Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
dual core quad core whats the dealy yo?
Snookems
Member Posts: 46
Hi, I notice they kinda hit the wall with clock speeds so now they are putting in more cores.
Do i bother to wait till prices drop to the level I can afford? or do I jump into old technology that is cheap at the moment?
I am currently using a Socket A Athlon XP that runs at a clock speed of 1.8 G
AGP and DDR 1. PATA drives. Windows XP
Do I just replace board and chip with older socket 939 or 754 or intel socket 478? Will I notice a big difference in WoW or will it be really worth my while to wait a year?
The only hard things my CPU has to do is play WoW and encode videos.
My grpahics card is ATI 9600 pro with 256MB ram, I think its pretty good. I know for certian my CPU is dragging me down.
I have no desire for Windows Vista or replacing all my software.
What is your advice? 
Comments
Well if you have the money then go ahead and upgrade to a socket AM2 so you can get the full package in terms of upgrades ( DDR2, PCI-E, Socket AM2 processors, etc ).
If you don't have the money... I suggest looking at newegg.com and try and look for cheap socket 939 parts since your memory is compatible with it, which will save you some money. Low-end Athlon 64's ( 3000 - 3500 ) are really cheap nowadays, so you could just get a new mobo and processor and some cheap PCI-E card that's better than what you have now.
It's best if you can tell us what your budget is really =/. Also from what I've read, dual-cores really shine in multi-tasking, where as in some games a single-core processor outperformed a dual-core ( of course this will change with future games ). If all you're doing with your comp is playing WoW, then upgrading to the latest would be a waste of money.
well my budget i guess would be no more than 200 dollars... Whats a good PCI-E card for the money? I have been out of touch with computer hardware for a long time.
The Intel Quad Core Q6600 will cost around $260 July 22nd or July 23rd, whichever day Intel decided to drop their prices on. I've already got all my other parts ordered and on the way until the price drops. Currently the Q6600 sells for $299 on newegg.com
On July 22 (tomorrow!), Intel will be slashing prices across the board. Their Core2 Quad Q6600 will sell for $266, which is a great price! I plan on upgrading from a single core 3500 AMD to a quad core intel, which is effectively skipping over a generation (dual core) of processors. If you're going to upgrade, might as well take advantage of the price wars and go for quad core.
While quad core is a next generation product there won't be any use of it with games probably for years. Only until recently had dual core been brought into the picture. I would wait until you buy a completely new rig to go all out with a processor and vid card.
You said your price range is 200 dollars. Well here is a dual core processor (Socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 3800+) and a video card (1950 GT) that comes into the price range of about 210 dollars. If you ask me this is probably the way to go. You should see a huge boost in performance. Just check that your Powersupply is good enough for all this too of course
.
You'll need a fan for the 3800+ too. I'm not one to say which though. There are cheap ones and expensive ones. Not sure which is best which meet your needs. If anything try going to a computer forum and they should give you the best advice.
Here are some links:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103052 (Athlon X2 3800+)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102093 (1950 GT)
Intel just dropped their Quad core prices to insane lows, get one now while you can. Around $299 ive seen for the Q6600, that is mind blowing.
AMD is also rock bottom, if you go that route you can get a 6000+ for around 150 bucks.
Currently waiting for - Perfect World English, Age of Conan
How to play Perfect World in english
Currently messing with - Requiem Online
I believe he said his total budget is around $200.
quad core stuff is still pretty immature. also the games you play don't use it, so its not for gamers. its for ppl that render and the like. and yeah upgrade ur card also if you can... 8400GS is supposed to be dx10 capable and its only 50 bucks. although the card isn't that great its cheap and probably and upgrade from the 9600 ati
i bought the e6600 because it is a crazy OC'er. still not utilized by a lot of games though.
die.
OMFG SNOOKEMS IS IT REALY YOU??!?!!?!??? you are my favorite starport entertaineer T_T you have hte power to bring back old SWG do it now plss.
I have a semi old computer which runs the latest games with no problem, some of them with everything maxed out. I got a gatway with an AMD 3800+ dual core 2GHz with 2 gigs of pc3200 ram I also bought an after market nvidia 7950 gt oc PCI Express video card. Running wow is no problem at all, I run Itunes, vent downloads and play wow with maxed out everything no problem with 60fps. I played LotR with maxed out everything and it was running smooth also some single player games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Hitman Blood Money.
I dont know exact prices but in your case I'd go with AMD since it is cheaper and it is very reliable you could probably find my chip pretty cheap on newegg, however getting a new gfx card may be a bit more pricey. If I were you I would try to save up some more money and do a nice upgrade to your pc, basically a new cpu some more ram and a good card will do it. I would go with a PCI express slot motherboard too if I were you but AGP works.
A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser.
-Playing AoC
-Playing WoW
-Retired- SWG
-Retired- EVE
-Retired- LotR
Computer (- Phenom 9600 Black Edition @ 2.81 Ghz (Quad Core CPU)- Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5 - 4 Gigs of PC 8500 ram (1066)- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS PCI Express 2.0 - WD 500GB 7500RPM - Zalman CPU cooler (air cooled)
- 24" Widescreen 1080P HD display).
the 8400GS is even WORSE then the 6800 etc, dont touch that card, its not for gamers
I don't know what you people are thinking, but dual/quad core processors are of great use for gamers. The load is automatically split between the cores so you don't need to write programs specifically designed to take advantage of it. Also, in regards to the OP, processing power has not really hit a wall at all. Intel and AMD could take it higher if more power ends up being whats needed. Having more cores on the dye is a more efficient way to increase the amount of information your computer can handle at one time. Clock speeds will eventually start to rise again when we start having more applications that need higher powered processors.
Now there is DX10 which takes even more load away from the CPU and puts it onto your GPU. So for gaming purposes, once you have a suitable multi-core processor, its a much better idea to upgrade your graphics card.
For your particular case I would wait until you have a larger budget and make a bigger upgrade. You will see a very large performace boost.
- - "What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?" - -
I guess it depends on what games you play. Fritz 10 (chessbase's most recent chess program) produces a version that takes advantage of multiple cores in order to crank up the algorithims and analysis when playing chess.
But agreed, if you're just going to be playing wow, no need for quad core; or even dual core.
Games a few years down the road will use it, and nice to be future proofed.
The number of cores you should get depend on the "tech level" you're at. Like...how much do you know about computers.
The more "core" you have, the more heat it will generate and requires much more cooling. They are also less tolerate to heat.
- Single-core CPU can tolerate a heat level of 80'C
- Dual-core CPU can only tolerate 60~70'C before it starts to slow down
- Quad-core CPU haven't been on the market long enough, so I don't know. But I think it should go no more than 50'C
Basically, the cost goes up exponencially as you get more cores. Not only the price of the CPU itself, but also the cost of cooling it. Then again...Intel's core 2 architech reduces the amount of eletricity needed for the CPU, so that'll reduce the heat it generate.
ack..now my head is spinning.
Check some of the benchmark tests.
For many of the current games, including WoW, single-core outperforms dual-core, so you might be better off on your system just getting the fastest single-core, which I believe was the 3800+.
Watch the latest episode of "The Guild" and other Pwnage videos from around the net--also post your own: http://PwnerTV.com
Yay someone who is looking for a Cheap System for under $200. It wasn't too long ago that I built a system for $500 with a $300 case so I know a little something on it.
1st I need to know what you can recycle. I am guessing you can recycle your HD and Disk Drives. However, your power supply is probably a 20 plug for a motherboard. Most boards now are 24. Also since you are replacing boards you need a new Windows OS or whatever OS you use. I know from experience you cannot use the same Windows Key on 2 seperate motherboards, but you can across hard drives. You probably will also need a graphics card and new memory. My suggestion is to wait until you can get more cash. $200 probably won't cut it. AMD is the only way to go with that budget. Anyways if you do want to spend now, here is a little list of a budget PC:
Its really hard to shop cheap, especially in OSs. One reason I used multiple options is because some things I am not sure about like Power Supplies. Also some things I feel you shouldn't cheap out on. Like I saw a Power Supply that would work for $9.99 but it would probably catch on fire within an hour. Also Windows is really expensive.
Here are some things to remember, look at the reviews and read the refund policy before committing to a build. If you use the Brisbane Core Processor then you will probably need to update the Bios on the board. Don't get any Motherboard less then a Socket AM2 or LA775, the older boards have no upgradeability to them. The 430w powersupply can handle any setup from the components above, but will crap out if you use anything better then a HD2900 or Geforce 8800 vid card. If you use the motherboard I suggested, your old motherboard tray might not work and you would need a new case. If you go with the cheapest possible route that I suggested then it would be about $400. A bit off your $200, but its good to remember to set yourself up right for the future when you are switching boards.
The AM2 board itself is definetly going to be more expensive then the 939 or 478 boards, but it will be able to support the Phenon processors if you get the money. Also it can support the processors I suggested above which run cool, perform well enough for the price, and consume low power.
The choice on memory is really do you want to spend $15 more for quality memory or get a cheap brand?
As mentioned above, the PSU is a very important decision on a board as you don't want a crappy one that catches fire or surges ruining all your components. At the same time you wan't enough power so you won't have to replace it for a few years, the 430w will last with a mid-range build but not enough for a high-end.
I was reading the reviews and benchmarks of both Nvidia and ATI's budget DX10 cards. Well it isn't pretty, so I tried to select one that would work best. I am not to sure since I don't buy budget cards, however, I prioritized using a DX10 card just because of the architecture.
With OSes it may seem wierd that I suggested a DX10 card but not a DX10 OS. Well the cheap option was the Vista Home edition which limits access to the web and can be a pain to work with. Also it has problems playing a good majority of games right now. Vista cannot play WoW, so thats why I took it off consideration. I added the alternative of using Ubuntu which is free, but probably not for everyone.
My final suggestion is just wait. My brother is using a Socket A right now and it can play WoW and Video Edit just fine with 1.5 GB DDR and a Sempron 3000+ with an X1600. In a few more months you can spend some more cash and actually set yourself up right as the next step is going to be a doozy. Replacing your motherboard means replacing most of the parts which can be expensive. Also choosing stand-in parts can be tricky as you have to balance how much you want to respend on components. Ideally You want to set yourself up so all you have to do is add in a few more ram sticks, and replace the processor or video card when a new generation comes out or your parts are too old. Its really important to get quality parts.
BTW- Since your using an Athlon, you can probably overclock that. Remember its not clock speed that matters but how fast it can process those tasks. Thats why a 2.0 ghz AMD processor runs about the same or better then a 2.4 ghz pentium IV.
www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html
I wouldn't suggest spending a bigger mass of cash on technology that isn't able to be utilized by a fair percentage of programs now (and even in the near future), but rather having patience to buy the Q-core when there is that special game coming out a month prior. I mean, DX10 is here yet we are still waiting on a game (Crysis!) that could really show it's true potential.
Q-cores will drop to D-core prices when they become as popular as D-cores are today, it has always been the case for any existing/future technology marketing synergy and you really get no drawback by getting a good existing technology now that would last you quite a while, then later getting (at that time in the future) another good cheap current technology again. It pays off in your favor by allowing you to play current games and enjoy that extra hint of performance (Not to mention much more fun at smooth FPS).
So you won't have that crazy high score on a benchmarking tool, but it's not even close to being a necessity unless you want to feed your ego by having local bragging rights (It is also completely justified if you have a big budget, but don't get carried away for your own sake).
Really? Can you please provide a link with information on how dual/quad cpu's split the load of applications that are not designed to be multi-threaded applications?
It would really be great if EQ2 would actually take advantage of my dual-core E6700, especially since it's not a multi-thread application and almost always dumps it's load onto one core instead of splitting it evenly.
P.S. OP I would really suggest that you take a look at what Intel has to offer. Their price cuts have just hit and e6750 has the potential to be over clocked ( using a after market heat sink and fan ) from 2.6 ghz up to 3.9 ghz according to a few articles I've read.
Games I've played/tried out:WAR, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC, EQ1, EQ2, WoW, Vangaurd, FFXI, D&DO, Lineage 2, Saga Of Ryzom, EvE Online, DAoC, Guild Wars,Star Wars Galaxies, Hell Gate London, Auto Assault, Grando Espada ( AKA SoTNW ), Archlord, CoV/H, Star Trek Online, APB, Champions Online, FFXIV, Rift Online, GW2.
Game(s) I Am Currently Playing:
GW2 (+LoL and BF3)