Dual vs Quad Core.

[Nemo121]

Well, I'm looking into a new system since I'd like to play some of my FPS and flightsims after my last system got FUBAR'ed... The problem is that I'm totally out of touch with all the new dual core vs quad core jazz.

Basically I will very rarely be doing more than 2 things at once namely playing War in The Pacific and playing music + having a few we windows open in the background. If I'm playing an FPS or flightsim then I'm unlikely to be doing anything else at the same time. I'd like a little future-proofing but amn't interested in going crazy on it ( especially as computer components etc are a lot more expensive in Ireland than in the US or UK )....

So, here's what I've been looking at as more than meeting my needs ( occasional FPS games, some flightsims and strategy games ).

CPU: Intel Core 2 Q9450 ( 12Mb Level 2 cache, FSB 1333Mhz, Clock speed 2.66 )
Motherboard: Obviously the bus will be 1333 to best match the Q9450
Memory: 4Gb DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card: 1 Gb GeForce GTX 280
HD: 750 Gb to 1 Tb ( already have 1.3 Tb of external storage so not too bothered about getting the maximum possible HD. Probably will go for the 1 Tb one ).
Sound: SB XFi Titanium.

Basically the rest of the spec will be of a level with the above.

My main issue is that I want to avoid really obvious bottlenecks ( e.g incompatible bus speeds ) or getting a quad core at additional cost when a dual core would really be all I'd ever use.

My concern is ( and I've had different people tell me different things ) that if I get a dual core then if a virus scanner is running in the background I lose 50% of my CPU cycles when, if I had a quad core and it only needed 1 core that I'd be able to devote the other 75% of the CPU cycles to the game ( thus minimising lag while other components waited on the CPU to get free ).

In addition is there any really significant difference between the Phenom 2 or 4 and the Intel Dual or Quad Cores.... I don't really see any clear advantage one way or the other except that in the benchmarks I've seen at the price range I'm interested in the Intel Quad Cores seem to do a bit better with 3D procession than the Phenom 2 or 4s.

Also it seems that the quad core would most assuredly be more future-proof than the dual core as things are only now beginning to take advantage of the quad core architecture.

[hadberz]

Here is my setup. The specs you listed will smoke this and I have yet to find a game that will not play on this. I highly recommend the hard drive I have below. I wouldn't buy a soundcard, unless your into audio. Integrated sound on the motherboard sounds great now days. I went with AMD cause of cheaper prices.

AMD Phenom(tm) 9950 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
4094MB RAM Corsair Dominator DDR 2 1066 timings 5,5,5,15
WD Caviar Black 1 TB, 3 Gb/s, 32 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
SyncMaster 2253BW/2253LW,SyncMaster Magic CX2253BW(Digital) 22"
Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
MSI K9A2 Platinum V1
Thermaltake SopranoRS with OCZ GameXstream 700 watt power supply

[2ndACR]

I have a Gateway FX4710-UB003A
 
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Quad Core
6 GB DDR2 Dual Channel
640GB HD
NVIDIA 9800GT
2.5 ghz
Windows Vista 64 bit
 
Runs Crysis on highest levels without a hitch......hardly ever here my fans spool up either. IMO, it is the greatest gaming rig that has been massed produced for the cost. I paid a whopping thousand US for the PC only. I already had everything else, got the keyboard and standard goodies with it.
 
I have yet to find a game I can not run on it.

[SlickWilhelm]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Well, I'm looking into a new system since I'd like to play some of my FPS and flight sims after my last system got FUBAR'ed... The problem is that I'm totally out of touch with all the new dual core vs quad core jazz.

I'm starting to look at building a new gaming rig, too. If you were just into playing WitP and other wargames, the system you listed would be way overkill. However, since you mentioned wanting to play flight sims, you're going to need the fastest thing on three wheels. [:)]

IMO, flight simmers are the folks who need the beefiest rigs.

After doing some research, here's what I'd recommend for you(and me):

- An Intel i7 Quad CPU
- An LGA 1366 architecture based motherboard
- 6GB Triple Channel DDR3 1600 SD-RAM(You need tons of RAM for all those ground textures in your flight sims)
- 2x ATI Radeon 4870 512MB running in crossfire configuration. From what I hear, two of these 512MB cards are cheaper than one 1GB card. Also, make sure the motherboard you get supports crossfire.
- WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000 RPM SATA. A fast hard drive is VERY important for flight sims, so that the loading of textures from the HD into memory doesn't produce "lag" during flight.
- A very good name brand power supply of at least 700 watts. A good power supply will ensure that any strange behavior is kept to a minimum due to power drain, etc.

All the rest of the components are relatively unimportant. Just make sure to get a good case with lots of large fans for air flow. The larger the case fans, the slower they have to rotate, which means the quieter they are.

Not including the monitor, I think you can expect to pay about $1500 for a good beefy flight sim gaming rig with the above mentioned items.

Of course, as with all hardware, this rig will be obsolescent within a few months. But it should provide you with at least a few years of flight sim nirvana. [:)]

[06 Maestro]

No doubt the 4 core would be better, but would it be noticeable? My old Athlon 64 3500 would run flight sims very well.

I just upgraded to an Athlon 64 duel core 5200, ASUSTech M47A Pro MB, 9600 512mb NVIDIA Card,700 watt PS and a starter stick of 2 gigs of ram.-my total cost was just over 500 bucks. This new system is noticeably better than the old one-it even plays WW1 smoothly.[;)]


Here is one little tool you may find useful in choosing the correct capacity of a power supply for your chosen config.

http://support.asus.com/PowerSupplyCalc ... uage=en-us

[SlickWilhelm]

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

..it even plays WW1 smoothly.[;)]

Wow, that is a fast system! [:D]

[06 Maestro]

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

..it even plays WW1 smoothly.[;)]

Wow, that is a fast system! [:D]

You know it[:D]

[V22 Osprey]

My setup:
AMD Phenom Quad CPU
500 GB Harddrive
Nvidia Geforce GTX 295 with 1,768MB of Video memory
1200 watt power supply
12BG of RAM
VISTA Ultimate 64bit
[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

AMD is the way to go.The intel processors are way over priced.You could get a faster AMD for half the price of an Intel.

Also try to get the best possible supply.With my 1200 watt power supply I'm future proof for years.

My setup cost a whole bunch as you can imagine....there's nothing this rig can't run.(especially when I get another GTX 295, Oh my GOSH!!!)[:D]

[SlickWilhelm]

Nemo, I went ahead and purchased all the parts I listed in my initial post. What clinched the deal for me with the Intel i7 quad-core is a something that I read over on tomshardware.com.

In their article on over-clocking the i7, they mentioned that the i7 has something called "Turbo mode", which when running a single threaded application like most flight sims, the cpu wil automagically "borrow" ghz from the other three cores and increase the core speed of that single core being used. The default core speed of the i7 920 model is 2.66ghz, and safe overclocking can be done to 4.0ghz and beyond, depending on your cooling setup. That being said, turbo mode is only available at 3.33ghz and below.

So, imo it was worth an extra $50 or so to get the i7. Now all I need to decide upon is whether to spring for 64-bit Vista or just use Win XP.

[hadberz]

I highly recommend Vista 64 bit. You can always run WinXP using virtualpc software, I believe it's free from Microsoft.

[06 Maestro]

ORIGINAL: hadberz

I highly recommend Vista 64 bit. You can always run WinXP using virtualpc software, I believe it's free from Microsoft.

Will that program run games which are designed to run on Vista 32 bit, such as CoG EA?

[Anonymous]

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[hadberz]

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

ORIGINAL: hadberz

I highly recommend Vista 64 bit. You can always run WinXP using virtualpc software, I believe it's free from Microsoft.

Will that program run games which are designed to run on Vista 32 bit, such as CoG EA?

Not sure how I missed this [:)]

If you mean the new Crown of Glory EE it runs fine on Vista 64bit, so no reason to use the virtualpc. I believe virtual pc can do everything but render 3d graphics.

[Floyd]

How many cores do you need? Some info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mul ... ,2280.html

[Nikademus]

great article.

thx

[rhias]

Duals still dominate most tasks and they will always OC higher than their quad counterparts with less cooling and power usage required. The exceptions are encoding and rendering.[/align]
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[Anonymous]

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[Qwixt]

Make sure you go with a 64 bit OS, otherwise a lot of that memory will go to waste. Also, I would ditch the SB board and use the motherboard sound, then go for a iCore7 with the price difference.

[rhenu]

In overclocker circles, the hot topic of the moment is whether or not a quad-core CPU is better than a dual-core. We did many hardware tests to find out. After all, one of the most important questions when you try to put together a powerful new system is which combination of Core 2 processor, motherboard and RAM offers the best value for your money. One of the prerequisites is, naturally, that the system has to offer good overclocking potential in order give you high performance at a low price. That means that you can forget about buying a preconfigured system online or from your local computer around the corner - instead you should have full control over the choice of components. In this article, we present a complete solution consisting of a processor, a cooler, a motherboard and RAM that may become an item on the wish list of many of our readers. We also guide you through the configuration and show you what settings need to be selected for the system to run both stably and fast. Thanks to the ongoing bitter price war between AMD and Intel, CPU prices are in a continual free fall. This is especially true for the more brawny CPUs. The competition extends to the retail level as well, with brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers trying to undercut each other on a daily basis. Obviously, the buyer is the clear winner here, who benefits from lower prices practically every day.
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[Anonymous]

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