Dual core or single?

[taco1435]

I am building a new computer primarily for playing videogames and burning DVDs. I am curious about whether getting a dual core processor is worth the xtra money or should I not get the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 and get a single core processor. Also, is the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 harder to overclock than a single core processor?

So far this is what I plan to buy:
any feedback would be nice
Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Mid-Tower W/X-Window 430W Power Supply (Black)
$107.00
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=CA-1430BWS&c=pw

Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI nForce4 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard
$93.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=242615

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail
$295.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-1

Corsair VS2GBKIT400C3 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Value Select Memory Retail
$162.80
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-86

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
$98.90
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-11

XFX PV-T70G-UDF7 Geforce 7800 GT Overclocked PCI Express 256MB DDR Video Card w/HDTV-Out, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail
$299.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321029

 

[RichUK]

First and foremost. What are your needs from this proposed build?

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: RichUK
First and foremost. What are your needs from this proposed build?

Originally posted by: taco1435
I am building a new computer primarily for playing videogames and burning DVDs.

Currently there is only a minor performance increase in games with dual core which you may not be able to even see. Dual core certainly won't help with burning DVDs any faster, but may help with speed up ripping and encoding, if that's what you're doing. The X2 3800+ is a great chip but perhaps you can save money staying with single core. If it was me I'd just get the X2 3800+ anyway 😀 It is very easy to overclock.

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: RichUK
First and foremost. What are your needs from this proposed build?

I am building a new computer primarily for playing videogames and burning DVDs

 

[taco1435]

Also, is the overall setup good for overclocking? Like are there better motherboards or ram for overclocking? Any feedback on overclocking would be good.

Also, is it worth the jump from a geforce 6800 GS to a 7800 GT?

 

[Twsmit]

You will want to pick up the DFI nf4 ultra or SLI for overclocking. It requires some knowhow and patience with bios settings, but its the best out there right now. An alternative would be an Asus SLI board, they are good at overclocking, but probably less tweaking and hassel.

Also the 7800GT is the sweet spot right now for video cards, its worth the money IMO.

The rest of your build looks fine, though the powersupply is not my first choice, it will function well enough.

 

[alimoalem]

if you're a gamer, yes the jump from the 6800gs to the 7800gt is worth it. if you're OCing, i'd get the eVGA 7800gt though. i believe they have a lifetime warranty that covers OCing accidents too

value ram can OC but you want the more expensive stuff if you wanna get the last MHz out of it. i'd stick with the value ram personally

for overclocking, getting a DFI or epox board would be a much better solution

last thing i would change is the HDD. why not get the Western Digital SE16? it costs only a few bucks more for 8mb more cache

gl with your build. i think it'll OC pretty well

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: taco1435
Also, is the overall setup good for overclocking? Like are there better motherboards or ram for overclocking? Any feedback on overclocking would be good.

I have no experience with the motherboard or RAM, but one person on newegg.com said "Great performance! Amazing tweaking capabilitites (with BIOS update)!" but another said "Terrible CPU frequency controls. Also, if the CPU is clocked up OR down (i.e. thermal problems), it will beep and warn you on boot EVERY time."
I'm guessing the second person may not have updated the BIOS like the first one did.
I wouldn't expect much from any value memory but I have no first hand experience with it.

Also, is it worth the jump from a geforce 6800 GS to a 7800 GT?

Yes.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: RichUK
First and foremost. What are your needs from this proposed build?

I am building a new computer primarily for playing videogames and burning DVDs.

A lack of reading comprehension indeed. 😱

We?ll just put that down to my tiredness and thread skimming 😛

 

[mechBgon]

I would get the dual-core for gaming, present and future. I can always tell when my antivirus scan kicks off during gaming, because FarCry or HL2 or Mechwarrior4 turn into an erratic slideshow on my old single-core A64 gaming rig. My work rig is an X2 and is basically unfazable, even with an all-out antivirus scan AND a dual-core video encoding session running at the same time, maxing both cores out. Still smooth anyway. 😎

 

[seanp789]

dualcore gets better by the month, and they overclock quite well.

 

[bob4432]

go with the epox board, from what i have read it is good deal. although i have nothing agains gigabyte as i have used them in the past for a duallie and currently run one, the price for the one you picked is pretty close to the epox.

personally, i would get a cheap single core for the moment, then when am2 comes out and everybody wants one of them, they will dump their dcs(hopefully).