All Quad Core users. Must read!

[tweakboy]

This is sound advice for YOU but not everyone.

Exactly.

What she is saying is, ONE application or game doesn't cover EVERYTHING a user can do so don't base your decision off of ONE thing! I know I have a 980x and I can max it completely out quite often with some work apps. Now, when I play freecell it's hardly used. Would I tell everyone don't upgrade because freecell plays just fine like the OP here did? No.

I dont do video rendering,, I do audio rendering.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If I can snag two Q9300s at MC for $100 each, I might do that, but other than that, I plan to hold onto my rigs until they croak, I guess.

I've way overspent on upgrades over the last few years, gotta slow down. Existing rigs are plenty for what I do, most of my time is spent on a single-core 1.6Ghz laptop (with nice AMD graphics).

PS. Good post, TB.

 

[Edrick]

What she is saying is, ONE application or game doesn't cover EVERYTHING a user can do so don't base your decision off of ONE thing! I know I have a 980x and I can max it completely out quite often with some work apps. Now, when I play freecell it's hardly used. Would I tell everyone don't upgrade because freecell plays just fine like the OP here did? No.

+1

That just about sums up this entire thread.

 

[smakme7757]

+1

That just about sums up this entire thread.

Pretty much!

I'm swapping out my quad core ASAP - Bring on SB! I have lots of money, but can't spend it yet....damn :'(

 

[Rubycon]

I dont do video rendering,, I do audio rendering.

I do as well but most processes won't use more than one cpu however you can do them in parallel. Dual 8 core Xeon means 16 processes can be worked simultaneously. Doing them one at a time with that hardware makes about as much sense as driving a ten ton dump truck to take back a few library books.

(OTOH that works for me as read a hell of a lot! )

 

[Patrick Wolf]

It was nice that people actually replied to this thread. Tweakboy needs all the help he can get.

 

[smakme7757]

I could probably sit on my CPU for another year or 2, but my main reason for upgrading early next year is purely for stability. My DDR2 ram is shot and my CPU is on its last legs.

Too many long nights overclocking, overvolting and just destroying my PC for the sake of benchmarks .

 

[Edrick]

How many people upgrade just for the sake of having the latest and greatest technology? I know I fall into this group....even though the wife is not too happy about it.

 

[Seero]

I keep seeing people using the word "usage" to refer the percentage from task manager, but that really isn't usage, it is "unavailability."

People should be familiar to prime95, and although tests are all 100% CPU, some does make CPU hotter than others. When it is 100%, it doesn't mean it is at 100% load, but it is 100% unavailable.

The reason why newer chipset/cpu can acquire better performance with the same clock speed is due to the bottleneck where the core is unavailable, but isn't doing anything but waiting. Hyperthreading is introduced to utilize CPU better.

Back to the topic, as I have mentioned, since newer chipset reduces the idle time of CPU while it is unavailable, performance increase even though it runs at the same clock speed as older chips, so it isn't just about the clock speed. You can OC a C2Q and it cannot beat i7, and the difference gets bigger as clock speed increases. Besides that, newer chips can often acquire higher clock speed, making it even more attractive compare to old chips, not to mention the newer chipsets which supports more goodies.

The only problem is, newer chipsets don't support older CPU, and newer CPU don't support older chipsets, meaning that consumers will need to upgrade both. Luckily, newer chipsets still support DDR3.

 

[soccerballtux]

This is sound advice for YOU but not everyone.

Exactly.

What she is saying is, ONE application or game doesn't cover EVERYTHING a user can do so don't base your decision off of ONE thing! I know I have a 980x and I can max it completely out quite often with some work apps. Now, when I play freecell it's hardly used. Would I tell everyone don't upgrade because freecell plays just fine like the OP here did? No.

then why didn't she say that?

 

[soccerballtux]

I keep seeing people using the word "usage" to refer the percentage from task manager, but that really isn't usage, it is "unavailability."

People should be familiar to prime95, and although tests are all 100% CPU, some does make CPU hotter than others. When it is 100%, it doesn't mean it is at 100% load, but it is 100% unavailable.

The reason why newer chipset/cpu can acquire better performance with the same clock speed is due to the bottleneck where the core is unavailable, but isn't doing anything but waiting. Hyperthreading is introduced to utilize CPU better.

Back to the topic, as I have mentioned, since newer chipset reduces the idle time of CPU while it is unavailable, performance increase even though it runs at the same clock speed as older chips, so it isn't just about the clock speed. You can OC a C2Q and it cannot beat i7, and the difference gets bigger as clock speed increases. Besides that, newer chips can often acquire higher clock speed, making it even more attractive compare to old chips, not to mention the newer chipsets which supports more goodies.

The only problem is, newer chipsets don't support older CPU, and newer CPU don't support older chipsets, meaning that consumers will need to upgrade both. Luckily, newer chipsets still support DDR3.

if you stick with AMD they do!

 

[Gillbot]

How many people upgrade just for the sake of having the latest and greatest technology? I know I fall into this group....even though the wife is not too happy about it.

Guilty....

then why didn't she say that?

READ what she said......

LOL something is really wrong with this picture.

Every CPU I own goes right to 100% when I render.

Try real applications next time!

She didn't say try ONE application, or name anything SPECIFIC did she?

 

[Tsavo]

LOL something is really wrong with this picture.

Every CPU I own goes right to 100% when I render.

Try real applications next time!

What % are your cores when I render? :hmm:

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Tweak, for sure our GPUs are holding us back! I have a 4830 overclocked, which is about a 9800gtx in performance, and overclocking doesnt help much except in SC2 and DiRT2. Thats about it though. If I had a 460 or a 6850 it would be a good match for my CPU.

 

[Rubycon]

What % are your cores when I render? :hmm:

I don't believe the task manager reads in ‰.

 

[Absolution75]

Another classic tweakboy thread . . .

 

[SickBeast]

Tweakboy why do you always have to bash high-end hardware?

There will always be a need for new CPUs. As soon as the new consoles come out, watch how lousy the ported games will run on your quad core.

I agree that right now there is no need for an i7 on a gaming rig, provided that you don't run a pair of high-end cards in SLI/xfire. That doesn't negate the fact that there will soon be games that need more power.

As someone pointed out in one of my threads, Starcraft 2 needs as much CPU power as it can get.

 

[3DVagabond]

LOL something is really wrong with this picture.

Every CPU I own goes right to 100% when I render.

Try real applications next time!

Amen +1

 

[soccerballtux]

Guilty....

READ what she said......


She didn't say try ONE application, or name anything SPECIFIC did she?

the point you are saying she is making about one app vs many, she did not say herself.

 

[Gillbot]

the point you are saying she is making about one app vs many, she did not say herself.

She was vague. She just made a blanket statement of "use a real app next time" IMHO, not use THIS app.

 

[VirtualLarry]

As someone pointed out in one of my threads, Starcraft 2 needs as much CPU power as it can get.

Starcraft 2 wants a high-clocked dual-core, it doesn't utilize a quad.

 

[Rubycon]

Quad core = quad damage.
Permanently. Take that and game!

 

[halley]

On my rig I ran 3dmark the old one and @ 2.4Ghz I got about 15k score.

Then I ran it with 3760Mhz and the score I got was pretty much the same.

I run BlackOps with 2.4Ghz and it takes up on avg 30 to 70 percent of CPU power. Then I ran it @ 3760Mhz and once again it used 30 to 70 percent CPU power and the FPS was the same.

Same goes for my DAW. It uses avg 30 percent and when I render it uses about 67 percent.

What does all of the above mean ? It means there is no reason for a CPU upgrade any time soon.

To all owners of quad core systems don't get excited about sandy bridge and buy a new CPU, you wont see a difference.

My next CPU and your next CPU is the i9 core with 12 cores and with HT 24 logical cores. enuff said. Stop obsessing about upgrading your quad CPU as its pointless until we see more cores and 22nm die. This will happen in 2012 to 2013. Im safe and so are you until 2013 when the i9 core comes out with 12 cores 24 with HT on. Thanks

I used to overclock every CPU I had. Handed down a Q6600 with nvidia 7600T.
I'm working with an AMD Callisto 550 (unlocked to a stable quad) + an ATI 4770 at stock speed and voltage and happy with it. My next CPU is a [4 or 6 or 8 core + good DX11] piece of silicon with good cool & quiet mechanism to throttle down when my computer uses only 1 or 2 cores.
My goal is to draw as less power supply as possible.

I can't wait to get rid of discrete video cards and/or NB/SB chips.

 

[killster1]

good point halley, Power usage is a good thing to think about when upgrading. Also wont need the 10 120mm fans in my case with 240mm top fan ifdont have high watt items. (but i prob will still use antec 1200) I run a lot of quad core and dual core and i admit i dont need the latest greatest cpu's for my minimal encoding and minimal gaming. I find SSD's more important. Pretty dumb thread tho we should stop bumping it.

Oh and yea hahah @ 8800gt throw it in garbage or sell it for 40$ and geta new card if you play games.

 

[Soundmanred]

You'll blow money on overpriced mice, but not on a good SSD or better processor?