2 cores or 4?

[WarmMachineME]

I've been dying for an upgrade for awhile now, but I've been putting it off until Intel's price drops, since they've been so relatively close together. Well now it's apparently right around the corner. Next week, to be exact. This is a BIG upgrade for me; birthday present to myself.

Here's a chart with the expected prices.
http://www.behardware.com/news/8654/...trimestre.html

So here's what I want some opinions on.
Core2 Q6600 - Quad core. Reasonable 2.4mhz clock speed. 2x4mb L2. FSB1066.
versus
Core2 E6850 - Equal price. 3.0mhz. 4mb L2. New faster FSB1333.

Overclocking is not out of the question. I'm open to ideas with it - perhaps a cheaper FSB1333 dual core model OCed to perform, for example - but I'm a newbie with it, and I'd be pretty upset if I fried my new upgrade.

So what's your opinion? Which will perform better? Which is most futureproof? Thanks.

[EzyStvy]

Core 2 Duo vs Core 2 Quad
Nice Article

When it comes to choosing a high-end processor, you must really think about what you are going to be doing with it. In terms of gaming performance, a Dual Core CPU will probably give you better performance and value today as dual core CPU’s are clocked higher and games can only handle one or two threads at once. Quad core CPU’s should excel in video editing, design, and pure mathematical calculations as more applications are multithreaded for 2 or more cores.

[BeepBeep2]

I use AMD...lol...but anyway>

Well....still many programs do not gain from an Extra Core=lol but alot do.....

If a program is made to use 1 core....and you have Dual Core and a single core of the same arcitecture, at the same speed, they will perform almost exactly the same.

That is the same for the Dual vs. Quad match> a Core 2 Duo @ 3 Ghz of the same arcitecture as the Core 2 Quad @ 2.4 Ghz on a program limited to 1 core or 2 Cores...the C2D will outperform by far.

[alanebro82]

You will see better performance with the dual core unless you do some serious multitasking or if you use programs that can specifically handle more than 2 threads at once. If you plan on gaming, then the dual core should suffice. If you plan on gaming, ripping music, and burning a dvd all at the same time... then the quad would probably be a noticeable upgrade.

[WarmMachineME]

It's just the first time I've seen the two varieties at the same price, so I thought it deserved some investigation.

But, everyone seems to agree that the dual core variety has more going for it. Now to find a motherboard that supports the faster FSB...

Thanks all.

[kstatefan40]

I have to agree with what's been said above. Most people don't understand that just because you have X number of cores, does not necessarily mean better performance. When developing applications, programmers have to develop them to handle multi-cores. For instance, to multi-thread (send parallel tasks through the processor, one to each core) requires the programmer to direct what gets executed where by basically creating a map of directions in the program. Since the majority of folks are still on single cores, most programs are made to execute on one core.

Remember that computers are dumb - they can not be self aware. Just like the jump from 32 to 64 bit, people didn't recognise that just because you had 64 bit didn't mean you USED 64 bit.

As I said, I think I would have to agree with the above. By the time there is a use for quad core, you'll be ready to upgrade to bigger and better things again.

Hope the extra detail isn't unnecessary - just trying to help explain why its like that.

[WarmMachineME]

Extra detail is always good, and I understand the reasoning. I was mainly curious as to whether folks thought multi-core support was really that far off. Based on everything I've been reading though, 2 faster cores does seems to be the way to go for awhile yet.

[Andy3430]

how do u know how many cores are supported by the program

[daveyp225]

These new processors look nice. Even nicer are their prices. It seems the only difference is the FSB, but is the E6750 supposed to be a dramatic improvement over the E6700?

[kstatefan40]

Originally Posted by Andy3430 how do u know how many cores are supported by the program

Its not always easy, but checking the manufacturer's site sometimes will show it. Even then its sometimes hard to find.

[Force Flow]

Usually, only high-end or professional applications explicitly state support, like professional video editing software.

Otherwise, for the most part, it's hit or miss and up to the hardware to decide what to do.