Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys Im in the process of building my first pc, mainly in the research phase mind you but one thing i really cant wrap my head around is processors. If two dual core processors both run at say 2.4ghz does that mean there both just as good ? if so whats different between the new i3 dual cores and the older intel core 2 duos ?. Are quad cores that run on lower speeds of 2.4 ghz for example way better then dual core processors that run on higher speeds of say 3.4 ghz ? I suppose what im saying is to find out the speed do i add up the ghz and times per core or is having fewer yet faster cores better ? really would love someone with a bit of technical know how to point me in the right direction.
Thanks again

C-3

The more cores on a processor the more tasks it can achieve at once, the higher the frequency the quicker it can do those tasks so ideally you want both to be high but having the former as high and the latter as average is still good.

corpsesarefun wrote:The more cores on a processor the more tasks it can achieve at once, the higher the frequency the quicker it can do those tasks so ideally you want both to be high but having the former as high and the latter as average is still good.

Hmmm on that note would there be any difference between an i3 dual core running at X ghz and an older Intel core 2 duo also running at X ? other then price that is , and would an I3-350 dual core at 3.2ghz be sufficient for gaming ?.

There is a big difference between the two, mainly in that the i3 has hyper threading(so it can handle two threads per core, so it could be considered having two more virtual cores).

And also i believe the i3 has a larger L3 cashe that would increase gaming performance overall.

But keep in mind the i3 is not overclockable so you cant speed it up if you wish to do so.

Lastly if you go i3, get a slightly faster version, or jump ship and go to amd and get a phenom ii x4 995be, and when this thing is overclocked it comes close to the faster i3's, and its cheaper overall this way.

Just a question for you but what other components were you thinking of getting?

I'm not sure if hyperthreading is something that should be considered. Are the current OS' available even able to use the feature?

Ive heard nothing to say otherwise( linix has had some issues with sandy bridge prossesors so it could possibly have issues), but windows 7/xp/vista(shudders) will work with it.

vendetta113 wrote:There is a big difference between the two, mainly in that the i3 has hyper threading(so it can handle two threads per core, so it could be considered having two more virtual cores).

And also i believe the i3 has a larger L3 cashe that would increase gaming performance overall.

But keep in mind the i3 is not overclockable so you cant speed it up if you wish to do so.

Lastly if you go i3, get a slightly faster version, or jump ship and go to amd and get a phenom ii x4 995be, and when this thing is overclocked it comes close to the faster i3's, and its cheaper overall this way.

Just a question for you but what other components were you thinking of getting?

Well my planned build list is

Motherboard - Asrock N68C-S
Graphics card - Radeon 4850 (allthough considering upgrading to 6850)
Ram - 4GB DDR3
HDD - 1TB Samsung
Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 970 Black Edition 3.50GHz
Psu - 650 Watts misc psu
Case - NZXT Lexa-S

Hopefully the build is fairly solid cant really deviate from the list much as im on a extremely tight budget and can barely manage this as it is.
Cheerio

I would not skimp on your PSU as a strong word of advice. This is item is going to transform all of your voltage and supply it to the various components within your computer, and really forms the foundation of a build. Going for a random PSU is just asking yourself to invest further money down the road when you have a cap that goes bad inside of the PSU, and this event forces you to go out and dump more money on another PSU. Good brands are Corsair, PC Power and Cooling (probably some of the best PSU's), Antec is ok but there are amany other brands out there. My current PSU is a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610W I purchased back in Fall of 2007. No issues at all so far.

Some sites to check out reviews on are Anandtech.com and the reviews of products on Newegg by customers. I've found these two are my stand-by before I make a purchase and want to be informed.

For your mainboard/CPU I'd strongly consider Intel for the long term. If you are running a budget build AMD is the way to go currently, unfortunately.

ChronoCupcake wrote:

vendetta113 wrote:There is a big difference between the two, mainly in that the i3 has hyper threading(so it can handle two threads per core, so it could be considered having two more virtual cores).

And also i believe the i3 has a larger L3 cashe that would increase gaming performance overall.

But keep in mind the i3 is not overclockable so you cant speed it up if you wish to do so.

Lastly if you go i3, get a slightly faster version, or jump ship and go to amd and get a phenom ii x4 995be, and when this thing is overclocked it comes close to the faster i3's, and its cheaper overall this way.

Just a question for you but what other components were you thinking of getting?

Well my planned build list is

Motherboard - Asrock N68C-S
Graphics card - Radeon 4850 (all though considering upgrading to 6850).
Ram - 4GB DDR3
HDD - 1TB Samsung
Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 970 Black Edition 3.50GHz
Psu - 650 Watts misc psu
Case - NZXT Lexa-S

Hopefully the build is fairly solid cant really deviate from the list much as im on a extremely tight budget and can barely manage this as it is.
Cheerio

What OS are you running?

650 Watts should be enough juice to run your comp.

the 6850 is a good card if not you might go down to a 5850 or a 5770.

Right now I'm running a Intel 6850 CPU, which is approximately 10% slower than the i3.
4GB of ram
generic case that I have used for 10 years.
Nvidia 9800GT
600 Watt PSU.
Running Windows 2000

I've had this for 4+ years and since I do not play any videos on it this should last me until the new windows 8 comes out.

Then I'll make my upgrade. I do this every 5 years or so.

VermGho5t wrote:I would not skimp on your PSU as a strong word of advice. This is item is going to transform all of your voltage and supply it to the various components within your computer, and really forms the foundation of a build.

This, very much this. You want to skimp, do it elsewhere. My house has unstable power so in addition to a backup battery, I always get a high end PSU - here is the one I went with for the last PC I built about 3 months ago (a file server).


Automatically Appended Next Post:

LordofHats wrote:I'm not sure if hyperthreading is something that should be considered. Are the current OS' available even able to use the feature?

Hyperthreading has been supported in Windows for over a decade, since Windows 2000 server.

Going with the 6850 will give you DX11 support, It should also run faster and more efficently then the 4850.

If I needed to save money on a build I would actually drop down to DDR2 memory, especially if your using an AMD processor.

If your going to go with an AMD processor I'd suggest waiting to see what Bulldozer actually turns out to be... AMD is pretty far behind Intel in terms of speed and preformance right now, I would suggest either a Sandybridge I3 or better yet an I5 over anything that AMD currently has in its line up. An I3 paired with the 6850 will give you a respectible gaming machine, while the I5 will give your computer some staying power in the future.

Lately there has been a rash of very very poorly constructed power supplies hitting the market, its more important then ever to buy a quality power supply as many of the misc ones are dangerous...

Case, unless your deadset on a particular case I'd recommend using this as another area to save a few bucks. Your not using cutting edge hardware so your not going to run into heat issues.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Based upon your original specs I get a build cost of roughly $500 not including the hard drive.

I put together what I'd build, it runs roughly $446 again not including a hard drive. It costs less but is a much more effective build.

CPU - Core I3 - 2120 - 3.3Ghz- $140
MB - ASRock H61M-VS - Micro Atx - $60
Memory - G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1333 - $32
Video - XFX HD-6770 1 GB - $110
PSU - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-520 520W - $59
Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 - $45

If relative performance scares you as it does me, let people who know what they're doing figure it out for you!

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/