Does Clock Speed (GHz) Matters while Comparing 2 Processors?

[bruce20]

Hi,

2 Days ago I've purchased a Core 2 Duo E8400 - 3.0 GHz (6MB Cache) from the local market. The salesman gave me a couple of options. One of them was this C2D 3.0 GHz (Which I purchased) and a couple of "Core 2 Quad" Processors with Clock Speed about 2.33 - 2.5 GHz Clock Speed. I picked the C2D 3.0 GHz, considering its Big Clock Speed and 6 MB Cache.

BUT Now I'm wondering, was it Really a Wise Decision? Is a Core 2 Quard STRONGER than Core 2 Duo, Regardless of its Clock Speed & Cache?

Should I've chosen Core 2 Quad? If yes, WHY? Or I made the Right Choice?

By the way, I've got this processor for the sole gaming purposes. I want to play games like Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed Revelations & Assassins Creed III, NFS: The Run, NFS: Most Wanted (2012) etc.

Core 2 Duo which I got has FSB 1333, while the Core 2 Quad had FSB 1066.

Thanks.

 

[13thmonkey]

in this case it is ok to compared clock speed to clock speed.

as to which is better... what are you using it for, can your software use more than 2 cores? the quad will be more future proof.

 

[bruce20]

in this case it is ok to compared clock speed to clock speed.

as to which is better... what are you using it for, can your software use more than 2 cores? the quad will be more future proof.

My only purpose is Gaming on this desktop PC. But still thinking, Will Core 2 Quad really Perform Better than Core 2 Duo E8400?

I want to play games like Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed Revelations & Assassins Creed III, NFS: The Run, NFS: Most Wanted (2012) etc.

 

[melikepie]

Was it really a wise decision to buy a CPU that old?

 

[MajinCry]

Future proofing is a fallacy. Anyone who promotes "future-proofing" of tech should have their advice taken with a grain of salt.

@OP Those processors are old and ancient. The current sandybridge pentiums (Go from £40-£60) will eat that core 2 duo. And the core 2 quad...Depends how much it was going to cost.

As far as I've seen Core 2 Duos and Core 2 Quads go for, you could get a superior AMD CPU for cheaper. For example:

An E6700 @ 3.2GHz costs £70. The AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE also costs £70. The 965 BE is all-round better by a significant margin (I've experienced between 1.5-2.5x faster performance in games and intensive programs).
So yeah.

 

[melikepie]

^+1-1

 

[logainofhades]

What made you decide to buy such an old chip in the first place? Core 2 is quite dated.

 

[melikepie]

The salesman gave me a couple of options.

I guess that's why he bought it.

 

[logainofhades]

He might need to find a different salesman then.

 

[melikepie]

Or just shop online.

 

[JeremyRamsey]

When you go shopping for pc parts, always be ready to leave and do the research. You can always go back tomorrow.

 

[bruce20]

OH GOD. Most of you are really NOT SO HELPFUL. I just bought it to play *** ONLY *** a couple of Games like Hitman Absolution and Assassins Creed Revelations & III.

THAT'S DEFINITELY A WISE DECISION, because I didn't wanted to Spent any BIG Money JUST to play a couple of Games.

I Know All of you will Recommend a Core i5, with a Strong Gaming Mobo & etc. etc. But the Point is, I DONT NEED THAT, as far as I'm Good to Play these 2-3 games. I DON'T CARE ABOUT FUTURE GAMES.

By the way, I will stick with this processor for now.

 

[bruce20]

Best answer selected by bruce20.

 

[melikepie]

OH GOD. Most of you are really NOT SO HELPFUL. I just bought it to play *** ONLY *** a couple of Games like Hitman Absolution and Assassins Creed Revelations & III.

THAT'S DEFINITELY A WISE DECISION, because I didn't wanted to Spent any BIG Money JUST to play a couple of Games.

I Know All of you will Recommend a Core i5, with a Strong Gaming Mobo & etc. etc. But the Point is, I DONT NEED THAT, as far as I'm Good to Play these 2-3 games. I DON'T CARE ABOUT FUTURE GAMES.

By the way, I will stick with this processor for now.

LOL Good luck trying to do that! Those CPUs suck.

 

[jaguarskx]

By the way, I've got this processor for the sole gaming purposes. I want to play games like Hitman Absolution, Assassins Creed Revelations & Assassins Creed III, NFS: The Run, NFS: Most Wanted (2012) etc.

With the exception of Hitman Absolution, I believe all those games only use 2 core. Therefore, for most of those games the dual core E8400 will give you better performance than the C2Q quad core (Q6600??). You can also add Skyrim to that list of games using only 2 cores.

Getting back to Hitman Absolution however... based on the following graph, the game definitely benefits from a quad core CPU. Look at the Core i3-2100 (3.1GHz) and the Core i5-2500k (3.3GHz). The i5 averages 56 FPS while the i3 averages 34 FPS. The difference of 200MHz is pretty minor so the 22 FPS difference is mainly due to the 2 extra cores. To make it a little more comparable, the Core i5's clockspeed is about 6.5% higher than the Core i3's clockspeed. So assuming the Core i3-2100 is clocked at 3.3GHz, the average FPS would be 36 (instead of 34 FPS) which means the difference of 20 FPS would be solely due to the 2 extra cores.

Source (Russian): http://gamegpu.ru/action-/-fps-/-tps/hitman-absolution-test-gpu.html

I assume the C2Q offered to you was the Q6600 clocked at 2.4GHz. The difference between the E8400 and the Q6600 is 600MHz. So that means the Q6600 is slower than the E8400 in terms of just the clockspeed. Using the Core i3 and Core i5 to help explain the difference in performance let's say that the Core i5's clockspeed is 20% slower than the Core i3. That would mean that the performance for the Core i5 will drop to 45 FPS while the Core i3 at 3.3GHz would be 36 FPS; a difference of 9 FPS.

However, you have an E8400 CPU not a Core i3 CPU. In general, the 1st generation Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs are about 10% more powerful than the C2D / C2Q generation CPUs. The 2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 (Sandy Bridge) are about 12% more powerful than the 1st gen. That means that overall, Sandy Bridge CPUs are about 23% more powerful the C2D / C2Q generation CPUs; assuming the same clockspeed. The flip side means that C2D / C2Q CPUs are about 19% slower than Sandy Bridge CPUs at the same clockspeed.

 

[logainofhades]

OH GOD. Most of you are really NOT SO HELPFUL. I just bought it to play *** ONLY *** a couple of Games like Hitman Absolution and Assassins Creed Revelations & III.

THAT'S DEFINITELY A WISE DECISION, because I didn't wanted to Spent any BIG Money JUST to play a couple of Games.

I Know All of you will Recommend a Core i5, with a Strong Gaming Mobo & etc. etc. But the Point is, I DONT NEED THAT, as far as I'm Good to Play these 2-3 games. I DON'T CARE ABOUT FUTURE GAMES.

By the way, I will stick with this processor for now.

There was a recommendation by MajinCry for a Phenom II x4 which is not an expensive chip. Core 2's are not that great anymore. An FX 4300 would be much better as well and is also a very inexpensive chip. Your flying of the handle without actually reading anything except the comments that a Core 2 anything is a bad purchase for a new system. An i5 was not recommended once. One was used as an example for your question in clock speed and that was it. If you want to waste your money on old tech when you can get something much more current and faster for basically the same price, be my guest. It is your money, feel free to waste it how you want.

 

[baha_timimi]

I think you best to bye Quad processor if it is Q9xxx but if it is Q6xxx then stay with E8xxx
finally it depend on the price

 

[melikepie]

Bye‽

 

[nbelote]

For what you are going to do, you got the right PC. You are also going to need an affordable, decent graphics card. See if you can get your hands on a Radeon HD 6670. The brand doesn't matter, it's just a cheap card that performs well enough to do the games you want to play.

Edit: My kids game on a Core 2 Duo E7400 with an Nvidia GeForce GT 520. For a bit more than the price of the GT 520, you can get the Radeon 6670 I mentioned above and get triple the performance (someone handed me the GT 520 for free or else I would've bought the 6670). It does well enough to run World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 on low settings. The Radeon 6670 should do medium with your CPU.