Dual core - worth it?

[ogf]

Hi all,

I'm going to be building a new rig and this will be my first since the dual core Intels came out. I really don't want to go AMD. Are the new dual-core Intels worth the money? Mainly a gaming rig for me. What MB would you throw it on?

Thanks.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Dual-core Intel = Failure.
Dual core AMD = Best thing since sliced bread.

AMD > Intel in gaming and mostly everything else.
Intel > AMD in heating coffee and cooking.

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Dual-core Intel = Failure.
Dual core AMD = Best thing since sliced bread.

AMD > Intel in gaming and mostly everything else.
Intel > AMD in heating coffee and cooking.

very nice comparison!

Buit in truth, ogf, most people in this forum will recommend an AMD Athlon 64 processor. Which one depends on how much you are willing to spend. I got the 3000+ OEM for $115 at ewiz, pretty popular deal.

 

[mode101wpb]

If it's a true statement, at least for games, dual core isn't an advantage...yet. I'm going dual core when the prices float down to earth in 6-8 months. By that time, more applications and games will benefit from dual core.

 

[garikfox]

Get a x2

 

[garikfox]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Dual-core Intel = Failure.
Dual core AMD = Best thing since sliced bread.

AMD > Intel in gaming and mostly everything else.
Intel > AMD in heating coffee and cooking.

LoL, Right on !

 

[mordantmonkey]

go AMD. i went intel and i still regret it a year and a half later. I will be going AMD within a year. seriously, for gaming AMD is the way to go. no matter how much you spend on an intel you would get more performance if you took the same amount of money and bought an AMD.

 

[Pardus]

can anyone recommend AMD dual-core setup, mb+cpu+cooling

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: ActiveX
can anyone recommend AMD dual-core setup, mb+cpu+cooling

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, A8N-SLI Premium, Scythe Ninja HS.

 

[Pardus]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, A8N-SLI Premium, Scythe Ninja HS.

355+160+49

way too expensive for me.

 

[SPQQKY]

AMD Opteron 146 socket 939 2.0GHz 1MB L2 cache.........$170. Most are OCing to 2.7GHz on stock cooling. Will be getting one ASAP.

 

[ElTorrente]

Dual core - worth it?

Yes.

The only people that say it isn't worth it, or that you would be fine to just get a single core and overclock it, are people that don't have one. Those of us that have one know the difference, and recommend getting one.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

From what I've seen and read and hear, Dual Core is definitely worth getting since we all know that even hardcore gamers do a lot more than just game . . .

Also we see that Dual Core will soon have an advantage over single core in gaming (i.e. nvidia 81.xx drivers) and not to mention gives single core quite a beating in general windows usage, photo editing, multimedia and of course stuff like encoding. DCs have also been proven to be much more effective at playing H.264 encoded video which will likely become tomorrow's standard.

However, why I would want to get a dual core is simple: being able to encode video, burn a DVD and play BF2 at the same time with minimal performance decrease (due to memory bandwidth) good stuff . . .

 

[Superguy]

If you're on a budget and really want dual core, the PD 820 wouldn't be a bad choice (despite what some might say here). Just expect performance about what a 2.8GHz proc would give in apps.

820's do well in Photoshop and video encoding though.

I built Intel for the last several years and went AMD this time around. Intel didn't have anything that compelling, so I gave AMD a try with an X2 3800+ and an Asus A8n-SLI Premium.

While I definitely don't regret most of my decision (the mobo decision's up in the air), it was definitely a trickier build to get everything working right and stable.

As it stands right now, you don't buy Intel for the performance ... you buy it for the chipset.