Gaming PC: Intel Core 2 Duo vs. Pentium D (dual-core) / AGP vs. PCI Express

[buzzsaww]

Tom's has always been very biased. Different strokes for different folks though. In any case there are a thousand benchmark/review/testing websites out there. I used to run one myself

Never ilke Anandtechs benchmark graphics
Check out www.tomshardware.com

[Stinkbug]

tomshardware is so intel biased.

Hehe, it is funny to read that. It seems that Tom gets blamed by both sides for being biased. When AMD is on top Intel fans claim bias...when Intel is on top AMD fans claim bias...probably a good sign he isn't biased at all!

[ApeDosMil]

Hehe, it is funny to read that. It seems that Tom gets blamed by both sides for being biased. When AMD is on top Intel fans claim bias...when Intel is on top AMD fans claim bias...probably a good sign he isn't biased at all!

I don't, they always got Intel banners running. I never saw a AMD banner on their site....

The Core 2 Duo is a great investment for 64 bit (when it does come to be useful.) If your into gaming, video card would be a bigger concert than processing power though. I would rather get the cheapest CPU of the Core 2 Duo and a kick ass video card than the other way around.

[Budman68]

I'm so lost will all the new stuff that's out now. I have a new unused ATX case that's about a year old and an A-Power 400 watt, serial ata, PS unit just waitning for a new build. Is this enough for a dual core? Is there any sort of special retention connections that need to be addressed with the new dual core systems?

I'm definitely looking at a new build in the coming weeks so I want to know what I need but unfortunately I've been out of the loop for awhile. As for my needs, I need a great video card but not a top of the line type. Just something to run NFS Carbon (not online) smoothly.

I obviously don't need built in video but do they make a decent board with built in sound yet (surround is not important)? Is ATA/IDE still available on a core 2 mobo in case I don't want to buy a new drive right away (I have a 300 gig that serves me well at the moment)?

Can anyone recommend some good forums to read about the best deals on these products?

Thanks for the help!

[Inazone]

Dave, I think you might find that the 400-watt PS is cutting it a bit close. Not sure if the connectors will be right for the latest motherboards. And many of the performance increases associated with the newer systems are based on "total package" specs, meaning fast SATA drives, fast memory and system bus speeds, and so on. If you just want to keep your current drive to save yourself the hassle of moving data to a new system, you could get an external FireWire or USB enclosure for $30 that will let you use that drive on any system.

[hippietim]

i just ordered a quiet DAW from Sonica that uses the newest dual core cpu. i am really looking forward to a whisper quiet PC for recording.

[Budman68]

Dave, I think you might find that the 400-watt PS is cutting it a bit close. Not sure if the connectors will be right for the latest motherboards. And many of the performance increases associated with the newer systems are based on "total package" specs, meaning fast SATA drives, fast memory and system bus speeds, and so on. If you just want to keep your current drive to save yourself the hassle of moving data to a new system, you could get an external FireWire or USB enclosure for $30 that will let you use that drive on any system.

Yeah, I was afraid of that, bro. Thanks for the info!

I actually have a backup drive for those "just in-case" moments so I guess I'm going to have to break down and move on up eh? lol!

[LouSiffer]

Also keep in mind with dual core processors, if you continue to use Windows XP, only one of the cores will function....the other will pretty much just be there. You will need to upgrade to Vista to get the full use of a dual core type CPU.-Lou

[thez0r]

My work PCs are dual 2.2ghz xeon with FireGL AGP Pro cards and I've used these systems for gaming with a 9800 agp radeon.

XP can barely utilize SMP on these processors... upgrading to dual core chips to run games under XP is like buying a Ferrari to pickup groceries.

For the cost of some of these new CPU's + PCI express video card + RAM you can buy an xbox 360 and a PS3 for gaming and be done with it. Most games are cross playform released at the same time and developers are starting to lean twords the console market anyway.

[Sandman0170]

Also keep in mind with dual core processors, if you continue to use Windows XP, only one of the cores will function....the other will pretty much just be there. You will need to upgrade to Vista to get the full use of a dual core type CPU.-Lou

Not true. XP supports dual core CPUs. XP home may only support one physical CPU, but it will support HT and dual core chips. XP Pro supports both dual core and dual CPUs.

[thez0r]

Not true. XP supports dual coreCPUs. XP home may only support one physical CPU, but it will support HT and dual core chips. XP Pro supports both dual core and dual CPUs.

I'm not saying XP doesn't support it I'm saying XP struggles to utilize SMP, especially with games so its a waste of money.

[Sandman0170]

I'm not saying XP doesn't support it I'm saying XP struggles to utilize SMP, especially with games so its a waste of money.

Nor was I quoting you.

[sevser]

How is this set up...I want to buy today

Module Description Show Details
Dimension 9200 Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6700 (2.66GHz, 1066 FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 4DIMMs
Keyboard Dell Bluetooth Keyboard and Optical Mouse
Monitor 24 inch UltraSharp™ 2407FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
Graphics Cards 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader 13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Mouse Mouse included in Dell Wireless or Bluetooth Package
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Bundle Microsoft Office Basic - Includes Word, Excel and Outlook email
Security Software McAfee Security Center w/VirusScan, Firewall and Privacy, 90-day trial
Digital Music Musicmatch by Yahoo! Music - Basic music software
Digital Imaging Corel Photo Album™ 6 Starter Edition - Organize and Edit your photos
Hardware Support Services 1 Yr Limited Warranty with 1 Yr NBD Onsite Service and 1 Yr Tech Support
Internet Access Services Please select an ISP subscription
Upgrade to Windows Vista Express Upgrade to Windows Vista

ACCESSORIES
D-Link WBR-1310 Wireless G Router

[Inazone]

Sounds like quite a system! What's the price on that?

[sevser]

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