[luke robinson]

Hi all, i'm thinking of upgrading my processor to either a Core 2 Duo or a Core 2 Quad. On ebay i have found the Core 2 Quad Q6600 for around £150 ( 4X2.40 GHz, 8MB Cache) and the Core 2 Duo E6850 for around the same price (2X3.0 GHz, 4MB Cache). I was looking at some benchmark scores http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...=872&chart=419
but even though the core 2 quad scored higher in the tests, I don't know weather it will be higher performance in real life. What exactly are the advantages of quad core? The current processor in my PC is a Pentium D 805. It's the slowest of the Pentium D's and I can run as much applications on that as I want without it slowing down, so what's the need for quad core? I can't see there being any improvement when playing games because Dual Core delivers no improvement over a single core. I know that the Core 2 Duo would satisfy all my needs but I want to get the best processor possible for the money. The only time I could see the advantage of quad core is on quad core applications. But since most applications are designed for a single core anyway I can't see any reason for the other cores. How much performance difference is there between the two chips. Does the 600 MHz difference outweigh the extra 2 cores? Thanks.

[skinnyman9000]

Im glad you asked this question because i was about to do a thread on the same subject!

Im basically building myself a new computer, and trying to decide between the e6750 or the q6600. The quad core option is around £40/£50 more expensive.

Question is, on the majority of applications, what would be more advantagous, the 2 extra cores, or the extra speed of the E6750?

[Hybr!d]

I think the quad isn't fully used at the moment, but it will in the future.

For the sake of £50 you wont need to upgrade when quad becomes the norm.

[skinnyman9000]

Quad it is then.

Next question, RAM this time:

2GB @ 1066Mhz
OR
4GB @ 667Mhz?

I was thinking that the 2GB would be the better option, then if needs be in the future i can add another 2GB to that for just £100.

I know i've asked a millionnaire and one questions so far, but im the sort of person that would rather do something properly

[Hybr!d]

I'd probably go with 2GB at the top speed.

Like you say you can add more later and with that processor 2GB will be enough to do pretty much anything.

[Agon]

Holy shiet. This is a beefed up comp. I am running Vista on a Core2Duo 1.86GHz and 1GB DDR2 667 and it is not bad at all. Your comp will probably be good for about another 5 yrs.