CPU Question, Dual or Quad?

[airwolf]

Hi all,

Have a question about CPU's. Is it better to get a quad core CPU or a Dual Core? I have read threads on the forum and people have stated that for gaming a dual core will beat a Quad core. Is this a temporary thing until quad cores are used more efficiently or will this always be the case. I want to build my system with a bit of future proofing so dont want to buy a CPU thats already out of date technically.

Thanks for the help

 

[dagger]

Hi all,

Have a question about CPU's. Is it better to get a quad core CPU or a Dual Core? I have read threads on the forum and people have stated that for gaming a dual core will beat a Quad core. Is this a temporary thing until quad cores are used more efficiently or will this always be the case. I want to build my system with a bit of future proofing so dont want to buy a CPU thats already out of date technically.

Thanks for the help

Quad, it's more future proof, and will have a longer useful lifetime, as multithreaded programs are coming out. Right now, there is no difference in gaming between the two whatsoever, as games are gpu limited, not cpu limited. In a few years, when your cpu shows its age and becoming bottlenecked, multithreaded games would be out and quad will be far faster.

Right now, when it doesn't make a difference, dual is slightly faster. In a few years, when it does make a difference quad will be far faster.

 

[airwolf]

Spot on! Thanks very much, makes sense to me, quad it is!

 

[modode]

Dual or Quad Core CPU?: No simple answer. The dual cores are cheaper. If your primary goal is gaming, dual cores outperform the quads because they'll usually overclock higher and because current games don't take advantage of the extra cores. If you multi-task or do lots of video/photo editing, then the quad will likely be better. If you don't want to update your computer for several years and want to be 'future-proof', then go quad core.

 

[dagger]

Dual or Quad Core CPU?: No simple answer. The dual cores are cheaper. If your primary goal is gaming, dual cores outperform the quads because they'll usually overclock higher and because current games don't take advantage of the extra cores. If you multi-task or do lots of video/photo editing, then the quad will likely be better. If you don't want to update your computer for several years and want to be 'future-proof', then go quad core.

Most lesser, less expensive duals cannot overclock faster than q6600. The only dual that can oc significantly higher than q6600 is e8400, but it cost the same, and requires higher end chipset motherboard in order to not be fsb bottlenecked at the same speed as q6600.

 

[modode]

Actually, I think the E7200 and E8500 will usually significantly overclock higher than the Q6600 as well - whether that makes a difference with gaming is debatable, but with the new GTX280 rolling out, it might.

 

[dagger]

Actually, I think the E7200 and E8500 will usually significantly overclock higher than the Q6600 as well - whether that makes a difference with gaming is debatable, but with the new GTX280 rolling out, it might.

With 9x multiplier, 3.6ghz requires 1600mhz fsb. E8400 can go up to 4.3ghz, but not if the motherboard fsb bottlenecks it. It's fine for q6600 because the cpu doesn't go much beyond 3.6ghz anyway. Why get a dual and hope for a shaky and dubious increase in max oc speed? It's just not as reliable.

 

[airwolf]

Again thanks for the help, i recently purchased a Thermal Take Armour 8000bws case and today i went out and got a Antec Neopower 650w (hope that thats an ok choice). So i will problably be getting the CPU in a week or two and a MOBO.

 

[htoonthura]

Hi all,

Have a question about CPU's. Is it better to get a quad core CPU or a Dual Core? I have read threads on the forum and people have stated that for gaming a dual core will beat a Quad core. Is this a temporary thing until quad cores are used more efficiently or will this always be the case. I want to build my system with a bit of future proofing so dont want to buy a CPU thats already out of date technically.

Thanks for the help

Quad. All the way.

 

[y2kgtp]

I say Dual for now, then upgrade to a Quad or extreme when prices drop. This was my plan as I just ordered an E8400....then will swap out when quad\extreme prices for the same Ghz range come down.

Motherboards that can support a Core Duo, also should\can support quad\extreme chips as well....that's good future proofing to me