Core Duo vs Quad builds?

[mentalcrisis00]

Going to upgrade from my aging X2 4400 rig soon and I have a hardware question. I'm wondering which would be the better build? I'm only buying cpu, mobo, and ram as I have everything else.

1. Q8300, 4GB DDR2 1066 ram, Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R P45 mobo (single graphics only but lots of usb, sata ports, and runs the higher performance ram, said to be a good overclocker) $360

2. E8400, 4GB DDR2 800 ram, XFX 750i mobo (option for SLI is the advantage I see here, seems to have less options as far as overclocking and runs the slower ram) $350

Both are practically the same price and my ultimate question is would it be better to have the C2D 3GHZ with SLI or the C2Q 2.5GHZ with the higher performance ram and more overclocking options? I'm running an nvidia 9800gt right now which I plan on sticking with for awhile.

I've looked at some other boards like asus (which I have been with for awhile) but they seem to be about the same and higher priced. Everyone seems to rave about the Gigabyte P45 board for overclocking. I do alot of photoshop, video, and gaming so the gigabytes 8 sata ports and quad core are appealing.

 

[yh125d]

I'd get the quad, the 1066 ram, the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, and sell your 9800gt to pick up an ATI video card. With the UD3P and an ATI GPU you can step up to crossfire later on

 

[Blain]

Q8300 combo

 

[batuchka]

Phenom 2 X4 940 Black Edition combo for you at $340?
Best air/stock HSF OC i've seen on this mobo

 

[Blain]

E8400 (65W) / Gigabyte EP45-UD3R / 4GB G.Skill (1.8-19v)...
$295 after $15 rebate

With PC2-6400 running at spec, you can crank the CPU to 3.6GHz and still be in harmony.