Intel core 2 quad processor

[gaboru93]

so... what do you think about it? my opinion is that the thing is pretty cool being 2x faster than dual core processors but right now you don't really need it! and until games will REALLY need it, the price will be lower.. so is it better to wait? or plunge in and take one of those?

 

[Moriendor]

If you are working professionally with your PC in areas such as media creation or rendering then I'd recommend a Quad CPU but for gaming? Nah. The CPU is generally not as important anymore. Even a "slow" E6320 with a 8800GTS card will play any game on the market today at more than acceptable framerates. If you're looking for good price/performance ratio, I'd check out the E6750 or E6850 now that the price cut that Intel announced for July has arrived at retail. Most games still do not benefit much or at all from a dual core CPU so there's no real need to go Quad just for gaming yet. I'd wait for the prices to drop even more and then get one when it really starts to matter.

 

[gaboru93]

ok Moriendor thanks...
now i want to know about that 8800 GTS! is it a good card? can i at least play Gothic 3 with almost all on high if i have an intel core 2 duo 2.8 ; 2gb of ram, and that video card?

 

[Moriendor]

Yes, you can . That combo would work very nicely for Gothic 3. For a quick overview of graphics card performance check here and play with the pull-down menus to highlight different cards and to check the performance in a variety of games:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

 

[JDR13]

The 8800 GTS 320mb is a great card for the money. The best bang for your buck that you can buy right now.

 

[gaboru93]

wow! that 8800 ultra and 8800 GTX are cool! I bet they're worth alot....

 

[Remus]

Yes the 8800 GTX is great, but the price is not and the Ultra version is even more overpriced. For playing games at low resolution, or not higher than 1680x1050, the GTS version would be fine but remember future games will be more demanding...

Hopefully nVidia would releases a new GPUs at the end of 2007 so the current 8800GTX will drop in price.

For gaming purposes, both E6750 or E6850 are very good choice. They're good for overclocking too. Heck even the new quad Q6600 with G0 stepping is great overclocker and probably a little more future proof in next couples years when more multicores games become available. Then again, by that time maybe a newer, better and cheaper multicores processors also start coming out. So, you can choose E6750 or E6850, or even Q6600 as they're all great for the prices now, especially E6750...

 

[gaboru93]

what about 2.0 dual core... 2gb RAM and 8500gts(does it exist? if not 8600gts)? will it play gothic 3 well? because i don't think G3 is playable on 20 fps.

i looked at this site http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html and looked at the oblivion thing

 

[Lucky Day]

The 8600gts is still the low end of that line I believe, around $200. nVidia still hasn't dropped the prices of their 8800gtx but they did make a gts model with less RAM as mentioned.

The 8600 is actually a newer card so I've noticed it a few more features than the 880 but of course the better, faster card.

Dual core (called Duo Core by Intel) seems all the rage, and pretty much the only thing you can get.

The majority of software available out there has yet to exploit it and in some rare cases they don't work properly (particularly with older games). Some of them that do exploit the power do it in very simple ways like deviding the work in half and sending the process there.

I'm actually not too keen yet on just how it works yet but I'm sure to learn soon enough.

I have an eye on this set up:

AMD X2 6000+
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe nForce 590 SLI AM2 Motherboard
2gb (1x1) 800 MHZ RAM (the speed of the RAM is important)
nVidia 8600gts or better

I've already got two SATA drives to make some sort of RAID set up and I'll probably go with the internal sound card.

I might buy a Vizio 42" 1080p LCD HDTV for a monitor as they are $1200 at Circuit City and Costco (A Directv set up will get you a $300 rebate at Circuit. Buying it at Costco get's you an extra year's warranty).

I'm not sure if HD is the way to go for PC's though - I've not heard of anyone that does that.

All the other components have the lowest price at Newegg except the RAM.

FRYs has Patriot RAM in 2gb sticks for $94. everywhere else they are over $110, usually $120.

 

[gaboru93]

if i get this new pc it's gonna be
intel core 2 duo 2.00 ghz...
2gb of ram (i think it was ddr2)
and 8600gts....
with SATA 250gb hard

will it be enough to play any game on the market now and the ones that are gonna appear next?

 

[gaboru93]

also i get the configuration above at arround 600$

 

[Lucky Day]

AMD 6000+ is $169 and runs at 3.0ghz and it is 64 bit. Does Intel even make a 64 bit processor yet?

The ASUS MB I mentioned is $166 at Newegg. Buying the combo there saves you $20 there so its $316.

However, if you prefer Intel as a brand that's understandable. What motherboard are you considering?

You definitely want DDR2 but you want to make sure it matches the speed of your MB so you get the best performance out there.

Many 2gb's that are cheap right now run at 667MHZ so be careful. I think 1gb's can run as low as 400MHZ.

Check your MB specs. For example, the ASUS I mentioned here requires a CMOS tweak for the 800MHZ to even work.

If you get two or even three+ Hard Drives you can get it to run RAID 0,1,0+1, or even better, RAID 5 or 6.

RAID can improve your performance significantly and/or make your data safer depending which one you use. Your motherboard has to support it and most support 0,1 and 5 these days.

Also, what kind of case are you getting? Look for reviews that warn you of any grounding problems.

I can also highly recommend 5.25" fans over 3.5". They are much, much quieter.

Get as many as you can in a case.

 

[gaboru93]

ok i'll try to keep that in mind! i can't remember what the motherboard was.... i'll tell you! as for the case i have assured it is good! i even has some... dunno how to call them that raises the PC so it looks like a kind of server! i even found a nice design! hehe! hmm the HDD was 250gb SATA... can't remember if there was 1 or if there were 2... the fans... i dunno though the retailer assured me the PC won't get overheated!

i buy totally new PC and i think 600$ is not that much... though i will buy it at the end of the month (probably the start of the next one) and i think it will be even cheaper by then!

 

[Lucky Day]

Oh, you've been saying Quad processors. For some reason I thought you were saying duo.

Good luck with that, and yeah, definitely make sure your RAM and Board lives can do 800 MHZ (800MHZ 800MHZ 800MHZ) !

250gb SATAs are pretty cheap these days so it would be worth it to get at least two to go RAID.

Are Quad core's real yet are are they still two DUOs soldered together? Not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[JemyM]

I actually decided on the Quad 6600 today. It's really cheap, about 1/4 compared to other quad's, and according to tomshardware it's fast.

 

[gaboru93]

i didn't say anything about having quad on my PC! the quad thing was the title of the thread! i get DUO! thanks for the advice Lucky Day! what if they can't do 800MHZ???

@JeremyM dunno what to say... if u need quad get it... but i think that when it will really be necessarily the prices for the better ones will go down! but... your choice!

 

[JemyM]

@JeremyM dunno what to say... if u need quad get it... but i think that when it will really be necessarily the prices for the better ones will go down! but... your choice!

Actually, the Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6600 is cheaper than Intel Core 2 Duo E6850...

 

[KazikluBey]

AMD 6000+ is $169 and runs at 3.0ghz and it is 64 bit. Does Intel even make a 64 bit processor yet?

I don't think they make any pure 32 bit processors these days... Their Core 2 and Pentium D lineups support both 64 and 32 bit natively, just like AMD's. Intel's Itaniums are pure 64 bit though.

 

[Lucky Day]

Just in time for this thread AMD announces its Quad-Core chips

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137003-c,amd/article.html

Appears to be a real Quad-Core. They have a chip to regulate memory manage,ent and apparently all 4 processors can find themselves at different speeds depending on the application using them. There's was also a distinct move to to bring down power consumption.

The processors run between 1.7ghz to 2.0ghz and run from $209 to >$1000 per 1000 units. Already reports say AMD is getting lots and lots of orders for them. They plan to launch a 2.3ghz by Nov/Dec.

 

[gaboru93]

hmmm that could prove useful... i mean the processors are kinda independent but at the same time they work together! interesting idea! though the price....

but all in all what can it help to use 1 processor at less power if the other just runs at max.... it would be the same as all worked at max don't you think? i think the power consume will be lower.... other than that dunno