Upgrade/swap CPU (Duo to Quad) ?

[mrcool]

I'm looking to build a medium/low end computer for my sister - she has a laptop currently and pretty much anything would be better than it (IMHO).

My current build has:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3 GHz / 6MB Cache
6GB RAM (DDR2, but I can never remember what speed)
Ati 4850
Asus P5k Pro board
W7x64


Looking at Core 2 Duo prices for the new build, the lowest Core 2 I see is:
$116 for a Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz 3 MB Cache.
The lowest Quad Core is:
$170 Intel Core2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz 4MB cache or
$190 Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz LGA 775 6MB cache.

Would it be worth it for me to put the Quad in mine and give my sis the Duo? I love my current build and I know this processor (dual core) would be more than enough for her.

I know I could google it but if anyone has any benchmarks of the two or three processors that would help. Or I'll look it up eventually...

 

[Snuf]

It would definitely be a wise decision to upgrade to a QuadCore. Soon, alot more Apps/Games will utilize Multi-Core CPUs.

Out of the 2 Quad's you posted, the only difference is the L2 Cache. Whereas neither is a native QuadCore, the Q9400 6MB L2 is actually 3MB x2 and the Q8400 is 2MB x2. Both cpu's are 2x DualCore fused on a single die. The most any core can use at one time is 3MB of L2 Cache for the Q9400 and 2MB L2 for the Q8400.

It's nice to have a larger L2 Cache, and for $20 i'd say go for the Q9400.

 

[NUFAN]

At this point, you won't see much a performance increase if at all with a quad core in gaming, but the more applications adapt to multi-core the better it will be (and required), so I would say in the next few years, maybe it would be worth the upgrade, but at this point, I wouldn't think so, JMHO

 

[AntiFreeze]

At this point, you won't see much a performance increase if at all with a quad core in gaming, but the more applications adapt to multi-core the better it will be (and required), so I would say in the next few years, maybe it would be worth the upgrade, but at this point, I wouldn't think so, JMHO

Pretty much what he said, only a few games such as BC2 really utilize all the cores of the CPU. If you have, or plan on getting BC2, a quad core real really boost performance over a dual-core. Quad-cores are also great for multi-tasking (esp. with multiple monitors). Anyways, if you have the money, then go for the quad-core. If you want to save some money, then the dual-cores will be just fine.