Quad or Duo Core?

[steveeeeeeeee]

My computer's absolutely f*cked and I need to buy a new opne but am struggling to understand the difference between quad and duo core processors.

Which is the better of these two?
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300
Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6600

Also, blue ray disc players, a worthwhile investment or not? I've never really enjoyed watching DVDs on my computer and I don't even watch downloaded TV series on there now that I've got a program on my Wii that lets me watch DivX videos on it.

The store I'm thinking of going to is this one, the computer I like the look of is the Solaris 402, but there's another one for the same price with blue ray but a duo processor rather than a quad one. Idealy I'd like something cheaper, but hey ho.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Quad or Duo Core?

The Core 2 Duo has a slightly faster clock speed per core, but obviously it only has 2 cores whereas the quad has 4.

The E7300 is also manufactured using a 45nm process as opposed to the 65nm of the quad, which means it is not as power hungry and thus more energy efficient.

In summary, if you're planning on doing a lot of video encoding, the software for this is heavily optimised for more processor cores, so go for the quad.

Otherwise, if you're just working and playing games on it, go for the highest core 2 duo you can afford.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Quad or Duo Core?

The quad core machine in that link has a better graphics card as well.

I wouldn't bother with Blu-ray on your PC to be honest. The drives are still far too expensive.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Quad or Duo Core?

steveeeeeeeee wrote:

I've got a program on my Wii that lets me watch DivX videos on it.

Is that something that plays actual DivX files from an SD card, or do you have to convert them first?

Because if it's the former, can you let us have the link?

[steveeeeeeeee]

Quad or Duo Core?

Thanks for the advice CTT.

I use GeeXboX for my Wii to watch more or less any video file via SD card. You need to install the homebrew channel first.

http://wiibrew.org/wiki/GeeXboX

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Quad or Duo Core?

Thanks for pointing me towards the homebrew stuff for the Wii by the way - I'm well chuffed I can now watch the rest of season 6 of 24 on my telly instead of in the office!

[steveeeeeeeee]

Quad or Duo Core?

No problem, it was all pretty easy to set up and I've had no problems using it, it's been excellent for watching The Wire.

I'm hoping to install a Linux channel on my Wii soon so I can run a basic Linux OS on there.

[Tactical Genius]

Quad or Duo Core?

I echo the words of CTT.
Unless you are video encoding, a quad core is not necessary.
However, if there is a small price difference between the two, go for the Quad.

[anton pulisov]

Quad or Duo Core?

I have a dual core laptop, does the job grand, especially since I reinstalled the whole thing with XP. I had gotten it with XP originally, but Dell were so kind as to fill it up with crap that I didn't need. It's now twice as fast.

So yeah, my advice, see if you can get one where it's easy to reinstall the OS yourself. A preinstalled OS is a great idea, but not when it comes tons of crap.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Quad or Duo Core?

You needed the PC Decrapifier!

[anton pulisov]

Quad or Duo Core?

Thanks for that, it didn't find anything to get rid of though. I have already Decrapified my PC the hard way. But I'll leave in installed as it looks like a handy piece of kit.