Is the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 faster than....

[deckard44]

Hi. I'm thinking of upgrading and have read some good reviews on the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. I've read that this runs at 2.4GHz and costs about £170. How much of a speed difference would there be over the AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ which runs at 2.60GHz and costs £90, or any dual core chip that runs at a higher GHz? Is the GHz speed more or less important than the amount of cores the chip has? Thanks for any help.

[dicecca112]

Its a little more complicated than that. More cores does not equal better performance. It only does if the application can use all the cores. It also differs CPU to CPU. AMD Dual vs Intel Dual right now Intel wins because they have a better architecture. Multicore processors are good for multitasking and F@H

[martini161]

dicecca112 pretty explained it much better than i could of. if your deciding weather to go intel or amd, go intel, unless you already have the amd hardware and your on a tight budget. as for quad vs. dual, i have a quad and i am extremely impressed. then again, i did come from a 2.8 ghz p4 it really depends on how often you upgrade. if you upgrade every year, go dual now and quad next year. if you only upgrade every 3+ years, wait for 45nm quads to come out, and invest in one of those

[DMB2000uk]

Just to expand on martini's comment, the 45nm Quads will be the Q9X00 series. And should be out within a month or two.

If you are the type to upgrade fairly often, then go for an E8400 core 2 duo (dual core). The E8X00 line was jst released today, and is better than the current E6XX0 lineup and uses less power.

Dan

[deckard44]

Thanks alot for the response. At the moment I am running the AMD xp 2800+ which runs at 2.07 GHz. I don't upgrade very offten, the next chip I buy will probably be with me for the next 3-4 years, so it might be worth me waiting for the Q9X00 that DMB2000uk mentioned. Unfortunatley money is an issue, so I will have to see how much it retails for when it comes out. Thanks

[kenc51]

Thanks alot for the response. At the moment I am running the AMD xp 2800+ which runs at 2.07 GHz. I don't upgrade very offten, the next chip I buy will probably be with me for the next 3-4 years, so it might be worth me waiting for the Q9X00 that DMB2000uk mentioned. Unfortunatley money is an issue, so I will have to see how much it retails for when it comes out. Thanks

From $266

[deckard44]

thanks

[sayemfx]

U may go for Quad Q6600, I have just bought it, it's a perfect balance of performance+cost.