Which would you choose?

Just wondering if you were to go with high end Core 2 Duo
or a Low end Quad Core processor say (2.4 Ghz Quad core 1066MHz FSB 4mb cache ).

Just trying to guage which to get and not be stuck behind with my purchase
as soon as I buy it.

Not looking into either of the Extreme processors just basic, not wanting top spend thousands on Extreme.

The minute you buy it, its obsolete, thinking.

So input would be nice

Just gonna make a gaming rig, but not spending tons on it.

Not many applications, and no games, can benefit from quad cores, so I'd say go for the high end dual core.

I'd also say that, unless you're going for a Core 2 Duo at about 3Ghz, you'd get much more bang-for-the-buck by getting an AMD dual core. (An AMD 3.0 gig costs about the same as an Intel 2.6gig) Of course, that may not help if you've already got an Intel (socket) motherboard.

these are the 2 combo MB and processor I was looking at

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...M-680ILT-E6850 (INTEL)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...064&CatId=2621 (AMD)

The AMD looks good never know how to gauge the AMD chips becuase the dont really say what speed the processor is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128048

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115028

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130038

http://crucial.com/#

Burning this system in right now.
-was gonna go with Vista ultimate, but why screw with a good thing?

The Athlon 6000+ X2 is far cheaper and performs better than the C2D E6400s. Personally, I would go with that, get the Arctic Cooling 64, and OC that bad boy by about 600 mhz

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_20...80&char t=422
Browse through the applications that they used to test the CPUs

$160 for the 6000+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773
+ $20 for the heatpipes
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185125

Vs

$200 for the E6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115004

With the 6000+ and the heatpipes, you can easily hit Core2 Extreme speeds for far less cash.

You be the judge

if you got the fat pockets go for the fastest and high dollar stuff

I doubt he has the money for a 1.2k processor if he's looking to get one in the $200 price range...>.>

Core speed is not everything. For me, I would rather go for a Core 2 Duo E6600 which is a bargain at the moment and if you really want to push it's limits, you can easily overclock it from stock speeds of 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz for that extra boost.

Mind you, most of the AMD X2 CPUs consume much more power from the PSU, even when idle or on load compared to an equivalent Core 2 Duo.

Well the E6600 is going for the same price as an Athlon 64 6000+ X2 here; but if price is an issue then it's up to you.

Deffinitely go for the fast Dual core processor over any Quadcore processor.

Hardly any application prorgamm (except for real professional stuff like CAD/CAM and similar buisiness designing programms) needs 2 cores. Most games run perfectly fine with only one core currently, and there are only a few games which actually CAN use dualcore technology to their fullest capacity.

So you will be perfectly ready for any future games going with a fast Dualcore seeing as the developers first have to get to grips with programming dual core application before even thinking of tackling Quadcore programming for the broad market.