Dual Core vs Quad Core

imran-17 · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:07

Can somebody explain to me why the dual core processers are better for gaming than the quad core ones
i assumed that because the quad core have 2 more cores they would work better for games

ConTRo13R · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:11

Simply because two cores arent being used in gaming.

And price, you can get a higher stock speed dual for the same price as a lower stock speed quad.

imran-17 · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:21

ahh im so confused i duno what to buyyyyyyyy

Bradley8988 · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:25

quads are getting used more but right now i think higher clock speeds are the benefit which 8xxx series Duals are giving.

AgedIdiot · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:36

To expand a litttle - very few games are written/optimised for quad cores.

For same/less price a dual core is usually clocked faster than a quad and the faster the clock - be it dual or quad - the better for gaming.

One day the quad will , probably , be the 'gaming' cpu but not yet .

I went from a dual to a quad a short time ago - I have no regrets but ,in all honesty, truth is that the dual is , at the moment , the gamers choice.

Quad - maybe a coupla yrs ahead

ConTRo13R · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:41

Just go get a quad, OC it and you will not be disappointed!

Everything you through at it it will laugh at, same as your GPU choice.

imran-17 · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:42

would i still get good gaming performance with a Q9550 ?

imran-17 · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:43

ConTRo13R said:
Just go get a quad, OC it and you will not be disappointed!

Everything you through at it it will laugh at, same as your GPU choice.

ok ConTRo13R soo soo much you have helped me loads with my computers choice i will post my final buy in the other forum

ConTRo13R · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:45

You will get amazing performance with the Q9550 even at stock! It is probably the Quad of choice out there!

AgedIdiot · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:47

would i still get good gaming performance with a Q9550 ?

Yes - you need to clock it a bit though.

Mine runs nice and cool at 3.4 -

ConTRo13R · 21 Oct 2008 at 23:48

ConTRo13R said:
even at stock!

Mrjobby · 22 Oct 2008 at 00:27

For gaming you wouldnt get a huge amount of benifit moving from single core to a dual, let alone a quad.

Dual would be my choice for the faster clock speeds stock being of more benefit for games.

If you use your comp to do a lot of dvd work or image editing a quad maybe handy but even then you have to choose the encoding programs that make use of more than 2 cores.

Kelt · 22 Oct 2008 at 00:53

Get a Quad, more and more games are using the four cores.

PhoenixUK · 22 Oct 2008 at 02:32

<sarcasm>More and more games are using the four cores, up to 25% load on all four of them :O. I'm pretty sure dual core won't be able to do it ! MUUST HAVE QUAD ! MUST HAVE QUAD, I NEED MULTITASKING 6 NOTEPADS AND WINAMP AT ONCE !! </sarcasm>

Seriously, get a wolfdale, spend your extra pennies on better cooling, better hdd solution( raid setup) or better GPU.

If you buy Q9xxx for gaming you either aint got nothing to do with your cash or you're a ... not smart person

.

bledd · 22 Oct 2008 at 11:17

Mrjobby said:
For gaming you wouldnt get a huge amount of benifit moving from single core to a dual, let alone a quad..

total bull!

especially on newer games..

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/&menu=browser&image_id=922611&article_id=663817&page=1&show=original

far cry 2 has double the performance when using 2 cores instead of 1, and further boosts with 3 and 4 cores

just get a quad mate, you won't be dissapointed

also, q6600 is same as e8400
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/original/2008/10/001_far_cry_2_benchmark_test.png

MooMoo444 · 22 Oct 2008 at 11:24

If you've got the munny for a Q9550, then it's absolutely worth it. Amazing performance for gaming, even better when you clock it. I'm upgrading my own quad soon to something more current.

Duals are slowly becoming outdated tech, I don't care what anyone says.

fross · 22 Oct 2008 at 11:33

AgedIdiot speaks the truth.

Games are coming out now that are optimised for multiple cores. At first it was only for dual-core, but now they are scaling better. Age of Conan will use 4 cores if it can get them, and that's at least 6 months old.

This trend will only continue, as cpu manufacturers have been pushing multi-core hard. That processor power is there, so people will use it.

it's academic now as your GPU will always be the bottleneck, but as games come out that use more cores, your Quad will cope better than a Dual over the next few years.

gareth170 · 22 Oct 2008 at 11:38

get a quad. because if u have programs running in the background while gaming it won't slow down the performance.

i let it scan for virus's while gaming and it runs fine.

ConTRo13R · 22 Oct 2008 at 17:14

KelticDaz said:
Get a Quad, more and more games are using the four cores.

bledd. said:
total bull!

especially on newer games..

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/&menu=browser&image_id=922611&article_id=663817&page=1&show=original

far cry 2 has double the performance when using 2 cores instead of 1, and further boosts with 3 and 4 cores

just get a quad mate, you won't be dissapointed

also, q6600 is same as e8400
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/original/2008/10/001_far_cry_2_benchmark_test.png

fross said:
AgedIdiot speaks the truth.

Games are coming out now that are optimised for multiple cores. At first it was only for dual-core, but now they are scaling better. Age of Conan will use 4 cores if it can get them, and that's at least 6 months old.

This trend will only continue, as cpu manufacturers have been pushing multi-core hard. That processor power is there, so people will use it.

it's academic now as your GPU will always be the bottleneck, but as games come out that use more cores, your Quad will cope better than a Dual over the next few years.

gareth170 said:
get a quad. because if u have programs running in the background while gaming it won't slow down the performance.

i let it scan for virus's while gaming and it runs fine.

Bradley8988 · 22 Oct 2008 at 17:35

lol you sure are a quad fanboy.