Hi all.

As it goes with the ever rapidly growing computer technology, ever year or so I do a major upgrade with components.

As of right now, I have an Intel Pentium IV, 3 Gigahertz processor on an Asus motherboard with 3 Gigs of RAM. A 320 Gigabyte Western Digital SATA HDD. An ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XT video card with 256MB of video RAM.

When I noticed these Dual Core processors come out onto the market a little while back, I checked them out. The ones that first came out (at least the ones I saw) were actually rated less as far as speed goes compared to mine; what I mean is, whereas I have a 3 Gigahertz, the first ones I saw were 1.8, 2.4, or 2.6 Gigahertz, and yet, they were more expensive than the one I currently have. So, at first, I'm thinking, "Less speed, yet costs MORE money? What gives??"

I did a little inquiring at a local store and talked to a tech guy, and the way he briefly put it was that these Dual Core processors can handle multiple streams better than previous processors (kind of like, Why increase the speed on a highway when you can have more "lanes" and the "traffic" still gets through just as well?).

Can any of you "techies" out there educate me some more on these Dual Core processors? I know AMD makes them as well, but I'd like to stick with Intel. Either at a local store near me (or at some on-line retailers) I frequently see Processor & Motherboard combos.

And then while I'm here......

The latest with video cards seems to be these PCI-Express cards. Many moons ago, one of the early video cards I had back in the 90's was a Diamond Stealth, 32MB's of vid RAM; anybody remember those?!?! Ever since, I've been sticking with ATI's All-In-Wonder cards because I like the television feature as I can watch T.V. through my computer monitor.

However, I see and hear a lot of good word about Nvidia's cards. I'd like to get a PCI-Express card with 512MB's of vid RAM. Any suggestions as to what make/ brand of card out there? Whether it be an ATI card or a Nvidia?

And remember the Dual Core info.

Thanks, out there, for any and all help, suggestions, and info!!!

Pez

Dual Core processors have evolved greatly ever since the Pentuim 4, and even the first generation and second generation Intel Dual Cores as well. Those last generation processors used the ghz factor, but now the latest Intel Dual Cores rely more on the technology built into them then the speed of the processor itself. This is why a E6350 Core 2 Duo at 1.8ghz will beat any single core Pentuim 4 and Pentuim D (Intel's first and second generation Dual Cores) on the market.

One of the main reasons why Dual Cores came about, was because of the 4ghz barrier that Single Cores couldn't pass without becoming overheated or unstable at the time. So instead of spending millions and millions of dollars on market research trying to find a solution to the heat and unstable problems that single cores had going beyond 4ghz, AMD and Intel came up with a much simplier solution and that was to make 2 Cores on a single processor below the 4ghz barrier. but could equal or exceed that of a single core at 4ghz and beyond. For example Core 1, 2.4ghz + 2.4ghz, Core 2 = 4.8ghz performance with both cores being used at once. It would take a single core Pentuim 4 at 4.8ghz to match that of a Athlon X2 64 4800+ in overall performance when two cores are being taken advantage of.

Right now Nvidia makes the best performance gaming cards while ATI makes the best Video Rendering cards.

Dual core is in my opinion a step up. It is not what a true dual processor would be. Most tests seem to show about 1.5X improvement. Most of that might be from the upgraded side support.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

Hi guys; thanks for the responses.

I use my computer for many things, but I have to admit, I play a lot of computer games that are very demanding of hardware. Some of the newer releases I won't be able to play on my current system (due to processor and video card/ graphic restraints, but mainly video/ graphic demands).

As an example or two:

Clive Barker's game Jericho says it needs a 2.4Ghz processor. If I were to eventually get a Dual Core processor, and let's say it was a 1.8 or a 2.2Ghz, then would I NOT be able to play the game? Or, since it's "dual core", do I multiply those numbers by 2 and then get 1.8 x 2 = 3.6Ghz, or, 2.2 x 2 = 4.4Ghz? This is what I'm not clear on.

Some games on the sides of their boxes are actually saying that the game requires a Dual Core processor to play it. While Jericho doesn't say this, it does have a video card requirement that I don't meet with my current card.

Another game called TimeShift requires a 2Ghz processor, but the video requirements mention "Pixel and Vertex Shaders Model 1.1", which I don't think I have on my current card.

As far as video cards go, I might lean towards Nvidia.

Cobra_R:

You mention that "Nvidia makes the best performance gaming cards while ATI makes the best Video Rendering cards"; would you say, then, that Nvidia is better for gaming? And by "Video Rendering" for ATI, do you mean as in rendering a better picture as far as watching videos goes on a computer monitor?

Thanks for any more info.
Pez

Some newer games still use the ghz factor, but most newer games use the ratio factor now like Athlon 3000+ @ 1.8ghz or higher instead of Pentuim 4 3ghz or higher.

The newest dual cores you will disregard the older game spec requirments, because they don't apply to Dual Cores. If you see a Pentuim 4 @ 2.4ghz spec on a game and nothing else and you have a Core 2 Duo 6350 @ 1.8ghz the game spec is only referring to the old Pentuim 4 processors. Like I said before the Core 2 Duo 6350 will outperform even a Pentuim 4 3.7ghz that is 1900mhz faster. How? Because of the technology and dual cores built into it. This is why unless you have a Pentuim 4 you should disregard the specs if you have a Core 2 Duo, due to the fact that these processors are in two totally diff relms. If a Core 2 Duo E6350 can outperform a Pentuim 4 @ 3.7ghz then that should give you a clear idea that the Core 2 Duo E6530 far exceeds the Pentuim 4 @ 2.4ghz in overall performance. It would take a Pentuim 4 @ 6.3ghz to outperform as well as a Core 2 Duo E6350 in a dual core setting.

Yes you take the 2 cores and times them by 2 when you are talking about AMD's X2 Dual Cores vs a Pentuim 4, But Intels Core 2 Duo you have to dvide the ratio number in half like the E6350 vs a Pentuim 4 and that's what you would get performance wise for each core vs a Pentuim 4. Say like one core @ 1.8ghz on the E6530 would = that of a Pentuim 4 @ 3.2ghz.

You can play single core games on dual core rated games, all that it's saying is it's required to have a dual core to take full advantage of the game.

Your ATI X800XT has pixel shader 2.0

Yes Nvidia makes better gaming cards and ATI makes better Video cards and by that I mean what you mentioned. The Latest ATI's out performs Nvidia in regular video and HD Video decoding.

I purchased a 2.8 G.B. Dual Core one month B/4 they released the Duo2 proccessor which cliamed to be 40% faster then the dual core ,now I've been hearing about a quad core system ? All I know is at first it really bothered me that my "new" PC was already yesterdays news ,however now that I've had it a little over a year I have come to really like this machine ,its as fast as it seems I need because it esily handles anything and everything I throw at it ,I also have a ATI RADEON PCI-Express Graphic's card and an ATI TV Wonder Elite TV Tuner card PCI ! Going from a P3 750MHz to this system was a nice jump and perhaps thats why I like it so much ,what I really notice is how I can have so many things going on at once and it never freezes up on me !
Take Care Nick