To Quad or not to Quad...that is the question.

[buttus]

Like many others, I am on the verge of buying a new computer. The one I have now is an Athlon 3400. With the prices of dual and quad cores falling through the floor the question I want answered is….should I just go for a Core Duo…or should I take a leap forward and go for a quad core.

The majority of my use is either gaming, or multi-media such as watching or streaming movies/music.

This would make an excellent article and I personally could use some real advice. I am not entirely convinced that the developers will in fact start programming for quad core architecture anytime soon. However, I would like to future proof myself as much as possible. I know that the quad cores are best used for applications such as Photoshop or Autocad….but I can’t help but imagine the gaming possibilities of the future with a quad core.

Thanks Julio. As always Techspot has been an extremely informative site which I always visit many times during the course of the day just to stay up to date on industry announcements.

 

[raybay]

No significant software I know of is written for Quad Core, and from what I hear, will not be for 18 months or maybe 36. Of course, it may be popular sometime, but may not be the leading technology by then.
If you cannot think of a reason to have it why buy it.
Future proofing seldom works. There are too many surprises within the wars of competition. Many of these things are nothing more than testing the waters to see what has appeal for future development.
I am sure we will eventually see articles here, as the muddy water clears. But in the meanttime you have CPU, MaximumPC, Gamer, and the like.
It does appear you would benefit from the leap up from the AMD 3400 by going to Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.
Nobody has ever been able to predict the leading edge. Competition and economics are too powerful a force. There are guys all over the world with recent very hot rigs that are nothing more that useless future antiques.