Help on Upgrade - Dual or Quad Core?

[Egamst3k]

Very new to these forums, and they seemed like the best place to ask this question, so I hope you don't mind me pandering for answers.

I'm basically gutting my old case and upgrading my machine. All of my parts are more or less chosen, save the most important: The CPU.

I'm not in a dire hurry, so I'm looking at Penryn family release around January 20th '08. My biggest question is, though... Should I go for the Dual-Core or Quad-Core? It's a bit of a budget system since I'm in college, and I can't afford to spend much more than $300-$350 on the CPU after everything else is done and accounted for, but here's what I'm looking at:

2.66Ghz Quad-Core 12mb L2 Cache 1333FSB ~ $350 US
2.66Ghz Quad-Core 6mb L2 Cache 1333FSB ~ $275 US
3.00Ghz Dual-Core 6mb L2 Cache 1333FSB ~ $200 US

I'm rather confident in my overlocking abilities if need be, but I'm not into extreme overclocking. The system itself is going to be air-cooled with aftermarket heatsinks and some 120mm fans for the heatsinks. The Mobo is compatible with the Penryn family, and everything is looking good.

The computer will be used about the following way:
Gaming.
School work.
Browsing.
Photoshop + very occasional rendering.
Occasional movie watching.

The rendering isn't a big priority, as it's about once every few months. Mostly for gaming and school work.

I'm mostly curious if it's worth the nearly double price to get one of the upcoming Quad-Cores, or if it's better to stick to the Dual-Core. Is there really that huge a difference between the QC's and DC's in games and apps, or am I looking a little too much into "future-proofing" the PC?

Thanks for any advice you guys have to give, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[Egamst3k]

Anyone?

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd go for quad because it will be a better investment in the future. Even games are starting to be able to use 4 cores. The extra cache will speed up certain tasks also. If you can afford it, it will be a better investment.

 

[exar333]

I agree. If you want dual core, go budget (e2160 or E4500); if you want quad-core for the "long haul", get the one with the extra cache.

 

[Tarindel]

Note that the Penryn quad-cores have been delayed until late Feb/early March.

 

[lilbabimac]

NEWS RELEASE:

Intel will release its first desktop dual-core Celeron series, E1000, on January 20, according to sources at motherboard makers.

The first dual-core Celeron processor, the E1200, will have core frequency of 1.6GHz, 800MHz FSB and 512KB L2 cache with a price of US$53 in thousand-unit quantities.

On the same day, Intel will also launch three quad-core (Yorkfield) CPUs, the Q9300, Q9450 and Q9550 and another four dual-core (Wolfdale) CPUs, the E8190, E8200, E8400 and E8500 for desktops, the motherboard makers added.

Meanwhile, Intel will also roll out the quad-core QX9770 processor which features a frequency of 3.2GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 12MB cache and TDP of 136W with a price tag of US$1,399 in thousand-unit quantities in January. Before March, the company will also introduce a high-end quad-core QX9775 processor with a frequency of 3.2GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 12MB L2 cache and 150W TDP.

Pricing in thousand-unit quantities will be US$1,499, said the sources.

Intel also plans to introduce a 45nm product for its Core 2 Due E4000 series featuring 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache and a 65W TDP, however the model number is not yet finalized.


Intel: Upcoming desktop CPUs Jan. 20

Core name/Price in 1000 units/Features

E1200 $53 1.6GHz/512KB L2/800MHz FSB/65W

Q9300 266 2.5GHz/6MB L2/1333MHz FSB

Q9450 316 2.66GHz/12MB L2/1333MHz FSB

Q9550 530 2.83GHz/12MB L2/1333MHz FSB

E8190 163 2.66GHz/6MB L2/1333MHz FSB

E8200 163 2.66GHz/6MB L2/1333MHz FSB

E8400 183 3.0GHz/6MB L2/1333MHz FSB

E8500 266 3.16GHz/6MB L2/1333MHz FSB