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

Question

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.

As-I-Am · Accepted Answer

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. -- Thug Life

dada62160 · Answer

Hi!  At the same price and if the total frequency is the same, buy the one with four hearts!!

titi 86 · Answer

hi   for the same price, it's better to go for the dual since it has more cache memory  between the E8400 and the Q8200, I don't hesitate: the E8400 has good cache memory and a great overclocking potential  however, between the E8600 and the Q9550, it's the Q9550 without hesitation because it has 12MB of cache and a good frequency

bloodevil · Answer

And for a game then, since that's exactly what my buddy is aiming for? The Q8200 (to stick with my example) will it always be worse than the dual cores? Doesn't a game require a lot of resources at the same time?

alex67260 · Answer

Current games are not optimized for 4 cores; in games, it’s more about cache memory and frequency that matters (the Q8200 is too weak).

titi 86 · Answer

especially since the Q8200 has only 4MB of cache, which is 1MB per core while the E8500 has 6MB of cache, which is 3MB of cache per core and the Q9550 and Q9650 have 12MB of cache, which is 3MB per core  the choice is quickly made  if you want a good CPU for gaming, it's better to turn to the E8500 when the budget is not too high but if the budget is not a limiting factor, why not go for the Q9650 which has dropped in price (around 317€) and which is a very good CPU on socket 775

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

6 answers

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