Duo or Quad Core CPU

[smily157]

I am debating about which is better for my usage, Duo or Quad core. I am leaning towards the duo processor, because I don't think that I will get the performance I want out of it, since I play WOW a lot. Here are the 2 that I am thinking of, I am just looking for some opinions on which is best for my usage.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819115037

Or
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819115017

[kaganader]

umm wow.... dual is good for gaming and just multi tasking like playing a game, listening to music and browsing the internet at the same time.

MOST and I say MOST applications do not utilize the extra cores in a quad, so if you just mainly play wow and dont do video rendering, converting files, compressing and such I would not recomend a quad.

plus for games that do not use the extra cores( I know Crysis utilizes all the cores and some other games do too) such as WoW it is better to have a higher clock core so the dual would be the victor in this.

[Ciro]

Welcome

The Q6600 has now been superseded by the Q9300, which is the entry level quad-core chip in Intel's new lineup.

The E8400, on the other hand, is the best value dual-core chip money can buy today, and its sales represent just how popular it is.

For future proofing, I'd definitely go quad-core, even if most of today's programs don't utilize all four cores.

It is worth considering, as kaganader did say, a faster dual-core chip would benefit you more in games. So you'll have to weigh up positives and negatives.

[kaganader]

due note that the LGA775 socket is going to hit its EOL when nehalem comes out ( but thats 1yr 6months estimating from now). so even if he does get the Q9450 or Q9300, theres going to be no future for that socket type (but thats 1+year from now).
and there will be faster, smaller, less wattage using quads out by the next wave. IMO I'm waiting till Quads become mainstream and is fully utilized by programs.

and by the time companies integrate multi core use in there programs and games nehalem will be just around the corner.

but this is my opinion, if your gaming Duals all the way, if is a HTCP doing movies rendering, converting video then quads by all means, it will do all that so much faster then duals by a big margin.