need an experts advice

[smeghead666]

im thinkin of buyin a new pc, and iv got everythin sused except this dual prossesor malarky. the thing that gets me is the speed, a game such as dark messiah recomends 3-3.2GHz, does this mean although more powerfull, a prossesor such as the: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor(2.13GHz,2MB Cache,1066MHz) would not be able to run it verry well.

any and all info is appresiated.
thanks

 

[Ste99]

Don't be fooled by the relatively lower number used for the c2d chips

 

[dbilsborough]

core 2 duo chips are the fastest out there (bar Xeons) so they will have no problem with games for some time to come

 

[Ste99]

Went to run Lost Coast and it said my 2.4GHZ E6600 was less than the recommended. Judge for yourself

 

[Devious]

that picture doesnt show how well its running. It could be 1 FPS




Though im sure its not

 

[Tetras]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Dual Core Processor(2.13GHz,2MB Cache,1066MHz) would not be able to run it verry well.

Clock speed is only one component of how fast a CPU performs, Core 2 is massively more efficient than the Pentium 4 architecture quoted on most games and has no problem whatsoever keeping up with a 3.2 Ghz Pentium 4 even with only a single core (of the two in a Core 2 Duo).

For example if you compare the E6400 and a P4 3.8 Ghz here:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=453&model2=433&chart=167
The E6400 beats it (and by quite a large margin) in every gaming related benchmark and most of the synthetic and application tests too (and even in those it doesn't it is very close).

If you go for an E6400 now, even at stock it will vastly exceed the recommended requirements of pretty much every game out there and with the exception of the most expensive, fastest cards, like the 8800 GTX (when it would need to be overclocked to get the best out of them, something that is very easily done and another benefit of a Core 2 Duo) will be an excellent partner for whatever graphics card you pair it with.

It is similar to how many publishers/developers STILL put the memory size of the graphics card in the requirements when it has so little relevance as to be a pointless inclusion. Sure the game does require a minimum texture size that may for example need 128MB of video RAM but people get the impression if they have a 512MB card it would then be overkill, which is completely wrong! A low end card with 512MB but a crappy/cut down architecture is still dog slow, no amount of video memory will cover this up, just like the Pentium 4 being shown the door by C2D despite the P4s apparently "mammoth" clockspeed

 

[thefishdude]

with core 2 duos you are pretty much covered to run any game