Duel vs. Quad for gaming

[Vietster1]

Hello all, I am trying to help my Brother in law build a gaming machine, I found an Intel Pentium D 820 Dual Core 2.8GHz 800MHz 2x1MB LGA775 CPU for 35 bucks. How well is this for gaming? My B.I.L is hell bent on a Quad core, what I am asking here is, are there any games that the CPU listed above will NOT run? And if not, how long do you think it will be before there is a game that will require something faster. What is the need for a quad if your not going to be doing rendering and video editing? I am just trying to save him some money. But my B.I.L. is one of those: I want the biggest, fastest, and most powerful kind of people. but in this case is there really a need for it. Please give me some input here. Thanks,

I run games from 2008 on my Celeron 340. (Left 4 Dead) for example

[Aaron_8015]

Well the pentium D is getting on a bit now so even if you got a quad core (say a Q6600, which is not exactly latest and greatest) and deactivated two of the cores it will still be faster than that pentium.

[cksboy15]

A dual core is more preffered for gaming seeing that tyou can get a higher operating frequency for less cash. I would suggest a Core 2 over the pentium seeing that it is the superier cpu.

[KarmaKiller]

Not only that, but the Pent D's are a heater. Those things run hot as hell. And depending on which GPU your using, it's gonna limit you. (CPU bottleneck on the GPU in gaming most likely)
And there are more and more games coming out that support multi cores. I saw a list awhile back that showed something like 50+ games that supported multiple cores.

I would try to get a quad, it would be worth it. You can pick up Q6600's on ebay for $120. If not that, at least get a Core2 line dual core. It's well worth it.

[JLK03F150]

Look for an E8500 or E8600 Core 2 Duo for him if he's willing to spend the bucks - awesome gaming CPUs. Fast dual cores are still better than slower quad-cores for gaming.

The PD820 would need to be running about 4.5GHz to match Aaron's two core Q6600. I think your Celery would need to be over 5.0GHz to get close.

At what resolution does the BIL plan on gaming? I run a 24" monitor at 1920x1200 resolution & your celeron would have issues running that with high detail. The PD820 would have problems too. My P4 3.4Ghz had problems with the 1600x1080 resolution of my 22" monitor (that was stolen a few years ago).

[Vietster1]

Well, actually, I am running a 22" Dell Monitor, but with the Celeron, I have to set alot of my setting real low. JLK you should know my specs by now, I have the low end 8400GS with the 340. 1.5 gig of RAM. Though is the Pentium D a good price for the 35.00? And is it hotter than a Prescott??? I usually have all my settings at 1024X768. on the 340! I am not advanced enough for the high detail

[cksboy15]

The PD820 would need to be running about 4.5GHz to match Aaron's two core Q6600. I think your Celery would need to be over 5.0GHz to get close.

5.7GHz. My son did the math a while back (try OCing one that high)

[Vietster1]

Yeah, but what games WONT run on the Pentium D listed above? And wont run well?

[JLK03F150]

Games will run on the PD, just at lower detail & resolution. I want to play new games that look like a new game. IMO that's part of the experience of new games - the WOW factor of the updated graphics.

Different folks have different expectations. I guess you should help your BIL build to his expectations & his budget.

[Vietster1]

LOL, your probably right, I dont know, My fastest Gaming PC so far has been my Celeron. He has a core2 laptop with all the GPU goodies and I have looked at a few games like the new wolfenstein, and Arkham asylum, I dont want to get to into games like that yet. God knows my Budget wont handle such a thing. I have seen the way the new games are with the antianalising and all that other good stuff. I have to turn all that stuff off on My PC. some games I have to lower to 800x600, so you know I am way behind. Though I can play Half-Life 2 on widescreen,1024x768. Runs pretty good. In all honesty, I just want him to get something new to put into his tower cause his Celeron 325 just died last night, and I really want his 865 Chipset Motherboard.

[JLK03F150]

Ah, ulterior motives! Does he have an after-market 865 mobo that can be overclocked?

[Vietster1]

No, Dude, its a Dell. But I think I can do more with it, I just benchmarked the Dell I fixed, compared it to the Vaio and the HP. the CPUs are as follows. Dell 2.4northwood, Vaio 2.68northwood. HP 2.93 celeron 340 prescott. Guess which one had the highest Benchmark for CPU??

[JLK03F150]

Sorry to hear that it's a Dell, Dude.lol My guess would be the Celery won.

[Vietster1]

The Celeron Won by far. Dude your getting a Dell, means I am going to be saying that to my 13 year old son soon. the Vaio came in second.

[Vietster1]

And the Celeron 340, which is a Prescott, helps cut down the gas bill. SSSSSSSSSMOKINNN!!!

[cksboy15]

just get a core 2 and compare it to that celeron. I'll spoil the fun, Core 2 wins.

[JLK03F150]

I used to run Folding@Home on an overclocked 3.4GHz Prescott in the winter. It did wonders for my gas bill. lol

[cksboy15]

run Folding@Home on this intel polaris

[pullmyfoot]

Yeah, but what games WONT run on the Pentium D listed above? And wont run well?

the PD is old and slow, about 4 years out of date to get some perspective on things. Even the very slowest of modern processors can equal it/ outperform it. If the PD is only worth $30, that really says something about how it performs.

to the rest, while 5.7Ghz may sound fun, I dont think it scales quite so well with higher speeds you may need more than that. 6Ghz anybody?

[thephilosophizer]

If he wants to get a quad core, I think the real question should be what the budget is.
If the money is there, the q6600 is a vastly, worlds away superior chip; but if you can only afford a $30 cpu, you might think about amd because they seem to have better low end value.
The other question here, because games are being talked about too, is what is the graphics card?