I'm unsure about Dual Core now

[DEATH eVADER]

Realising games specs for this year, I've noticed all of them are saying that the recommended specs are a 3.0GHz or equivalent processor.

I am actually buying a Core 2 Duo E6400, which I think is clocked at 2.16 GHz.

Is this the true clock speed? Or is there some underlying mathematics that need to be applied to find out the true clock speed?

 

[Fliko]

GHz doesn't mean much when buying a processor, always look at benchmarks. Thats the simpliest way.

Also, I highy suggest the Core 2 Duo E6400. Its insane, and you can overclock it like nothing (I like mine overclocked to 2.56 GHz. Runs about same temperature and is extremely stable)

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I noticed its rating in PC Pro on a Price/Performance graph, and thats when I came to the conclusion of buying it. I've heard the fan that comes with it is also quiet too.

 

[Cole]

Well heres the thing.
It says a 3.0 P4 OR EQUILVANT. Guess what? a 2.2ghz AMD64 can beat a 3.5ghz P4

What your looking at is a conroe. I would throw it up to be a 3.6/3.7ghz P4.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I think I got the same thing. I think EACH core uses 2.16Ghz, thus making it 3.00+.
It works VERY well with all my games, even CoH. I recommend it.

 

[Asus]

Yeah, when you think of CPU performance don't only think of GHz as speed, like a car race. There are 2 things at work. Think of when you ride a bike. You can put it in high gear and you can pedal really fast but it doesn't have a lot of power to get you moving forward (Pentium 4). Then you could put it in a lower gear like when you go up hills and you can't pedal that fast but for each cycle you get a lot more power to move the bike forward (Athlon 64/ Core 2 Duo).

 

[The Brick]

Dual core has 2 cores running at the same speed, with the e6400, that's 2.16ghz for each core. Dual core does not mean it's as fast as a single core running at double the frequency. AMD's cpus need to run at a 40% higher frequency to reach the same performance. So effectively your cpu is about as fast as an Athlon X2 running at 3ghz. A Pentium D (dual core version of the P4) cpu needs to run 90% faster. So that'd be 4.1ghz.
Overclocking is awesome combined with the right motherboard. I have the e6300 running at 3ghz (stock 1.86).

That's pretty much all the math you need to know, for the effective performance just look for reviews with benchmarks etc.

 

[NeptuneUK]

Old cpu vs your new one!

LOOK:
(the red ones are the highlighted CPUs in question)

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/cpu/charts.html?modelx=33&model1=433&model2=496&chart=174

Your CPU is at the BOTTOM of the performance chart, the E6400 is near the TOP
Go figure.


Choose any of the game benchmarks from the list and notice how with similar components the old CPU gives FPS at the bottom of the chart whereas the E6400 gives an FPS at the top. The E6400 RAPES the AMD 64 3000
The 3 Ghz or equivalent thing mentioned on game specs is only for single cores, the E6400 is probably similar to a 6ghz single core in some respects, hence the 'OR EQUIVALENT' part

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Thanks guys, you lot have really put things into perspective.

Question,

If there is an app that was not written to take advantage of a dual core processor, will the second core be working regardless?

 

[Asus]

Thanks guys, you lot have really put things into perspective.

Question,

If there is an app that was not written to take advantage of a dual core processor, will the second core be working regardless?

Unfortunately it won't. Although if you Ctrl+Alt+Del you can see there are many other small programs running that will be running on the 'free' core and won't be taking away CPU time from your main program with a dual core cpu.

Also, here are example of CPU utilization using devices on your PC if you were using them to their most. It can add up.
Using the Internet/network
Audio
Accessing the harddrive.
Using USB and Firewire