Quad Core?

[Bada]

I'm going out to buy a computer with an Intel quad core processor (2.4ghz each). Will Huxley allow me to fully utilize my processor or won't it act much better than a dual core?

[Squalker]

Seeing how it is built on the Unreal 3 engine which has full multi-processor support, having the quad should only make it better.

[Lunarhawk]

You should probably wait for the quad core price cuts as well in a couple weeks

[zeekgenateer]

It's only a matter of time that processor cores start skyrocketing. How long until we see an octocore? Or a hexacore? And when that happens processor speed won't matter for the most part. Think about it an octocore running at 800 MHz per core would run at 6.4 GHz and a hexacore running at 400 MHz would do the same. And think of the overclocking potential. As long as you can keep it cool, overclocking becomes exponential. Hopefully motherboards will be made with infinite core support (any # of cores is fine on motherboard). That way you wouldn't have to buy a new motherboard so often.

[Risu]

One can only imagine the possibilities as companies continue to compete against one another and in doing so, create more advanced technology.

[Chiana]

Originally Posted by zeekgenateer

It's only a matter of time that processor cores start skyrocketing. How long until we see an octocore? Or a hexacore? And when that happens processor speed won't matter for the most part. Think about it an octocore running at 800 MHz per core would run at 6.4 GHz and a hexacore running at 400 MHz would do the same. And think of the overclocking potential. As long as you can keep it cool, overclocking becomes exponential. Hopefully motherboards will be made with infinite core support (any # of cores is fine on motherboard). That way you wouldn't have to buy a new motherboard so often.

Funny you should say that. I've decided that I'm not going to upgrade my CPU (amd 64 X2 4800+) Until I can get a 8 core.

[connnnn]

Most applications don't take advantage of quad core at all yet, and even the folks at Epic (who made the U3 engine) say that while it'll allow your CPU to offload some of its threads, there's no reason for developers to spend much time optimizing for something that so few people have (yet).

So if you're trying to buy a high-end system to future-proof, I'd say go quad, but for a medium-term rig I would (and will) more likely look to dual-core for value/performance.

[Corbs]

Since the price of the Q6600 dropped, I'd aim for a quad core.

Granted, games at the moment are not optimized for multi threading but it's definitely coming in a near future. The performance gain might not be as one would expect in games, but if you're building a multi task computer (homework, video, games, etc.), than it's something to consider in my opinion. Plus, you'll probably want your computer to last a couple of years, and if that's the case, I'd aim for a quad core. (The Q6600 is selling at ~260$)

But hey, both Intel and AMD will be releasing by the end of the year their newer models, therefore you can either wait or buy one now. Moreover, you can expect something from Nvidia by ~December.

For those interested, Intel has release a prototype of a 80 cores, and pledges to release one in five years.

Here's the article: http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-6119618.html