its largest selling points. (Who really wants to buy the Conroe just to run Super Pi?)

 

[WoooSaaaW]

conroe might be good but its gonna be expensive. the Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Dual-Core Processor (1.86GHz 2MB 1066FSB LGA775 Conroe) is gonna cost $210 and thats the bottom line.

now do you think that is better then a Intel Pentium D Processor 930($180) or AMD Athlon 64 3800($150).

this computer is for gaming, gaming and maybe some gaming too.

 

[Heyyou27]

Pentium D 930, because the videocard plays a bigger role in game performance and you'll have dual core for future games.

 

[Akifuddin]

conroe might be good but its gonna be expensive. the Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Dual-Core Processor (1.86GHz 2MB 1066FSB LGA775 Conroe) is gonna cost $210 and thats the bottom line.

now do you think that is better then a Intel Pentium D Processor 930($180) or AMD Athlon 64 3800($150).

this computer is for gaming, gaming and maybe some gaming too.

Actually, the E6300 IS better than those processors.

 

[mulciber]

Agreed.
I find it hilarious when idiots who went out and bought a D805 when thg did the 4.1ghz article, or went to the forums and took the advise to instead buy the D930 try to proclaim it the best bang for your buck. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want a processor with "Copyright 2001" printed proudly on the top, buy one of those others recommended... but when you can get a *current* generation stamped with the current year. The new conroes are the best bang for the buck, and similar in price to the older generation. Go conroe.

 

[WoooSaaaW]

well the main point for me is that i really dont want to spend to much. ive had my system for over 4 years now. its been an awsome 4 years without any problems besides one burnt out HD. however im bearyl squeeking by minimum requirements for bf2, fear and the latest games. i would just do upgrade but my system is so old i needs to be replaced. im actually running rambus instead of ddr.

the system of been thinking of has been this:

CPU - AMD athlon 64 3800 venice 2.4

Motherboard - dunno something with SATA 3Gb/s / RAID, 533/667 support and maybe SLI/crossfire or later down the road.

HD - 74GB wd raptor / 80GB wd sata 3gbs

RAM - 1GB 667 DDR2 RAM - corsair or kingston

Video - x1600xt ddr3 or Nvidia 7600gt ddr3 256 SLI/Crosfire of course

PSU - antec pd-500 500watt

ect.. ect.. ect.. the system would run we around $500-600 w/o OS but has room for major improvements with SLI/crossfire and room for some overclocking on the processor.

 

[miket733]

one 7900gt or x1800xt will outperform the x1600xt or 7600gt in SLI/Crossfire

 

[Kloude]

First of all, definately go with 7600GT over X1600XT. Second, try to get better ram. Latencies on ddr2 are not as good as on ddr, to compensate you should find ddr2 ram with as low latencies as you can and/or faster clocked ram (both if possible). Otherwise, AM2 systems end up slower than S939 ones.

 

[Kloude]

one 7900gt or x1800xt will outperform the x1600xt or 7600gt in SLI/Crossfire

also true, if you can afford to invest a bit more money in your gfx card go with one of those. Otherwise, 7600GT is better than X1600XT.

 

[swifty_morgan]

well the main point for me is that i really dont want to spend to much. ive had my system for over 4 years now. its been an awsome 4 years without any problems besides one burnt out HD. however im bearyl squeeking by minimum requirements for bf2, fear and the latest games. i would just do upgrade but my system is so old i needs to be replaced. im actually running rambus instead of ddr.

the system of been thinking of has been this:

CPU - AMD athlon 64 3800 venice 2.4

Motherboard - dunno something with SATA 3Gb/s / RAID, 533/667 support and maybe SLI/crossfire or later down the road.

HD - 74GB wd raptor / 80GB wd sata 3gbs

RAM - 1GB 667 DDR2 RAM - corsair or kingston

Video - x1600xt ddr3 or Nvidia 7600gt ddr3 256 SLI/Crosfire of course

PSU - antec pd-500 500watt

ect.. ect.. ect.. the system would run we around $500-600 w/o OS but has room for major improvements with SLI/crossfire and room for some overclocking on the processor.

Wrong memory for your setup. Get 3200/400... crucial ballistix, or ocz platinum. 2gig if you can afford it.

great processor.... it's an fx-53 that didn't make the cache requirements so they renamed it.

asus mobo's run fast. a8n-sli line is great, and now inexpensive.

best and fastest video card you can afford.

 

[irishsk8rpatrick]

ok so im thinking about getting either conroe or pentium D..but i wnat speed ..like in windows..start up...etc..not so much for gaming..but im on a budget..what kind of mobo will i need to suppose conroe..and how much will i need just for the mobo...conroe and ram?

 

[Akifuddin]

well the main point for me is that i really dont want to spend to much. ive had my system for over 4 years now. its been an awsome 4 years without any problems besides one burnt out HD. however im bearyl squeeking by minimum requirements for bf2, fear and the latest games. i would just do upgrade but my system is so old i needs to be replaced. im actually running rambus instead of ddr.

the system of been thinking of has been this:

CPU - AMD athlon 64 3800 venice 2.4

Motherboard - dunno something with SATA 3Gb/s / RAID, 533/667 support and maybe SLI/crossfire or later down the road.

HD - 74GB wd raptor / 80GB wd sata 3gbs

RAM - 1GB 667 DDR2 RAM - corsair or kingston

Video - x1600xt ddr3 or Nvidia 7600gt ddr3 256 SLI/Crosfire of course

PSU - antec pd-500 500watt

ect.. ect.. ect.. the system would run we around $500-600 w/o OS but has room for major improvements with SLI/crossfire and room for some overclocking on the processor.

Try this:

Asus M2N-E
AM2 3800+ (Not X2)
2GB (2 x 1GB) Corsair XMS RAM
eVGA 7600GT
Antec TruePower II 550W Power supply if you're ordering from Newegg or Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W Power supply if you're ordering from somewhere else because at NewEgg, the 550W PSU is only $10 more than the 500W PSU.
120GB or 160GB SeaGate Barracuda HD

Total price @ NewEgg: Around $630-$650 with mail-in rebates included

The reason I recommend a 7600GT if to use it until DX10 comes out and since most 7900GTs dont work, a 7600GT is not too bad. If you want, you can overclock the CPU a bit to get some more performance.

Hope this post has helped you :idea: :arrow: