AMDx2 VS AMDx4

[xxc00lmanxx]

Which do you think it better for gaming?

 

[ace777]

you mispelled dual lolz but a similar clocked dual is better than a quad one.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

This is the wrong question. The only reason people recommend Dual is because you can get better clocks for dual at lower prices. If you have a dual @ 2.2GHz and a quad @ 2.2GHz, then go with the quad. However, say for $100 you can get a dual @ 2.6 and a quad at @ 2.0, go with the dual because the clock is higher. Having 4 cores doesn't slow it down, you just can't use all 4 cores, only 2, then had you chosen the quad you'd be stuck @ 2.0.

 

[Joel~]

Unless you were to overclock it, of course, Joga (I say this because, at the moment, OverclockersUK sell Q6600s with the guarantee that you will get it from 2.4GHz to 3.3GHz stable - of course you could overclock a 3.0GHz dual-core higher than that, depending on which one you had, so the point may not be valid).

But yeah, that is the case. If you had a good dual-core already, I'd say stick with it. However, if you're buying new, it may be a good idea to go for the quad as it won't be long before software developers start utilising more cores for increased performance. Or if you want to have the latest stuff and brag to your friends.

 

[worshipme]

It depends how much you're willing to spend. If you're willing to spend $200 on Phenom 9850, that would be faster than the Athlon X2s, but if you're only going to spend $150 on a 2.2Ghz 9550, it's not worth the price increase over a higher clocked dual core.

 

[Joel~]

Well, you can get the 9950 for £110 from eBuyer or the 6400+ for £92. The Phenom is 2.2GHz whilst the 6400+ is 3.2. At the moment I would say you'd be better off getting the 6400+ if you want performance, but make sure that your motherboard is AM2+ compatible for some degree of futureproofing. If more applications were to use more than a single core, and there were those available that could make use of all four of the Phenom's, then I'd say that the Phenom would be a much more viable option because there would be some advantages to having more cores versus less cores with a higher clock speed.

The only reason I bought the 9950 BE is because I want to be using a quad-core CPU now ready for when applications do start using multiple cores more and more. I have no plans to sell my dual-core rig (might upgrade the CPU from the 5600+ though) any time soon because it's a good piece of kit and with a slightly better CPU in it would be able to keep up with the latest games. It can already run Crysis quite well with all the settings on High, which would do me just fine, to be honest. It is probably going to end up replacing the cheap Dell of my mother's, though, because that thing is slow and my brother is quite a gamer, but he's held back by only a 2.0GHz 3000+, slow RAM and no dedicated graphics.

So, it's not yet solely a budget-thing. Realistically, I think that a lot of people would want to wait for quads with a higher clock speed (although I appreciate that overclockers won't have to endure that because they can fiddle and gain extra performance from the 2.4 and 2.6 processors that are available at the moment) before making the jump.

 

[an0nym0us1]

intel ftw, spend a couple extra bucks and get an exponentially better product.

 

[Joel~]

intel ftw, spend a couple extra bucks and get an exponentially better product.

That only works out if you're going for a new build or intend to upgrade the motherboard as well. Anybody already on the AM2/2+ platform wishing only to upgrade their CPU can't do that and would have to make the decision between the X2 and X4 CPUs.

 

[lhuser]

I say Dual-Core, because very few games takes advantage of 4 cores. 4 Cores will outperform a dual-core anytime. I'd get a Quad core for Video encoding...which I am going to do so soon...but if you're building a new PC, wait for Nehalem to pop up.

 

[Joel~]

I say Dual-Core, because very few games takes advantage of 4 cores. 4 Cores will outperform a dual-core anytime. I'd get a Quad core for Video encoding...which I am going to do so soon...but if you're building a new PC, wait for Nehalem to pop up.

Do you think it will be worth buying straight-away, though? I've heard that it's meant to be spectacular, but I haven't actually read much information about it.