Dual or quad? bang for buck

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SuperAntMD

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Why are CPUs so confusing?

I am looking to build a computer soon and am trying to put together a machine with good performance at a low price.

The machine will be running Ubuntu 64bit and will be used for general surfing/word processing, HD video watching and media streaming. I won't be doing anything too fancy but want it to be as responsive as possible and feel really fast and light, even if just when opening programs etc. Obviously (since Im running Ubuntu) it won't be used for gaming, but their may well be some VMware and such...

Now which intel Core2 CPU would you recommend:

An E8400 45nm 3.00ghz 6mb cache

or

A Q9400 45nm 2.66ghz 6mb cache.

The quad is obviously more expensive but will the quad be of any value? Does running multiple apps at the same time favour a quad in anyway, or will I be better off with the higher clock speed on the dual-core?

Not really to keen to OC cos then I need to invest in more cooling which costs more money, but if someone thinks the OCed quad is the way to go I'd like to hear what you have to say.
 
How much are you willing to spend? Pick something in your budget.

From the sounds of it, a dual will do just fine. We have several little "servers" at the office which are just E8200 duos and they run several VMs with no hassles whatsoever. Quite impressed with them.
 
Always amazed at how fast you get a response here :)

QX6700RULZ said:
For browsing only go with the dual
Click to expand...
When other than gaming would the quad be useful?

TheRift said:
How much are you willing to spend? Pick something in your budget.

From the sounds of it, a dual will do just fine. We have several little "servers" at the office which are just E8200 duos and they run several VMs with no hassles whatsoever. Quite impressed with them.
Click to expand...
Budget can always be stretched if there is real advantage to be had. The question is: in most light uses would the quad actually feel slower because of clock speed?

Thanks guys
 
My reaction to reading the op is that you need an ssd. It's the hard drive that makes pcs slow. Get something like the western digital black drive.

Oh and take the quad.
 
A decent enough duel core works relative to its price. The difference between a quad and duel when not gaming is negligible. Better to spend your money on a duel core and a SSD, as Qwicksilver said. SSDs make a huge difference on desktop/word precessing performance.
 
SuperAntMD said:
The machine will be running Ubuntu 64bit and will be used for general surfing/word processing, HD video watching and media streaming. I won't be doing anything too fancy but want it to be as responsive as possible and feel really fast and light, even if just when opening programs etc. Obviously (since Im running Ubuntu) it won't be used for gaming, but their may well be some VMware and such...

An E8400 45nm 3.00ghz 6mb cache

or

A Q9400 45nm 2.66ghz 6mb cache.
Click to expand...

Both CPUs are total overkill! The best bang for buck dual core is the E5200 or new-gen (*cough* LFX :p) E6300. Both will be perfectly fit for your purpose.

If you're really going to be doing a lot of VM stuff then I guess get the E8xxx with virtualisation technology.
 
PostmanPot said:
Both CPUs are total overkill! The best bang for buck dual core is the E5200 or new-gen (*cough* LFX :p) E6300. Both will be perfectly fit for your purpose.

If you're really going to be doing a lot of VM stuff then I guess get the E8xxx with virtualisation technology.
Click to expand...

+1. For linux you don't need a very powerful system
 
I doubt you would notice a differance between a E5200 and a E8500/Q9550 for the needs you mentioned in the OP.

Rather get something cheaper like a E5300/E7400 and then spend the differance on a SSD/RAID config. Will notice a huge differance.
 
Wow, very interseting responses. Any suggestions in terms of what to go for in an SSD? They still seem very expensive to me...

Will definitely look at lower spec'd CPU
 
for hd video playback, if you have an nVidia card, look to use an mplayer that has vdpau enabled. that way all the processing is done by the gpu.
 
SuperAntMD said:
:eek: :sick: :D Ya thats not in my budget at all... might take a look at RAID, if my mobo doesnt support it is software RAID an option or am I SOL?
Click to expand...

I think all Linux distros have software RAID support. But I would rather get a mobo with onboard RAID controller - less load on the CPU etc than software RAID.
 
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