Building My PC 6 - The Central Processor Unit

While early in the build I knew I would have an LGA755 socket, the exact details of the processor eluded me. However, once the rest of the parts fell into place I knew I had to make the final call on CPU. I wanted to see what I could do for $150-$200. I narrowed it down to the e8400 and the q8200. You can see the details of my quandary here. Essentially I could trade 2 faster cores (3GHz) with a larger cache (6M) for 4 slower cores(2.33GHz) with a smaller cache (4M). Also the Core Duo rang up at $150 v the Quad Core at $190.

“Internet research” (aka relearning L33T speak to find out which processor is “ftw”) revealed that the best processor depended on the use. Quad core met the demands of applications like 3D Studio Max or other professional pieces of software designed for multiple cores. For gaming, watching video, and average home use the Core Duo served the best purpose. I found a great set of benchmarks on tomshardware.com (like a desert mirage it disappeared and I cannot find it again though) that compared the e8400 to the q8200 and aside from software that I don’t have the money to buy nor skill to use, the Intel Core Duo e8400 pretty much spanked the q8200 in all categories. Given the $40 lower price the e8400 became a no-brainer.

However, before calling the Quad v. Duo decision a day I also factored in future expandability as I hope to get 4-5 years out of this computer. I wondered if while the Duo performs better now, will the Quad serve us better in the long run as software learns to play better on multiple cores. So, I asked the Internet to look into its crystal ball and ask what will Windows 7 do with quad cores that might sway my decision. I found talk of tweaking what Vista does, but we’re still far from multi-core panacea. Duo will do.

For the processor purchase I went with Tigerdirect as opposed to Newegg through which I ordered all other parts. It saved about $10 bucks and kept me under $650.