Could someone educate me to any surprises when going to a Quad Core

[woody240]

I'm still fighting the urge to just go buy a $500.00 boxes machine. I keep reading about the Quad Core processors but can't seem to find all the answers. If anyone could answer these most rookie questions I would be greatly appreciate it.

1- Will my windows XP work with a Quad?
2- Will XP think I'm pirating the OS because it's registered to a different machine?
3- Will my old Office 2002 work?
4- Will the quad be problematic if I don't really take advantage of all cores?
5- Is there a path to owning a quad core machine that begins in the $500.00 range (perhaps only 1- gig of memory, or
a case/power supply combo) but allows for an infusion of $$ at the 1- year mark?
6- Are there any other issues related to software or other commonly overlooked expense that I should consider?

Thanks All,
Tony

 

[skittle]

1.) yes
2.) No
3.) Yes
4.) no
5.) entry level quadcore (Q6600) starts at $290 just for the processor
6.) make sure your mobo supports quadcore.

 

[Bobsama]

What do you want to do with the system? Your cheapest path in would probably be a G31 or P31 motherboard (ICH7 southbridge, from 975X's), 1GB of the cheapest RAM you can get, a 400W power supply, and a $50 case. That'll bring you to about $500--you will need hard drive(s), optical drive(s), and graphics card (for P31). I didn't factor in shipping.

 

[woody240]

What do you want to do with the system? Your cheapest path in would probably be a G31 or P31 motherboard (ICH7 southbridge, from 975X's), 1GB of the cheapest RAM you can get, a 400W power supply, and a $50 case. That'll bring you to about $500--you will need hard drive(s), optical drive(s), and graphics card (for P31). I didn't factor in shipping.

Just a home machine for burning our family videos to DVD, internet surfing, word, excel all the usual stuff. We often have iTunes running while on the internet and burning discs at the same time. Currently running an Athalon XP 1500 1.30 GHZ machine with 1 gig ram. It's really starting to show it's age.
What if I bought a board that could accept a dual core now and a quad core down the road a year or so? I have been looking at the E6750 and a GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard. Looks like it will support dals and quads.
Should I stick with AMD? It hasn't let me down the last (3) machines? Just seems like the new Intel duals are running the show.

Thanks again

 

[Bobsama]

General use? A G31 or G33 motherboard should be more then sufficient. 1GB of RAM is a given, as I posted before. I'm likely going to buy an Abit IP35-E and Pentium Dual-Core E2160 with 2GB of DDR2 800... oh and a Radeon HD 2600 XT. The entire build is going to be $300 more expensive then what you want to spend, so you can easily cut out dedicated graphics (reducing PSU requirement as well). Intel dual-core and Intel quad-core systems are all-the-rage--and for good reason. They offer better performance then AMD's Athlon X2's, run cooler, and consume less electricity. The Athlon X2's aren't all bad--Tom's CPU Charts has quite a bit of information. If memory serves, the Athlon X2 3800+ is the most-cost-efficient processor around.

 

[sharp910sh]

hmm you have no need for a qyad core, surfing the internet and burning dvd's and itunes is not really intensive multi tasking, your better of just getting a core 2 duo, like the e2160, 1.6ghz. unless you are video editing a dual core is fine.

 

[authoratah]

Of course, there's nothing quite like being able to legitimately brag

A crass example: "U id teh suxx0r! I hab quadz00rz!" (in a childish singsong voice, naturally)

Intel are the better performer which means AMD has to keep lowering its prices to stay viable. Like Bobsama said, the X2 3800+ might be what you need.

 

[Reynod]

Wait till Phenom quads hit the market ... might cause the Intel quads to drop in price?? But if they are no good then the Intel quads will jump in price quick I think.

The QX6600 is probably the go otherwise ... there are plenty of threads around on the topic. You will have to spend more money and they are really fast.

I'm an AMD man but If I weren't stuck in the current AM2 socket I'd suggest you take a cold hard look at the latest Intel systems.

By the sounds of what you intend to do with it a dual core X2 system would be fine ... the money saved could be spent on more memory (2Gb) and HDD space. A 3800+ would be fine by the looks of it ... they are cool running and cheap.

If you want to do more gaming then get an 8800GTS 320 rather than any ATI card at present ... the 2900XT is too hot, chews up the power and the 2600XT is gutless. The 8600 series cards are crap for gaming too ... from the benchies I have seen.

The others who prevously posted also gave you good advice ... can't fault any of them ....

Plenty of options there to think about.

Good luck.