[GottaHaveFaith]

Hi everyone. I have to decide which processor to get for the new rig im building.

I was looking at the AMD Athlon 64 3800+ for $282

but as i scrolled down i noticed that the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ is only $13 more.

Now im confused.

A little info for you:

I want this rig mainly for gaming, MMORPGs and other games like F.E.A.R., etc...

I have seen benchmarks where the dual cores beat out the single cores. But i heard someone mention that dual cores dont currently help with gaming performance, and in fact hinder it.

So i turn to you.

Help inform me please.

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At the moment most games cant utilise the second core and are stuck on single cores which mean lower performance as the cores individually arent as fast as the similarly rated single core chip(they are still all pretty fast though).

In the future games will use the second core but not at the moment, but its a good thing to have and its still fast enough to game with as long as the rest of the pc is up to scratch obviously.

Fear i think has some dual core support in its latest patches but ild have to check that.

[warriorscot]

At the moment most games cant utilise the second core and are stuck on single cores which mean lower performance as the cores individually arent as fast as the similarly rated single core chip(they are still all pretty fast though).

In the future games will use the second core but not at the moment, but its a good thing to have and its still fast enough to game with as long as the rest of the pc is up to scratch obviously.

Fear i think has some dual core support in its latest patches but ild have to check that.

[GottaHaveFaith]

so you think it would be smart to go with the dual core? if so then which dual core is good for gaming, but not a million bucks? would the 3800+ dual be good for modern games at high settings if i pair it with a good vid card?

[jrm20]

The 3800+ will get the job done. The 3800+,4200+, or 4400+ is all you would need any of them really.

The opteron chips are good as the opteron 165 dual core has 1.8ghz on the operating frequency but the opteron chips arent for everyone. People will buy the opteron 165 dual core chip and then overclock it to faster speeds and you end up saving money, I know that someone will recommend it to you but not everyone knows how to overclock so keep that in mind...


An amd dual core x2 is all that you would need but be shure to pair it up with a fast video card. Get the fastest video card that you can afford and if you run low on cash stick with lowering the cpu to one step lower for example if you choose to go with the 4200+ or the 4400+ dual core.

**GET a fast VIDEOCARD**

[GottaHaveFaith]

ok im i little confused by the response. Sorry im having a brain fart.

I was thinking the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and pair it up with a 7800GT or maybe a 7800GTX.

How will this handle games? High settings? Uber high settings?

Maybe ill get lucky and be able to afford the Saphire X1900XTX for about 500 bones, but i highly doubt it.

It gets so confusing trying to determine whether to go with dual core or not, SLI or not, etc....

I just want a rig that will play Everquest 2, FEAR, and whatever ridiculously power-consuming games come out in the next 12-18 months on uber high settings and all the eye candy turned up, without it being so choppy it makes me sea-sick.

Do i have to save even longer and get a 4400+ or whatever and an even better vid card? because if i have to i will, as much as that would blow.

Anyways, thanks in advance.

[GottaHaveFaith]

oh ya, and ive never overclocked. I plan on tinkering around with it in my old rig, so as not to do any damage to my new one, so i may or may not o/c the new rig eventually but i dont want to count on that.

[jrm20]

ok im i little confused by the response. Sorry im having a brain fart.

I was thinking the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and pair it up with a 7800GT or maybe a 7800GTX.

How will this handle games? High settings? Uber high settings?

Maybe ill get lucky and be able to afford the Saphire X1900XTX for about 500 bones, but i highly doubt it.

It gets so confusing trying to determine whether to go with dual core or not, SLI or not, etc....

I just want a rig that will play Everquest 2, FEAR, and whatever ridiculously power-consuming games come out in the next 12-18 months on uber high settings and all the eye candy turned up, without it being so choppy it makes me sea-sick.

Do i have to save even longer and get a 4400+ or whatever and an even better vid card? because if i have to i will, as much as that would blow.

Anyways, thanks in advance.

the 7800gt's are the same price as some 7900gt's I have seen so the 7900gt would be the better one to get between 7800gt vs 7900gt.

The 7800gtx is a fast card also..

the 7900gtx is better..

all of the 7900 series are out of stock right now at newegg..


I would say go with a 7900 series card because you can find great deals on the 7900gt, the 7900gtx is more expensive though..

You only need one video card, the ati x1900xtx would be fine also..

many decisions but my opinion you only need one fast card.

the amd 3800+ x2 dual core would be okay but I would go a step or 2 higher than it..

Edited by jrm20, 20 March 2006 - 01:42 AM.

[Tjvelcro]

I am in no means a expert in gaming rig area however I just bought myself a top of the line computer a month ago, so maybe my opinions and experiences can help you out. I have a AMD 64 x2 3800 and a geforce 7800 GT, now I downloaded the FEAR and doom 3 demos to try it out and it seems to be able to run well maxed out at 1024x768. (I cant go any further up because of monitor ) Iv been talking to ppl recently about dual core and I have come to the conclusion (as most of the people on these boards seem to) that current games do not support dual core... maybe in future games or patches will they use it to the full capacity. However I believe if you multitask it will help you out. Example. I play WoW with everything maxed, then while Im on the flying gryphon I can alt+tab to firefox and surf on 3 sites at once. (Maybe more havnt tried, need to get dual monitors to help me out with this)

2 Things I didnt know before I bought my new computer...
1. The CPU isnt as important as it used to be because GPUs are taking more of the load. (In games at least as well as any video intense things)
2. Even the most powerful $5000 machine isnt perfect.

Just my 2 cents

Tjvelcro

Edited by Tjvelcro, 20 March 2006 - 08:59 AM.

[Hemal]

As stated above- dual cores arent taken advantage of just yet and its more of the GPU taking the load- the 165 is a great chip but only for O/C'ers

The 3800 is perfect as well

Looks like you already got some good advice with some strong GPU cards so you will be in good shape