Member Avatar for PaddyRamsey

Right, I've just started a new course and part of the requirements is to have two networked PC's. I built my current PC from scratch so this time I'm going for the complete system in one fell swoop!

I've been looking around, and I'm getting very confused by what's right for me or not. First I've put down a few rules about what the new system MUST have -

  1. at least 3.4 GHz worth of CPU
  2. at least 2GB RAM
  3. PCI-E Express (quite a keen gamer)

Then I started reading about Dual-Core processors. Having never really known much about them at first, they seemed like a really good idea at first. But the more I read - the more I begin to think it probably isn't necessary. From what I've gathered, they are only really useful for mutli-tasking with for things like server hosts. The most I'm really going to be running at any one time is perhaps Photoshop/Illustrator CS2, Dreamweaver, and assorted other programs.

What can anyone tell me about Dual-Core? Is it worth it even if you aren't going to make the most of it's capabilities?

The other thing I wanted to ask about was the 64-bit systems. Is it worth upgrading to 64 even if your OS is only 32? Will it make much of a difference?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by nizzy1115

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Two quick, practical points tied to the thread so far for and anyone else weighing single-core clock vs cores and 32/64-bit choices.

Pick hardware around real workloads, not just a GHz number. For gaming the GPU will usually move frame rates more than a small bump in CPU clock; for design apps the wins come from a mix of single-thread speed (responsiveness, UI tasks) and extra threads for CPU-bound operations (renders, exports). Look for a CPU architecture with strong per-clock performance and at least two fast cores to balance both needs.

What to check beyond “cores and GHz”: per-core IPC and cache sizes, memory bandwidth and whether the board supports dual-channel memory, motherboard power delivery (VRMs) and BIOS maturity, and expansion (PCIe lanes, SATA). Matched RAM in the correct slots gives a noticeable real-world boost. Also verify driver support for the platform and GPU — weak drivers cause more trouble than marginal CPU differences.

64-bit advice in short: the advantage is the ability to use more than ~4GB of RAM and larger per-process address space. If large Photoshop files, virtual machines, or heavy multitasking are in your plan, choose x86-64 hardware and a 64-bit OS when drivers and the apps you rely on are supported. If you’re mainly running 32-bit apps and don’t plan to add lots of RAM immediately, a 32-bit OS will work fine until you upgrade.

Practical checklist before buying: define your top three workloads, read recent application-specific benchmarks, prioritise a quality PSU and cooling, buy a motherboard with a good upgrade path, purchase a matched RAM kit, and invest where it helps the most (GPU for games, RAM and disk speed for large design files). ’s point about future-proofing is sensible — balance it with what gives measurable gains today.

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

Here is my opinion. If your going to go high end (your specs show this to me), i would make it worthwile for the future.

Ok first off. You seem to have the idea that dual cores will only give you a boost in performance if you run more than one 'program' at a time. This is not true. Hit ctrl-alt-del and go to the processes tab. My guess is that you have around 50 different processes running, even with out any program running. Dual cores lets these processes get split inbetween these two cores. Its not just between photoshop and illistrator etc. Intel's quad core processors that they release in January of next year will really show a drastic improvement over single cores, but dual cores are a great advantage over single cores.

Also, i would go with 64 bit. Thats where the future is. Once Windows Vista is released in Q4 of this year, there will be a huge surge in 64 bit applications and you would greatly benifit from this as well. Also, there is a 64 bit version of Windows XP that was released early last year and is pretty good. Also, looking at intel's line a 3.4 ghz socket 478 (32 bit) is the same price as a 3.4 ghz LGA 775 (64 bit). I wouldn't see any reason not to go with the 32 bit processor.

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