Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad

[Jimbo597]

What should I get :

Brand Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, Socket Type LGA 775
FSB 1333MHz L2 Cache 6MB,

OR

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, Socket Type LGA 775
FSB 1066MHz L2 Cache 8MB,

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

What will you be doing with the PC and what are the rest of your system's specifications?

 

[Jimbo597]

Gaming. Never mind. I'm going with the Quad Q6600

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Err, okay then...

 

[LNCPapa]

If it's for gaming strictly then you should make a different choice. Seeing as how there were only 2 choices it should be pretty easy.

 

[fullmetalvegan]

For gaming, choose the Core 2 Duo E8400 - it kills the Q6600 in games. I just switched from Q6600 to E8400 in fact. =P

 

[Doctor_hv]

in the latest review here on Techspot of Phenom 9850, there were both e8400 and q6600 paired side to side...
as for the gaming, I take Crysis as the measure of all things when it comes to the future, and Quad is much better than the Duo, so I think that tells something, if a game is optimised for multithreading, which all of the future games should be, than it is quite clear which to take...
But I have a doubt, I asked in store for the stepping of Q6600 and they don't know it, so I'm afraid, if I buy the B3 one, in another post, I've seen that KO fixes some 40 bugs whic B3 had, so would it be too troublesome to have a B3 stepping Q6600?
if you have money and it is avalible, go for Q9450, you can't go wrong, it's quad and it's the latest technology availible.

 

[fullmetalvegan]

Really? Do you have any links to benchmarks to prove that statement? I'm not being arrogant, I just wanna know. =]

All benchmarks I saw showed the Core 2 Duo being superior in gaming to the Q6600. The high end Core 2 Duo, that is.

 

[Doctor_hv]

Well, as I've stated, it's here on Techspot, and here is your link...
And if you read my post well, I've said it only for Crysis, which is the future of gaming, not the rest of currently available games...
But if you have money to upgrade your rig every now and then, be my guest...
Here is your link
...https://www.techspot.com/review/93-amd-phenom-9850-black-edition/page10.html
you may notice that Q6600 gives 6 more frames in Crysis than E8400 does...
I hope I'll manage to buy myself one, although I don't think that a C2Duo is a miss...

 

[fullmetalvegan]

Well, that's only one game, and I think it's a pretty naive statement to say that all future games will be like Crysis. Not to mention there are various different genres of games and thus diffierent ways they perform.

I don't think all games will be like Crysis anytime within the next year, or two, so the
Core 2 Duo reigns supreme still in gaming.

6 extra frames isn't that much of a gap anyway. And the E8500 likely gives more frames in, and future Duo's will as well. And when the new Quad's are at a price in Australia of $600 for the 9300, then the Duo is a much more affordable option when you won't be gaining too many extra frames from the quad.

The other specs of the computer can affect the output as well, the TechSpot benchmark was only one system of specs. I've seen other becnhmarks in more gaming orientated environments where the Duo absoutely killed the Quads. Such as SLI Ready memory, nForce MCP boards, 8800 GT, GX2, etc.

So you can't rely on the results of ONE benchmark. The benches at Tom's Hardware show the Core 2 Duo being vastly superior to the Q6600.

 

[Doctor_hv]

Well, I've given you my opinion, and for Crysis, I know not all the games will be like it, but I think that in terms of technology it uses and multithreading optimization, I think that's the way others will follow...
And I think that both are great processors, and I am now building a new rig and I will chose between the two after I buy all other components, and see how much money I have... Buy QX9770 and live happily ever after