Core 2 Duo or Quad?

[Derkle]

I want to know what Intel Core 2 Quad would be better than the Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 for gaming. I cant afford the q9650 so that's out of the question. I just want to know do the Core 2 Quads really make a difference for the price?

 

[esrever]

Probably not worth it. Most games still only use 2 cores effectively. your best bet is to OC your E8600 if you can.

 

[antonisrsx]

+1 esrever

 

[HostileDonut]

If you have the core 2 duo, then keep it. Like esrever said, games are just now starting to use more than 2 threads. If you can OC, that is the way to go. If you are playing games like BF3, Mafia 2, Crysis 2, or the other few that use 4 threads, go ahead and get a Q6600 and OC the heck out of it, but I wouldn't really suggest upgrading the LGA775 platform, as it is pretty old.

If you can, OC your duo and save for a IB or SB platform.

 

[Derkle]

Would it be better to get the X6800 or E8600. My specs:

450 watt power supply
Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 Graphics card
1 250gb Western Digital HDD
1 500gb Green WD HDD (power saver)
1 300gb WD HDD
1 IDE DVD/RW drive
1 IDE CD/RW drive

I have powerful case fans but stock cooling. Would it be worth the unlocked multiplier for overclocking? How much do you think I can OC the X6800 or E8600 on stock cooling? I can remove some drives so wattage is not really a problem.

 

[Derkle]

If you have the core 2 duo, then keep it. Like esrever said, games are just now starting to use more than 2 threads. If you can OC, that is the way to go. If you are playing games like BF3, Mafia 2, Crysis 2, or the other few that use 4 threads, go ahead and get a Q6600 and OC the heck out of it, but I wouldn't really suggest upgrading the LGA775 platform, as it is pretty old.

If you can, OC your duo and save for a IB or SB platform.

I have a Pentium D 945. Upgrading would only be realistic for me if I switched to AMD because it is too costly for the i3/i5/i7 builds as I would have to upgrade processor and mobo and the processors are insanely expensive.

 

[seumas_beathan]

I have a Pentium D 945. Upgrading would only be realistic for me if I switched to AMD because it is too costly for the i3/i5/i7 builds as I would have to upgrade processor and mobo and the processors are insanely expensive.

Well your wrong. You can get an i3 for about £80. Or you could just get a c2d off of ebay for about £40

 

[HostileDonut]

I have a Pentium D 945. Upgrading would only be realistic for me if I switched to AMD because it is too costly for the i3/i5/i7 builds as I would have to upgrade processor and mobo and the processors are insanely expensive.

Not true, you can get a core i3 2100 for pretty cheap and a decent h67 board for $80. The core i3 will outperform both a C2Q and a C2D. If you are going for a new CPU now, and is MUST be a LGA775, get a Q6600 and OC it as far as you can. Or around 3.5Ghz because your GPU will bottleneck it.

 

[Derkle]

Not true, you can get a core i3 2100 for pretty cheap and a decent h67 board for $80. The core i3 will outperform both a C2Q and a C2D. If you are going for a new CPU now, and is MUST be a LGA775, get a Q6600 and OC it as far as you can. Or around 3.5Ghz because your GPU will bottleneck it.

Ok I didn't look into i3 actually. But wouldn't a phenom 2 x6 perform better than an i3?

 

[seumas_beathan]

No not really, plus your better of going intel

 

[Derkle]

ok thanks guys!

 

[popatim]

well since even an e8600 is $170 on ebay I think your best course of action is an athlonn II x4 for $100, Cheap am3+ motherbd $50, and 4gb ddr3 ram $20 which leaves you with a least an upgrade path thru bulldog & piledriver and for another $25 you can upgrade to a bd with usb3 and sata3.

Socket 775 is dead, the only upgrade option you have is used or old stock and you see what those prices are doing. Up Up Up.

 

[seumas_beathan]

No bother, anytime

 

[popatim]

The i3 option is a decent alternative too but bear in mind that you wont find many motherboards with IDE/ATAPI ports that you need.

 

[HostileDonut]

Ok I didn't look into i3 actually. But wouldn't a phenom 2 x6 perform better than an i3?

I would personally take a X6 Phenom II over a i3, as the performance of a X4 and an i3 are close, but when games start using 6 threads, the extra cores will help out. That is just my 2 cents.

 

[esrever]

I'd get the 960t than the x6s and save a bit of money, even if you fail to unlock the extra cores, the 960t is a good cpu for its price.

 

[seumas_beathan]

I would personally take a X6 Phenom II over a i3, as the performance of a X4 and an i3 are close, but when games start using 6 threads, the extra cores will help out. That is just my 2 cents.

But games arnt going to be using 6 threads for quite some time. Hardly any even use 4....

 

[Derkle]

Yeah I found cheap i3 parts. overall mobo, 2gb ram, and 3.2ghz i3 for $120. Thats good because that leaves room for upgrade. Price cap is around $200 so I might go for an i5 and 4gb ram or better gpu or something.

 

[HostileDonut]

Yeah I found cheap i3 parts. overall mobo, 2gb ram, and 3.2ghz i3 for $120. Thats good because that leaves room for upgrade. Price cap is around $200 so I might go for an i5 and 4gb ram or better gpu or something.

Yeah, you need at LEAST 4gb RAM. If you are running a 64-bit OS, I would try to get 8gb.

 

[HostileDonut]

But games arnt going to be using 6 threads for quite some time. Hardly any even use 4....

I believe I heard that Mafia 2 and BF3 use 6 cores. Just saying, tech goes fast, might as well. I mean, I would.

 

[billybobser]

I would personally take a X6 Phenom II over a i3, as the performance of a X4 and an i3 are close, but when games start using 6 threads, the extra cores will help out. That is just my 2 cents.

Lemme make a few points.

Intel are dominant in market share for desktop cpus, they're 'performance' cpu's at the moment are only quad core (and it's not likely to change in the next 2 years).

So without any reason, at all for game developes to write 6threaded games for an old cpu with tiny market share.

Two reasons to buy a 6 core machine, 1) threaded data processing, 2) you hate nature and like burning extra joules.