Core 2 decisions

[The Crazed Child]

Would a fast dual core with better overclocking headroom (the E8600) be better than a C2Q at lower clock speeds (3.0-3.4GHz) in gaming?

 

Noob question I know, I am tired and can't think properly so excuse me if my question is vague.

[Overl0rd]

Would a fast dual core with better overclocking headroom (the E8600) be better than a C2Q at lower clock speeds (3.0-3.4GHz) in gaming?

 

Noob question I know, I am tired and can't think properly so excuse me if my question is vague.

Since most games nowadays prefer quad cores, I think a Core 2 Quad at a slightly lower clockspeed will be better than a higher clocked Core 2 Duo.

[Redsun20]

Gaming likes fewer faster cores than more slower cores. Quoted from Linus himself

[EpicAdom]

The quad core would work much better in multithreaded applications but in single threaded applications a dual core CPU of the same architecture would be faster

[ApolloX75]

I think sticking with a dual core is fine, especially for pure speed.

But.

A quad will give you more flexibility (at a slight cost of overall speed) especially when it comes to modern games that hamstring dual core setups.

Either way both choices will serve pretty well. Just keep in mind almost any core2quad can be made a monster with a strong motherboard and a good overclock. Especially the later 1333mhz FSB Q9xxx models.