Dual core or single core?

[TheEnd187]

yo u defenitely wanna go dual core i was using my gf's p4 3ghz 2gbram machine and sine i like to open a lot of tabs in internet explorer i thought it would be ok, but in reality the cpu was at 100% and it skyrocketed the temp to 65c. on mine i dont get that problem since im dual core.

 

[peterhuang913]

Use dual core, programs run smoother, i need to replace soon

 

[Antz.]

Lol, It can't be more obious. DUAL CORE

 

[ShackledPhoenix]

Seriously there's no benefit in buying a single core except price, and unless you're looking for an absolute basic system for throwing in a corner as a file server or something, it's worth springing a few for a dual core.

And yeah Vista's designed to run on dual core's which I forgot about til someone mentioned it. XP supports em but isn't nearly as efficient as vista at using em.

 

[Nick]

i run a single core athlon 3800+ on vista premium and thats fine, my friend runs a sempron 3000+ on vista premium and thats fine but its still worth spending the extra amount of cash to get a proecessor which will set you up for the future

 

[mssssee2]

Dual-core ofc, like having two single cores of 2,2Ghz (4,4Gz instead of 4Ghz). I actually prefer quad core.

 

[Meithan]

MartinJol, as others have said, there's no reason not to get a dual-core, except maybe price (but there are really low-priced AMD dual-cores out there).

As for the argument your friend has, there are the two main errors:

1) You can't compare processors based on Ghz alone. I can't stress this enough. A new 1.8Ghz CPU beats a 3.8Ghz Pentium 4. Why? Because new processors do more "per Hz" than old processors. They're more efficient.

2) While it is true that a game can only use one core at a time (at least at the moment, Valve is working to solve that), one modern core is usually more powerful than one old CPU. For general desktop usage, two cores is much better, because multiple apps can distribute over the cores.

 

[Sora]

First off I would like to stress that a lot of games these days DOO take advantage of multiple cores. Oblivion which is over a year old say a 15-20% increase in performance from Dual-Core.

There is absolutely NO REASON to go for a dual-core today since dual cores can be had for 65 bucks retail. You will NOT find a single core thats better than that for cheaper retail...not going to happen.\

Also as said GHZ mean nothing when comparing different models of CPU's. A 1.86ghz C2D is around the power of a 3.3-3.4 Pentium 4 expect with more cache and more technology. Also It has 2 Cores running at 1.86ghz of power as well.

There is no reason at all to go single core as games will utilize dual-cores more and more from now on...Supreme Commander uses Quad-Cores a little bit.

 

[Meithan]

First off I would like to stress that a lot of games these days DOO take advantage of multiple cores. Oblivion which is over a year old say a 15-20% increase in performance from Dual-Core.

I wouldn't say "a lot"; "some", maybe. But it's definitely going to change in the near future. I think that within a year every game will have multicore support. Note that 15-20% isn't much; it should be more around 70-80% if the game makes proper use of both cores (3D rendering programs usually have performance gains near 100% when using a second core).

Valve's Source engine (Half-Life 2's engine) is being substantially rewritten to accomodate full multi-core integration. Knowing Valve's history, I think it's gonna be a small revolution.

There is absolutely NO REASON to go for a dual-core today since dual cores can be had for 65 bucks retail.

You mean there is absolutely no reason NOT to go for a dual-core, right?

 

[nu2duo]

This one is absolutely a no brainer. Dual Core all the way!!! IMO, single core is for my 10 yr old who likes to visit disneychannel.com, Play pacman. It's also for my grandmother who just wants to get on the net and check the weather and maybe email me. LOL, the guy who suggested single core needs to do his homework.
BTW, price isn't even the issue anymore. Dual cores are now under $100. x2 3600 is under $60 at newegg.com.

Good Luck