Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad?

[mtnbkr]

I need a processor for my PC build.  I've read that the Duo can be better for certain uses since they generally have a higher speed, but the Quad is better for apps that take advantage of quad cores.

Does anyone have any experience with both?

Chris

[Ben]

I think for your needs the duo will be more than fine. I use both, and the only place I see a big advantage to the quad is when running a couple of GIS and remote sensing prgs I use for work. They are both very CPU intensive when doing certain analyses. Where I see a difference with the quad is when I'm trying to multitask while those prgs are running algorithms that might run for hours. The quad lets me get on with other work without a hiccup, while I will notice lag on the duo (plus it increases time for the processes to finish).

Because I telecommute a good bit, I went with a quad core for my new computer at home, but if I wasn't going to be running the work prgs, I would have gone with an AMD Phenom processor. I can't really tell any difference between duo and quad with run of the mill stuff, and for graphics apps, I think your video card is going to make more of a difference than your processor.

[BMacklem]

I work for a computer company here in Wisconsin, and I have to agree with Ben there completely.
It really will depend on what sort of things you are planning on doing with the computer.
For most users, a core2 duo will be more than ample for just about anything you're going to need to do.
And the only real performance you're going to see in games will be because of your video card.

[mtnbkr]

Actually, I just remembered I sometimes do some stuff with Dynamips/GNS3.  I'll also do more with virtual systems now that I have a new system (was kind of pokey on the laptop).  I think that will make greater use of additional cores.  The price difference is pretty small and the Quad gives you more cache.  I'm going to go with the Quad.

Chris

[Cromlech]

Unless you are playing modern (2007+) games (GPU is still the real limiter) and/or using multimedia editing tools, you will probably be just fine with a Dual Core CPU.

[Ben]

The price difference is pretty small and the Quad gives you more cache.  I'm going to go with the Quad.

I haven't looked at prices recently. Back in November when I built mine there was a significant difference. I can't believe how fast these dang prices drop all the time...

[RocketMan]

Simply as an interesting point of information, the first six core Intel i7 processors are due soon.  They will be released in Europe first, apparently.

Here is the story on Techspot.

We are not expecting Intel's first Gulftown processor to become available until sometime next month. However, as it is becoming increasingly common, several online retailers jumped the gun and have already listed the six-core part, detailing its price and full specs before an official announcement is even made.

According to the listings, the Core i7 980 Extreme Edition features six 32nm cores clocked at 3.33GHz, 12 threads, 12MB of L3 cache, and a maximum Turbo Boost clock speed of 3.6GHz. It features DDR3 support up to 1066MHz and will have a maximum TDP 130W.

Alternate.at quotes a price tag of €1,099 for the Core i7 980, while others have it listed for as low as €960. For reference, Intel's current fastest desktop processor, the quad-core Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, is selling for around $970 in the U.S. market. If the company's past history is of any indication we can probably expect the Core i7 980 Extreme Edition to target the $1,000 price point.

Most of the specs were already available courtesy of the numerous leaks over the past few months, and the expected pricing is not really surprising for an Intel flagship product. However, Alternate.at does offer a more specific hint of its expected release date, quoting an "announced delivery date" of March 14, 2010.

[Cromlech]

If I weren't too lazy to pull out the current i7 920 I might get one of those. :D
I'll probably wait at least until they release 8 core CPUs though, I try to upgrade my CPU/RAM/Motherboard less frequently than my GPUs (as a gamer).

[Brad Johnson]

More RAM! 

Brad

[Bigjake]

I just built a quad last month, and it friggin screams...

Need a motherboard?  Newegg stuck me with one, and it's just generating dust in my closet.

[Ben]

More RAM!  

Brad

Brad might just be joshin', but if you are going to go with the quad and run Virtualbox or whatnot, you might want to kick the original 4gig I think you were talking about getting up a notch. I got 12gig just for that. I have two different Linuxes, XP and 2000 all as guest OS's and could run them all at once without affecting  the Win 7 host. My old XP machine had a 2gig limit, so assigning 512meg to a Linux guest OS slowed both systems down. Now I assign 2 gig to each guest and always still have plenty of RAM for the host.

edit. I'm really showing my age -- I constantly mix "meg" and "gig" up when talking about RAM. Of course when I started, "K" was a big deal. 

[PTK]

I just built a quad last month, and it friggin screams...

Need a motherboard?  Newegg stuck me with one, and it's just generating dust in my closet.

Mobo? What kind? What do you want for it? I've been looking into upgrading, but it grates on me to buy a new mobo each time. 

[Harold Tuttle]

transcoding video needs moar moar moar

my 8 core mac totally smokes every machine in the shop on dvd renders to flv

[Brad Johnson]

Brad might just be joshin', but if you are going to go with the quad and run Virtualbox or whatnot, you might want to kick the original 4meg I think you were talking about getting up a notch.

Found a tremendous deal on Corsair 4gb kits.  Bought two. :D

Now if I could just find the same magnitude of deal on a 32gb USB stick.

Brad

[mtnbkr]

Brad might just be joshin', but if you are going to go with the quad and run Virtualbox or whatnot, you might want to kick the original 4gig I think you were talking about getting up a notch. I got 12gig just for that. I have two different Linuxes, XP and 2000 all as guest OS's and could run them all at once without affecting  the Win 7 host. My old XP machine had a 2gig limit, so assigning 512meg to a Linux guest OS slowed both systems down. Now I assign 2 gig to each guest and always still have plenty of RAM for the

I'm going to wait on more RAM until I see what my actual usage pattern is.  I still have two slots free.  I can stuff 8gig into those two slots and have a total of 12. 

Chris

[mtnbkr]

Found a tremendous deal on Corsair 4gb kits.  Bought two. :D
Brad

2x4gig in each kit or 2x2gig?  I'm not finding any 8gig pairs.  My mobo can support 4gig modules in each slot, but I don't know where to find them.  If I can't find any, I'm effectively limited to 8gig and that makes me sad (even if I'll never need more...).

Chris

[tyme]

2x4gig in each kit or 2x2gig?  I'm not finding any 8gig pairs.  My mobo can support 4gig modules in each slot, but I don't know where to find them.  If I can't find any, I'm effectively limited to 8gig and that makes me sad (even if I'll never need more...).

Where are you looking?  Newegg's drill-down menus are super easy.  It's there.  ( a couple minutes of looking on tigerdirect and I couldn't find them because it doesn't offer the same sort of menus, and search utterly fails for "8192MB memory ddr2" or "8192MB memory pc6400").

My opinion is that virtualization is important and is going to be even more important, so doing everything within budget to allow a computer to handle virtualization better will pay off.  I honestly couldn't tell you which socket 775 chipsets support VT-d (intel's IO virtualization), but i7-920 and other socket 1366 nehalems will for sure.

VT is Intel Virtualization Technology, an umbrella term that includes many different features.  VT-d stands for Intel Virtualization for Directed I/O, a specific feature under VT.  Included in VT-d on Intel Core i7 are the capabilities: (a) I/O device assignment, (b) DMA remapping, (c) interrupt remapping, and (d) reliability features.

(http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/showthread.php?t=56802 page 5)

That implies that some of those VT-d subfeatures are not available in some pre-nehalem chips/chipsets.  Also, only Nehalem and later support EPT which is also a performance boost for VMs.  And westmere (6-cores) this summer will be the first intel processor I know of that will support 16-bit real mode guests.  Intel is doing a good job keeping people like me (who are nuts about virtualization) on the upgrade treadmill for the foreseeable future.  :)

I would get as much ram as you can afford.  I upgraded both my main desktops from 4GB to 8GB over the last year, and I'm so dependent on having tons of ram for VMs, that when I build my next computer with ddr3 ram, I might have to go with 12GB because 6GB might not be enough.

[Brad Johnson]

2x4gig in each kit or 2x2gig?  I'm not finding any 8gig pairs.  My mobo can support 4gig modules in each slot, but I don't know where to find them.  If I can't find any, I'm effectively limited to 8gig and that makes me sad (even if I'll never need more...).

Chris

In my case it was two 4gb sticks.  Tiger Direct.  $50 each, shipped, after rebate (which they processed with amazing speed and efficiency, was even able to register for them online).

Brad

[mtnbkr]

I was looking at Tiger.  Their search does suck.  I found several 2x4gig at Newegg.

Brad, do you have a part number for the kit at Tiger?  That's the same price I paid for my 2x2gig set, though I have another rebate coming that will bring the total down to $75.

Chris

[Brad Johnson]

I told you wrong before.  Had my wires crossed when I said I had two 4gb sticks.  I actually have four 2gb sticks (two 2x2 kits).  Sorry.

Tiger Direct part number is C13-6084.  Corsair 4gb kit (2x2048).  When purchased it was on a couple-of-days-only sale for $74.99 plus the $25 mail in rebate.

Brad

[mtnbkr]

Gotcha. I got my Corsair mem for $99-$25MIR.

Chris

[sanglant]

I was looking at Tiger.  Their search does suck.  I found several 2x4gig at Newegg.

Brad, do you have a part number for the kit at Tiger?  That's the same price I paid for my 2x2gig set, though I have another rebate coming that will bring the total down to $75.

Chris

if you like tiger direct, get the part number and search for it. i stopped using tiger after they started charging so much for shipping and had to start charging NC taxes. it was up to 30 percent extra.

[mtnbkr]

if you like tiger direct, get the part number and search for it. i stopped using tiger after they started charging so much for shipping and had to start charging NC taxes. it was up to 30 percent extra.

No part number provided.
I've been getting free shipping.
I don't live in NC, so no taxes either.

Chris

[sanglant]

No part number provided.

you can get it at the manufacturers site. or newegg.

I've been getting free shipping.

they used to do freeshipping on all(well not case, monitor, or printer) orders over 99 bucks, all the time.

I don't live in NC, so no taxes either.

didn't mean to say you were, that's just part of why i stopped dealing with them.

[mtnbkr]

you can get it at the manufacturers site. or newegg.

Oh, got it.  Good idea. :)

they used to do free shipping on all(well not case, monitor, or printer) orders over 99 bucks, all the time.

I got free shipping on everything.  I ordered a Shuttle system, memory, a processor, Win 7 Pro, and a 23" widscreen LCD.  That was two separate orders, but both were well over $99.

Chris