Dual core or quad core?

Question

Which processor is better for gaming dual or quad core. Thx

Answer 1

normally i would say dual core because its just a proven fact unless you get the QX9750 or better.  The are exceptions though.  Having a quad core allows you to set affinity.  This allows you to assign processes within the process manager to the two cores that the game doesnt use.  Games in the near future promise to use quad threading, however for now the ability to run xfire,antivirus,ventrillo, or team speak from seperate cores might give you a slight advantage over using a dual core to do them all.  I personally strip my processes before gaming since i try to be as competitive as i can so i use an overclocked dual core that outperforms the QX9750 at gaming for 1/5th the cost.  Of course, you can always overclock a quad core too, but getting the most bang for your buck is the dual core right now.

Answer 2

My $0.02:

There's not currently all that many games that support quad core, and the ones that do do Not do a good job (IMO). If you grabbed a higher end dual core, it would likely cost less, leaving you with more $$ to blow on other things (e.g. video card).

That being said, if you don't upgrade all that often, going quad is most certainly more futureproof.

From what I've seen, all but the very newest games run only marginally better on a quad than a dual core, if there's no other heavy apps running (if you're playing two instances of your game, for instance, all bets are off;quad would be the way to go!)

Answer 3

You want a gaming PC? Go for Quad COre system, 4 GB RAM, atleast 160GB SATA with a d**n good Video Card.

Answer 4

There's a really good article on just that topic at the Guru of 3D at http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scalin...

The bottom line is that right now and for some games, a higher clocked dual core is better for today's games than a lower clocked dual core. That's mostly because game developers are still getting the hang of writing for multicore processors. For the most part, however, the FPS difference between the dual and quad cores is negligible. The general theory is that as newer games come out and they are developed to take advantage of quad cores and beyond, that difference in FPS will start to widen. It is expected that that a CPU with more cores will be the norm for gaming PCs in the next few years.