Core 2 Duo 3.0Ghz vs Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz

radiospan

These are practically the same price on Komplett (bigger cache on the Quad too):
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=330169
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338084

Trying to decide between them for a new PC. I've started to notice that my Athlon XP 2400+ doesn't cut it for decoding 720p x264 videos. Which processor would be better for this? I'd be hoping to be able to playback 1080p x264 too (nowhere near watchable on my current PC). I'm using CoreAVC and Media Player Classic.

I hardly ever play games (if any at all) so I won't need it for that.

The Real B-man

Quad core all the way

awhir

quad no question.

with the quad you get 4 cores running while with the dual you only have 2

nibble

Undoubtedly the quad, perfect for encoding and rendering.

radiospan

Excellente, thanks!

I realise 4x2.4 > 2x3.0, but I was thinking that lots of applications only support single core / thread, and so 3GHz would have been better than 2.4GHz? Mustn't be.

I'll go for the Quad.

christophicus

maybe this is a stupid question but why woulod you want to use teh res of 1080p x264 ?

radiospan

I think all HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs are at 1080p. I'm using 1680x1050 screen res, but most of what I'll be watching will be 720p. (I'll download the 720p copies of TV shows instead of the standard def ones)

nibble

plazzTT wrote:

Excellente, thanks!

I realise 4x2.4 > 2x3.0, but I was thinking that lots of applications only support single core / thread, and so 3GHz would have been better than 2.4GHz? Mustn't be.

I'll go for the Quad.

Well you are correct, but most encoders/decoders are multithreaded so the quad would win with the two extra cores over the E6850.

Hendrix89

Hehe isnt it funny how that when I asked for advice if I should get a Quad a few weeks ago you guys were all telling me it's no good and to go for a C2D!

Man I'm glad I didnt listen to y'all on that

Anti

I have a duo and a quad. And with my duo clocked at 3.8ghz it hammers the quad in games with ease. But it would not allow me to have wow, css and moh:a running at the same time. Dont ask why i had all 3 running

tman

Erm... isn't a quad a little overkill if all he wants to do is DECODE video on it?
Quads are better at encoding vid, but if you just want to watch them, the C2D will be perfect for your needs imo...

Out of interest, what kind of graphics card do you have in your current pc, as the problem could've also been due to an onboard graphics card (in my experience, they're ****e for video playback)

radiospan

My graphics is an old GeForce 4.

I will be encoding a bit too, into MPEG 2 and x264. I'll definately converting vids to MP4 for my iPod too.

Endurance Man

plazzTT wrote:

My graphics is an old GeForce 4.

I will be encoding a bit too, into MPEG 2 and x264. I'll definately converting vids to MP4 for my iPod too.

If you're buying a new cpu you can throw that geforce4 away, and you could probably throw your motherboard and ram away to.

L31mr0d

christophicus wrote:

maybe this is a stupid question but why woulod you want to use teh res of 1080p x264 ?

1080p is the res (i.e. 1920x1080) and x264 is the codec

nibble

So what is your rig plazzTT?

radiospan

This is it so far, I'll probably make more changes over the next few days. I might look for a silent PSU too.

Chassis: http://www.quietpc.com/ie-en-eur/products/pc-cases/ac-3x0 108
PSU: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=327671 122 (quiet enough??)
Mobo: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=335661 124
CPU: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=330169 255
RAM: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=321028 94
GFX: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=334545 89
HDD: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=320711 109

+ my current monitor: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338805 , IDE HDDs (300GB + 160GB) and optical drives

KdjaCL

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338523

i getting that if you got it, it may save you about 20 euro


kdjac

Anti

KdjaCL wrote:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338523

i getting that if you got it, it may save you about 20 euro


kdjac

Yep great combo that, and not a bad overclocker too.

radiospan

From reading reviews, it seems that motherboard in the combo had overheating issues, because the northbridge cooling isn't adequate and the CPU heats up. I might just be using a heatsink on my CPU, so I wouldn't want it getting too hot in there.

... and that RAM is now listed as "100% off" http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=321028