Should I go with dual core or quad core?

[theyarecomingforyou]

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

Yes, but earlier they were talking about an 8800GT or a 4850 - a 3850 is a considerable step backward.

[ViperAFK]

You can get an 8800GT for a marginally higher price than a 9600GT of 3850 now at around $120 so it really is a steal at that price.

[External HDD Veteran]

Well I'm a bit new to this and got 3850 and didn't have any problems so far + it was cheap too :) if it's doesn't meet my needs in the future, I will probably go buy a better one :)

but what is so bad about it? vista is at full graphics, can play tf2 and that's enough for me now :)

Edited September 6, 2008 by External HDD

[bob_c_b]

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

This falls down as soon as you crank the resoltuion past 1280x, then the GPU becomes the limiting factor. I went for a C2D E8400 to the Q9300 and have not lost any game performance, playing first at 1680x01050 and now at 1920x1200.