Difference between a 2-core and a 4-core processor?

bloodevil Posted messages 44 Status Membre -  
titi 86 Posted messages 1873 Status Membre -
Hello,

A friend intends to buy a new PC and since I know a bit about it, I decided to help him out. But I have to say he stumped me with a question: For the same price, will a dual-core processor offer better performance than a quad-core processor?

I'm giving the example with INTEL, for a similar price of around €170, between the E8400 processor (2 cores) at 3.0 GHz with 1333 MHz bus frequency and the Q8200 processor (4 cores) at 2.33 GHz with 1333 MHz bus frequency.

Anyway, I thank you in advance for your answers, feel free to provide plenty of explanations lol.

Best regards, Bloodevil.
Configuration: Windows XP Firefox 3.0.5

6 réponses

As-I-Am Posted messages 7178 Status Contributeur 798
 
Hello,
In a single application, the E8400 will be more efficient due to its higher frequency, but with many simultaneous applications, the quad will perform better because it has more cores.
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Thug Life
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Fllorian-R Posted messages 150 Status Membre 6
 
What As-I-Am says is totally true ;)
If you are going to use several heavy applications at the same time, like Photoshop + Pinnacle Studio...
I advise your friend to get the 4-core.
But if it's just for running MSN + Mozilla + iTunes, it's better to get the 2-core (Although the Quad will be perfect too ;))

Anyway, it's up to you (or your friend) to make the choice, but if it's at the same price, I would take the 2-core, because it has more GHz (to keep it simple..)
:D
Best regards.
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