Any Gamer go Dual Core and regret it?

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Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,830
2,006
126
I really noticed a difference when I moved from my Dual MP2800+s to an A64-3700+

The A64 is great for games, but the day-to-day work experience is far less smooth.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I really noticed a difference when I moved from my Dual MP2800+s to an A64-3700+

The A64 is great for games, but the day-to-day work experience is far less smooth.

please quantify "day-to-day work"...
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
3,003
126
I personally would not recommend x2 for gaming as single core seems to be better. Also there are issues with x2 at the moment; what causes them is unknown but disabling the second core usually fixes them.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: BFG10K
I personally would not recommend x2 for gaming as single core seems to be better. Also there are issues with x2 at the moment; what causes them is unknown but disabling the second core usually fixes them.

i too have wondered what causes the issues many have when gaming and a dc. i have a p4 HT and although it is 1 processor, the the os sees it as 2, so you would think peeps with P4 hts would have these same issues. weird....
 

tuteja1986

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2005
3,676
0
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Originally posted by: Bona Fide
X2 is not just about multitasking. It is about an EXTREMELY smoother computing experience.

So ture :) I would love a computer that loads up fast , the extra frame rate seen in AMD high end single core wouldn't be noticable to the eye. Dual core smooth experience.
 

Reapsy00

Member
Apr 12, 2005
116
0
0
Originally posted by: Frackal
Originally posted by: Ike0069
I see all these comparisons between equal clock speeds/cache.
Shouldn't CPU's of similar price be compared.
An A64 4000+ is $368 at ZZF and Newegg, and the X2 4800+ is $884 at both stores (and even more at most other places).

If I'm a gamer and I pay an extra $500+ for 1.2 FPS, you'd probably see me running around with a Doritos bag over my head screaming "NACHOS".
(In other words, I've lost my fvcking mind).

These = speed/cache comparisons started by Frackal and supported by others are retarded.

You're fvcking retarded. People here keep claiming a single core will "own" a dual core at equivalent clockspeeds and I showed why that is far from accurate. Don't like it? Blame the people who keep proclaiming their oc'ed 3000+'s will own an X2


omg a £634 cpu beats a £276 cpu who would have thought that would happen :p
 

the Chase

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2005
1,403
0
0
What I am waiting for(and researching) is the true fps gains that the dual cores gain with nvidias new beta driver. And if they achieve the same results with most any video card or if it has to be a 7800 series. If its 10+ fps gained across the resolution scale attributed to having a dual core and not the 7800 cards I go dual core(as a gamer). If not, I go 3000+ and wait on DC until they are cheaper and multithreaded games are out and maybe spring for new vid card in the meantime.(As a cheap gamer).
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,353
1,862
126
3700 San Diego Core ... $300 (plus or minus) .. 2.2ghz, 1mb L2 cache
2800 X2 ... $250 (plus or minus) 2.0ghz per core, 512kb L2 cache per core

I'd estimate that each core of the X2 is about 15 to 25 percent weaker then the core of the 3700. Background stuff takes up much less then 15 to 25 percent of the CPU if you aren't running anything besides the OS and the Game.

Multithreading may become popular in the future, however, not many games use it now, and of the ones that did, I don't recall seeing any big performance gains on SMP or Dual Core Systems.

Honestly, save the $50 and go with the 3700. It will offer better gaming performance and cost you less money.
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,830
2,006
126
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I really noticed a difference when I moved from my Dual MP2800+s to an A64-3700+

The A64 is great for games, but the day-to-day work experience is far less smooth.

please quantify "day-to-day work"...

Encoding a video while starting Mozilla.
Using Photoshop while running Matlab.
Running Bryce 5.5 while trying to play a video game.

An example at work would be running ArcGIS while trying to do anything else.

 

Clockwerk

Member
May 28, 2005
120
0
0
I can run any of todays games at full settings and get great FPS with my x2 4600+. I even modified BF2 to allow 64 players (on single player) and not a hickup. Loads super fast

All in all I think my RAM and video card carried most of the burden. I didnt have to deal with changing the affinity too much.. only on Prince Of Persia and Painkiller did I have to make sure I set the affinity, but lateley I havent needed to for any game.

I would suggest the X2
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
As someone who plays online a ton, I would say it is very useful because X2 can handle Ventrilo, WinAmp, and all my other progs on one chip while running the game on the other.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I really noticed a difference when I moved from my Dual MP2800+s to an A64-3700+

The A64 is great for games, but the day-to-day work experience is far less smooth.

please quantify "day-to-day work"...

Encoding a video while starting Mozilla.
Using Photoshop while running Matlab.
Running Bryce 5.5 while trying to play a video game.

An example at work would be running ArcGIS while trying to do anything else.

i see
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Clockwerk
I can run any of todays games at full settings and get great FPS with my x2 4600+. I even modified BF2 to allow 64 players (on single player) and not a hickup. Loads super fast

All in all I think my RAM and video card carried most of the burden. I didnt have to deal with changing the affinity too much.. only on Prince Of Persia and Painkiller did I have to make sure I set the affinity, but lateley I havent needed to for any game.

I would suggest the X2

you would be correct...your ram, video card and hdd (for load times) are carrying most of the burden
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
As someone who plays online a ton, I would say it is very useful because X2 can handle Ventrilo, WinAmp, and all my other progs on one chip while running the game on the other.

so does my 2.8C P4.....the programs you have listed take up little cpu usage, if you said you can encode movies with CCE and play BF2 at the same i would have been impressed.

 

rise

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2004
9,116
46
91
has any one bought an x2 and needed to run their games at lower settings/res than with their single core?
 

Bona Fide

Banned
Jun 21, 2005
1,901
0
0
Originally posted by: rise4310
has any one bought an x2 and needed to run their games at lower settings/res than with their single core?

Actually, I can now play at higher res while doing other things also. :)
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
As someone who plays online a ton, I would say it is very useful because X2 can handle Ventrilo, WinAmp, and all my other progs on one chip while running the game on the other.

so does my 2.8C P4.....the programs you have listed take up little cpu usage, if you said you can encode movies with CCE and play BF2 at the same i would have been impressed.

Sorry I don't do that, but what is your point? It could do that no problem...I mean you have 2 AMD chips in the processor so why wouldn't it do that well?
 

rise

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2004
9,116
46
91
Originally posted by: Bona Fide
Originally posted by: rise4310
has any one bought an x2 and needed to run their games at lower settings/res than with their single core?

Actually, I can now play at higher res while doing other things also. :)

:)
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
Originally posted by: bob4432
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
As someone who plays online a ton, I would say it is very useful because X2 can handle Ventrilo, WinAmp, and all my other progs on one chip while running the game on the other.

so does my 2.8C P4.....the programs you have listed take up little cpu usage, if you said you can encode movies with CCE and play BF2 at the same i would have been impressed.

Sorry I don't do that, but what is your point? It could do that no problem...I mean you have 2 AMD chips in the processor so why wouldn't it do that well?

my point is that you don't need or am benefiting from a dc.
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
I don't need or benefit from my other stuff too, but I will be next year & I won't need to upgrade it anytime soon.
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
I don't need or benefit from my other stuff too, but I will be next year & I won't need to upgrade it anytime soon.

but in a year your x2 will be 1/2 the price...
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
But for now I have seamless gameplay while burning my pr0n to disk...so what's your point?
 

bob4432

Lifer
Sep 6, 2003
11,727
46
91
Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy
But for now I have seamless gameplay while burning my pr0n to disk...so what's your point?

so do i :D the point is you don't need a x2 and are not benefiting from it with what you use your computer for
 

Pr0d1gy

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2005
7,774
0
76
The point is none of us care what you have to say about it. I can play games on a P3, does that mean I should or would want to? We're men, we like toys that we can play with.

Oh and my 3500+ doesn't run BF2, Ventrilo, WinAmp, BF2CC, etc. seamlessly either.