dual vs quad processor

[atomicweasel]

Mainly for a gaming desktop of a total budget of £500. Im a bit of a newbie and all this confuses me (first time I'm making a buying a gaming PC). I just want the one which can run games well and the two ones I'm thinking of are intel i3 4340 (3.6 Ghz) dual processor and then an AMD A8 6500 quad processor (4.1Ghz). PS I can only get it from PC SPECIALIST (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/pcs/) so feel free to have a look.

 

[logainofhades]

The i3 is faster of the two.

 

[Shankovich]

Mainly for a gaming desktop of a total budget of £500. Im a bit of a newbie and all this confuses me (first time I'm making a buying a gaming PC). I just want the one which can run games well and the two ones I'm thinking of are intel i3 4340 (3.6 Ghz) dual processor and then an AMD A8 6500 quad processor (4.1Ghz). PS I can only get it from PC SPECIALIST (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/pcs/) so feel free to have a look.

Hi there. You're better off going with the intel i3-4340. It has two threads per core, so 4 threads. That means it "kind oif" acts like a quad core. Anyways, it has been shown to be quite the good budget gaming CPU http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_5.html#sect0

Also, it's for the latest socket from intel, so if you want to upgrade later on, you have a lot of options. The AMD CPU is a FM2 socket, which is basically at its end now.

Go for the intel based!

 

[Demorthus]

In simple terms: More cores = more arms to deal be efficient. Intel = more efficient/costs more <~> AMD = more heat/costs less (usually)

 

[atomicweasel]

Mainly for a gaming desktop of a total budget of £500. Im a bit of a newbie and all this confuses me (first time I'm making a buying a gaming PC). I just want the one which can run games well and the two ones I'm thinking of are intel i3 4340 (3.6 Ghz) dual processor and then an AMD A8 6500 quad processor (4.1Ghz). PS I can only get it from PC SPECIALIST (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/pcs/) so feel free to have a look.

Hi there. You're better off going with the intel i3-4340. It has two threads per core, so 4 threads. That means it "kind oif" acts like a quad core. Anyways, it has been shown to be quite the good budget gaming CPU http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-4340-4330-4130_5.html#sect0

Also, it's for the latest socket from intel, so if you want to upgrade later on, you have a lot of options. The AMD CPU is a FM2 socket, which is basically at its end now.

Go for the intel based!

So is it best for gaming and can it be replaced easily by a newbie later on?

 

[fudoka711]

+1 For getting the intel i3 4340. Also, even if the amd a8 6500 has a higher clock speed, the intel cpu gets more work done per cycle and per core, which is why it'll outperform the amd one.

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

Why are you confined to that website? They don't seem to offer designated GPU's, which is better for gaming over an APU. For that price you could buy a nicer CPU and get a decent GPU and have a nicer machine for gaming I would think.

 

[fudoka711]

So is it best for gaming and can it be replaced easily by a newbie later on?

Yup. You'll have to carefully remove the fan/heatsink and then take the cpu out of its socket. It's really easy to lift out once the heatsink has been removed. Then you can just plop the next generation cpu in (carefully, of course), apply thermal paste/grease, and put the heatsink/fan back on.

Also, should you decide to sell your old cpu, you should clean the thermal paste off using at least 70% alcohol solution, preferably 90%. Use a cotton swab or q-tip.

But I wouldn't worry too much about this since this'll only matter if and when you decide to upgrade your cpu. Ask for information/help at that point in time.

 

[atomicweasel]

Why are you confined to that website? They don't seem to offer designated GPU's, which is better for gaming over an APU. For that price you could buy a nicer CPU and get a decent GPU and have a nicer machine for gaming I would think.

can you reccomend a website then?

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

I'm pretty sure newegg.com ships to the uk. That is my personal favorite because they have such a great return policy.

 

[RookieOfTheYear]

I just looked at what is offered to the UK. You can get all the components for a gaming PC, but you will have to build the computer yourself. It's more work but you will get much better components for the money.

 

[fudoka711]

I just looked at what is offered to the UK. You can get all the components for a gaming PC, but you will have to build the computer yourself. It's more work but you will get much better components for the money.

I agree. It is usually recommended that people buy the components and build the computer themselves, saving money in the process. It's also a pretty cool learning experience if its your first time building a computer.

pcpartpicker is a great site to "build" a computer online, while finding the best deals for where you live. I think it has links to places in the UK.

 

[atomicweasel]

I just looked at what is offered to the UK. You can get all the components for a gaming PC, but you will have to build the computer yourself. It's more work but you will get much better components for the money.

I agree. It is usually recommended that people buy the components and build the computer themselves, saving money in the process. It's also a pretty cool learning experience if its your first time building a computer.

pcpartpicker is a great site to "build" a computer online, while finding the best deals for where you live. I think it has links to places in the UK.

I'll have a look then. Thanks for the reply.