Should I go with dual core or quad core?

[External HDD Veteran]

Hey all,

I am going to buy a PC soon. I was wondering if should go with Intel Core 2 Duo 3.16 or AMD Quad 2.16?

And if install 32bit on a 64 bit system, do I get 3.16 ghz and when I install 64 bit, 2x3.16 ghz? And can i install 64 bit on a quad core? too many questions I know..:) Just this is the first time, any other opinions on other hardware are welcome:

2 GB Kingston ram

asus P5QL-e motherboard

msi 512 mb nx8800gt

320 gb samsung hdd

and i don't really have a good opinion about sound card and power supply. any ideas?

[gwai lo]

What's your budget?

Where are you buying from? links preferred

What are you going to do with this computer?

What resolution do you run?

Are there any specific features you're looking for in your board?

Are you overclocking?

When are you buying?

Did you intend to keep your power supply for builds down the road and upgrades? Or just what you need now with a some margin of expandability?

As for you thread question, depends on what you're doing...what's wrong with the Q6600? You're looking at an E8500 aren't you? Q6600 should be priced lower than that.

The "bits" of the operating system do not affect the frequency of your processor at all, the two are independent of each other.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

okay, you dont want to go amd if you have an Intel board.

Get a Q6600 or the newer quads (Q9550)

you can install x32 and x64, there is no difference in speed.

you can put x64 on quads, since the C2D's came out, they have all been x64.

Edited September 3, 2008 by Mindovermaster

[markwolfe Veteran]

First off, you don't get 2x3.16 GHz. Ever. You just have two cores, each running at 3.16GHz. Not sure if you were saying you get twice the speed or not. I have seen plenty of people who thought they got twice the frequencies or such. It doesn't matter if you run a 32-bit OS, or a 64-bit one. (although 64-bit would be able to address all your memory if you get to 4GB or more of RAM)

[External HDD Veteran]

I will buy from a retailer, www.mavibilgisayar.com to be specific but it's in Turkish so you can only use search box to find a brand. :)

Prices range a lot here so my budget will probably misguide you. I will buy a widescreen and resolution will be 1440x960 I guess.(my brother's pc does that) I will mainly use it in gaming and some schoolwork but I don't want it to be get old after a few years, my intent is to use it for a pretty long time. I intend to keep my power supply actually.

I am looking for a pc neither medium nor super fast, something between that. :)

[spacer]

If you plan on playing games, the faster clock speed is better than more cores. The dual core is probably the better choice.

If you plan on doing more multitasking or more performance intensive such as video editing, 3D graphics, music, etc etc. quad core would be better (theoretically).

As always though, the most important deciding factor is price.

That's my understanding.

[gwai lo]

I will buy from a retailer, www.mavibilgisayar.com to be specific but it's in Turkish so you can only use search box to find a brand. :)

Prices range a lot here so my budget will probably misguide you. I will buy a widescreen and resolution will be 1440x960 I guess.(my brother's pc does that) I will mainly use it in gaming and some schoolwork but I don't want it to be get old after a few years, my intent is to use it for a pretty long time. I intend to keep my power supply actually.

I am looking for a pc neither medium nor super fast, something between that. :)

What's your budget anyway?

Are there any specific features you're looking for in your board?

Are you overclocking?

When are you buying?

Did you intend to keep your power supply for builds down the road and upgrades? Or just what you need now with a some margin of expandability?

If you plan on playing games, the faster clock speed is better than more cores. The dual core is probably the better choice.

That doesn't necessarily hold true once the quads are overclocked to 3-3.2+ GHz. Conversely, dual cores can still hold up to a fair amount of multitasking.

[External HDD Veteran]

I'll be buying tomorrow, my budget will be around 1200$. I don't know how to overclock and no specific features for me. I believe I'll be keeping the power supply.

Multitasking will be pretty important though.

[gwai lo]

Soo...I have something specced out, but what does "KDV Dahil" mean? Is that after taxes/shipping or something? For example here:

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/9116

Also, overclocking really isn't that difficult if you just read up on it..can't seem to find a decent cooler though, but the stock one should be able to take you to 3 GHz where the performance discrepancies between quads and dual cores mostly disappear.

[External HDD Veteran]

KDV are taxes, price + 18% it means. The price seems good for me but I must also check other parts etc. :) Thanks though, will getting this one as a motherboard.

[vipwoody]

quad

[gwai lo]

Okay, so which one is the actual price you end up paying? That second number is way larger than the "prices" on the pages listing the components. Here's got I've got so far, but it's out of your budget if we take the highest numbers to be what you're paying:

Asus P5Q Pro

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/9116

2?2GB DDR2-800

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/9269

Samsung 320GB

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/5361

Seasonic S12

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/8428

Q6600

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/4660

4850

http://www.mavibilgisayar.com/ud/9104

I'm not sure if it's too much or what yet..

edit: ^I love responses like those.

[External HDD Veteran]

thanks, here is what i ended up with:

asus P5Q Pro

lg L222WS-BN 22" LCD

intel Core2 Quad Q6600

his 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850

samsung dvd writer

kingston HyperX D2KH DDR2 800 4096MB (2x2048MB) KIT

asus TAD52 350W

samsung 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATAII

creative Sound Blaster X-fi Xtreme Audio

seasonic S12 500W (12CM Fan)

usrobotics 7900 10/100Mbps Ethernet Kartı

second price is in YTL, and i am considering around 1800 YTL for all equipment.

[ViperAFK]

quad

[nonick]

wait for nehalim ;) (i7)

[gwai lo]

You can use the onboard sound and ethernet controller, thereby getting closer to your initial 1200.

[External HDD Veteran]

will consider that, thanks!

[39 Thieves]

Are any advancements even being made in dual core procs?

[gwai lo]

E8600 and the E0's from Intel are the most recent.

[gummyz]

Just to let you know, the monitor you selected does 1680x1050. The video card that is chosen so far should do fine at the resolution, but I just wanted to point that out because it differs from your brother's monitor (your brother probably has a 19"/20").

[External HDD Veteran]

Thanks everyone, and gwai for all your hassle :), here is my specs:

Q9400 2.6 ghz

4 gb ocz ram

19" samsung monitor

asus p5q pro motherboard

logitech 5.1 x540

logitech cordless desktop ex60

his 512 mb ati radeon

[gwai lo]

Which video card? 4850?

[External HDD Veteran]

HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 :)

[theyarecomingforyou]

HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 :)

Please tell me that's a typo. :o

[Digitalx]

if it's cheap enough and fills his requirements 3850 is still well and able card.