Intel 8400/500/600 and future games

[Nightsilencer]

Hey everyone. I'm new here and I signed up because from what i've read around here, these boards don't seem to be crawling with pseudo-elite assholes like other forums (yes tomshardware, i'm looking at you). That is just my opinion though. Please don't be offended if you happen to post there as well.

Ok, straight to the point:

My specs:

CPU - Intel E8400 (currenty @ stock speeds, don't feel the need to OC right now)

Mobo - Asus P5Q Pro (awesome board for its price!! Highly recommended! I really don't see it as a mainstream board, it kicks so much ass!)

VGA - XFX 8800GT (also a kickass card)

RAM - 2x2gb Transcend 800mhz DDR2

HD - Hitachi Deskstar 500gb @ 3gb/s SATA

PSU - not-so-fancy 480w PSU

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I have what might seem as a strange question, but what moved to post this is the ongoing debate about whether you should go Duo or Quad for games.

I mostly game. It's the most demanding activity I plan on doing with my PC. Ok, I know there aren't any futurology experts around here, and even if there were, hardware is a tough thing to predict. With that said, I will contradict myself and ask you:

For how long do you think these current Dual Core CPUs (mainly E8x00 family) can keep up with gaming demands? Forget about GPU for a moment. It's the only thing I plan on upgrading for the next 3 or so years, as I would like to keep this CPU/Mobo combo for at least that long.

Do you think Duos will run out of juice for future games quickly?

As an example: 1 of my friends has a 2 yr-old E6600 together with a 8800GTS, and we were debating whether his PC can keep up with games for another 2 years at least. I told him "surely it can!". I might be wrong though.

What do you guys think?

Cheers!

 

[Markfw]

First, welcome to the forums !

Very simple. Keep it until its too slow. THEN upgrade. Quads are looking better every day, as more games come out that are multithreaded, but don't upgrade until you need to. The future is quads (or even more cores), but the question is when will they be required for good FPS in most games. (months or years) Nobody knows that.

And lastly, you should at least try a small OC, its too easy, and on stock vcore, there is no risk.

 

[DSF]

I'm pretty comfortable saying that a fast dual core will still be fine for games in two years. It may not be ideal, but it will hold its own. My 2.6 GHz P4 Northwood from 2003 lasted me until December of 07, and it ran games like F.E.A.R. just fine. I was even able to get playable framerates on the Crysis and Lost Planet demos with low res and low quality.

 

[Twsmit]

I think a fast Dual core will still be good for most games in 2 or 3 years. However that will be with reduced graphics settings and without all the advanced physics and particle effects that newer games will most likely implement. However I think a quad core is much more future resistant.

That being said the graphics card will be the most important aspect of a gaming PC now and going into the future. Especially with advances like GPU PhysX (if it takes hold of the industry), having a good GPU will be very important for games.

Just like a P4 3.0ghz with a 8800 or 3780 can play most modern games just fine, I think a dual core Core2 will be fine in 3 years. It's just not going to have top of the line performance. The most important aspect will be the GPU however. Try playing modern games with a P4 3.0ghz and a 5900FX or a x800 vs a P4 3.0ghz with a modern graphics card. Think about it.....

 

[Nightsilencer]

Yes, I agree with the point the last poster made. You can still play decently with an old P4 as long as you have a decent GFX card.

But I would like to ask another question: isn't the Intel Core family of processors a major advance in technology over the previous generation? I mean, I read they took principles that were used on the Pentium 3, but that doesn't mean it's just re-hashed technology. As you most certainly know, processing power has stopped being about raw MHZ sometime ago. With such features as advanced sets of instructions (SSE3, SSE4.1, etc), a large amount of cache (6mb in the case of the Wolfdales) aren't the Duos able to stand their ground for a lot more than 2 years? I mean... they have an impressive list of features and most of them are even used to their full potential nowadays.

Let's not forget that software doesn't advance as fast as hardware... So while in 2 years you may have a blazing fast processor that allows you to multi task like crazy, it probably won't mean as much in terms of gaming.

Oh well... I was really hoping my Wolfie would keep me on the edge for at least 3 years. Think about it... the first Core 2 duo were introduced more than 2 years ago... and there's practically no game they cannot run flawlessly.

 

[FalseChristian]

Oh, no. You'll get the upgrade bug scratching your brain. We all do. It can be an expensive hobby but if quit the drinking (not you personally), cut down on illicit drugs, quit smoking, and lose the girlfriend! (just joking on that one)

 

[harpoon84]

I think a C2D (especially a higher clocked E8x00 model) would still be well above minimum requirements in 2010, if thats what you're asking. Will it play games as well as a quad would in 2 years? No, it won't, but keep in mind that low end C2Ds and Pentium Es still dominate CPU sales, so game developers will have to factor in the typical configurations of the general public, which is often a few generations (or years!) behind the bleeding edge.