Is dual the way to go

D

Dan3290

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
179
im going to be building my 1st pc (no overclocking) and its main feature will be gaming. Ive heard that many games have problems with dual core processors. I would like to know if the [H]ard forum members think i should go with a 3800 X2 or a different non dual core processor?
 
I wouldn't consider myself a real hardcore gamer, but i've yet to encounter any problems with either of my dual-core CPU's (a X2 4800 and Opteron 165) while gaming. I've played BF2, COD2, HL2 and a few others with no incidents. I would suggest going with a Dual Core, as games will be utilizing them soon.
 
i play bf2, hl2 and farcry(still). no probs yet with a dual core and sli. dont even consider buying a single core. would you buy a chevy citation? black and white tv? intel cpu? ati crossfire mainboard?(jk) well, single core is a dead issue. finis. end of story. an ex-technology. history. taking the dirt nap. gone to its just reward. singing with the heavenly choir. checked out. hanging with elvis.
 
dual. all the way. i build comps for people... to often.. and to often for cost... and i have never heard anyone mention anything about dual core processers having problems with any game. ever.and the FX line from amd. the FX60 is dual core, and alll future fx's are gonna be dual core.
 
ever try to play bf2, or any game for that matter, and do ANYTHING in the background? well, guess what. with dc, now you can. you can encode video and play a game, and neither task will know the other is running. many current games/apps are being optimized/patched for dual core, future games/apps will come out of the box that way. my 3dmark05 score bumped up almost 40% with dual core optimized vid drivers.
 
So far to me, it feels like the huge difference in gaming was going from a 9700np to a 7800GT more than going from a Barton 2500+ to a 3800+ X2 (though it's hard to separate because I switched out both at the same time). But the nice thing about the dual core is that I can leave crap running in the background while gaming - messaging clients, web browser, TV app. for my Hauppauge card and not take any significant hit in game. If I alt-tab out of a game, the switch to other apps is WAY faster, with the main lag on that being from hitting the harddrive since I've only got a gig of RAM and the pagefile comes into play pretty quick when gaming and running other things in the background. I'd recommend the dual core unless cost is a big sticking point or you really only plan to run one or two applications at a time. They're not fully-utilized yet, but support will only get better and better.
 
Thx for the replies and i know this probably has 1000 threads but when is m2 (am2 w/e) coming out and will we see a drop in price for the 3800 x2
 
Elec said:
So far to me, it feels like the huge difference in gaming was going from a 9700np to a 7800GT more than going from a Barton 2500+ to a 3800+ X2 (though it's hard to separate because I switched out both at the same time). But the nice thing about the dual core is that I can leave crap running in the background while gaming - messaging clients, web browser, TV app. for my Hauppauge card and not take any significant hit in game. If I alt-tab out of a game, the switch to other apps is WAY faster, with the main lag on that being from hitting the harddrive since I've only got a gig of RAM and the pagefile comes into play pretty quick when gaming and running other things in the background. I'd recommend the dual core unless cost is a big sticking point or you really only plan to run one or two applications at a time. They're not fully-utilized yet, but support will only get better and better.
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9700np had what 4 or 6 pipes compared to the 20 the 7800GT has... that is a hugh difference, i would say a bigger difference than barton to X2 cause the varton 2500 was a screamer.. though the mem bandwdith is surely helping too :)

i would go dual imo as well
 
Dan3290 said:
Thx for the replies and i know this probably has 1000 threads but when is m2 (am2 w/e) coming out and will we see a drop in price for the 3800 x2
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i don't think the price is that bad, power and value

AM2 doesn't come out till 6/6/06, kind of a long time to see if prices will drop by X amount

i been waiting 4 years to upgrade, i can't waits no more! just follow me and upgrade, be happy ;)

who cares about $50 price drop, you can earn that in 1 day
 
I moved from an Intel 3.06GHz w/ HyperThreading / RDRAM platform to an AMD Athlon X2 4400+, and I knew there was no way I could even consider a single-core AMD because of my experience with HyperThreading's creamy smoothness in Windows.

Windows boots much faster, switching between tasks is much faster, and gaming is much better now. Don't know why anyone would consider a single-core CPU at this point in the game, unless all they do is one CPU-intensive task at a time.
 
Just one look at Vista and your decision is made. Dual core and more ram are the only way to go.
 
I was just wondering when you install the dual core processor do you have too set anything or install anything else other then the athlon 64 processor driver. Thanks
 
If you install Windows XP SP2, Windows will install the AMD driver for you. No need to manually install the driver from AMD's website.
 
electech98 said:
If you install Windows XP SP2, Windows will install the AMD driver for you. No need to manually install the driver from AMD's website.
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That is SOOOO untrue. I installed SP2 and it does not do what the AMD driver does at all. At least in my case, it didn't. Unless the really new versions of XP that come with updates after SP2 add it, the disk I have did not. And thats the only way I could get CS:S to run.
 
how much do you think the X2 3800+ will be worth (retail) by the end of this yr when AM2 has been around for a few months? i'm thinking over if i should just get a cheap 3200+ for like $130ish and getting X2 3800+ cheaper later. but if i do wait, i know the 3200+ will be worth <$100 by then (maybe as low as $80s)

do u know remember how much 3200+ (Venice) was worth when it first launched? i'm trying to see how much CPUs depreciate. if u were to guess, would u say X2 3800+ would be less than $200?

i'll be keeping this CPU for at least 2-3 years, but i've gotten a deal on everything i've bought except this at $300 (which is a lot imo)

this guy was saying he bought a X850XT for like $430 last June and i bought mine last night for $170 -$15 rebate (that's $270 in depreciation)

anyways, i'm just trying to see how CPUs depreciate compared to GPUs (i've never followed prices on CPUs)
 
ZacharyS said:
That is SOOOO untrue. I installed SP2 and it does not do what the AMD driver does at all. At least in my case, it didn't. Unless the really new versions of XP that come with updates after SP2 add it, the disk I have did not. And thats the only way I could get CS:S to run.
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Hm...the disk I have (Win XP SP2) installed it for me, and I confirmed it by going to Add/Remove Programs, and checking on the version of the AMD driver there (1.2.2.2), which is the same version that AMD.com has. I didn't have to download anything from AMD. Of course, since I recently built this computer from scratch, there could be something said for newer copies of Win XP with SP2. Who knows?
 
rox1co said:
how much do you think the X2 3800+ will be worth (retail) by the end of this yr when AM2 has been around for a few months? i'm thinking over if i should just get a cheap 3200+ for like $130ish and getting X2 3800+ cheaper later. but if i do wait, i know the 3200+ will be worth <$100 by then (maybe as low as $80s)

do u know remember how much 3200+ (Venice) was worth when it first launched? i'm trying to see how much CPUs depreciate. if u were to guess, would u say X2 3800+ would be less than $200?

i'll be keeping this CPU for at least 2-3 years, but i've gotten a deal on everything i've bought except this at $300 (which is a lot imo)

this guy was saying he bought a X850XT for like $430 last June and i bought mine last night for $170 -$15 rebate (that's $270 in depreciation)

anyways, i'm just trying to see how CPUs depreciate compared to GPUs (i've never followed prices on CPUs)
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I think you are going about the CPU purchase all wrong. You should have a certain budget set and then work from there getting the best you can with the money you have. At that point, you will not have this problem.

Also, by the time you buy both processors you will end up spending the same amount or more if you don't just buy the dual core CPU right now. In other words, if you have the money, just buy the dual core now. It may cost you a bit more than you may want to spend but it's probably cheaper in the long run and you get use of it now instead of having to wait nine months or so.

 
Duel-core, although I'm heavily biased as I video-encode, and will be buying one shortly, also elderscrolls: Oblivion will support duel core so likely a 2Ghz Duel core will be faster then a 2.4Ghz Single core.
 
Then again, you can dual chip. Thats what I recently did. I have two Opty 254's, which is like having two FX-57's and you can also use dual core chips as well. Whats even better is that you only have to use one chip if you want in the beginning and upgrade later.
Simply put, your upgrade path is very broad.
 
teh futrue proof

besides, why have one when you can have two at twice the price
 
osalcido said:
teh futrue proof

besides, why have one when you can have two at twice the price
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Because you can save half the price. :D
 
oh man. im stilling running atholon XP, (socket A T.T soon to upgrade tho! :D ) and yea, its a bitch. the following actually happened.

ok playing source, in cal, going around with the awp. holding long, see something move, BOOM HEAD SHOT. yes ok one down, see the seccond one move, shoot miss, see a third, tell my team mates there going A, then msn messanged pops up... jimmy's talking to me.
so i run over to short, and minimize,

on a comp with dual core, this would take what a few secconds? no no no! im on atholon xp! it takes me 30 secconds! so im staring at a black screen! for 30 secconds!

so i come back bombs been planted im dead some bastard stole my awp, and they win. all coulda been prevented if i had dual core :(
 
sculelos said:
Duel-core, although I'm heavily biased as I video-encode, and will be buying one shortly, also elderscrolls: Oblivion will support duel core so likely a 2Ghz Duel core will be faster then a 2.4Ghz Single core.
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Yeah, i have a 2.4Ghz single core right now. I want the 4800+ which is dual core @ 2.4GHz
 
Definitely buy dual core. I've had a dual core machine for a few months now and just upgraded my wife's machine to dual core. Actually haven't built that one yet, it's on the table in parts (wife had me pouring concrete floor all day yesterday :( ) I originally went from a [email protected] to a duallie [email protected] and the difference was night and day. The duallie is just so much more responsive to anything you do with it! I've never experienced problems in any games either...BF2, COD2, Doom 3, etc...
 
I still have a singlecored primary system, and for normal gaming use, I don't need dualcore. But when I'm doing movie encodes, ripping music, etc, and want to do anything else, the singlecore system bogs down. The dualcore system just carries on, seamlessly.

I'm strongly considering upgrading my system to a dualcore; all I need to do is update the BIOS and drop in a new processor.
 
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