q6600 to replace e8400?

[crazydog]

Hey everyone.

Since GTA IV "recommends" a quad-core CPU, I was hunting around for what I could find, and found someone on craigslist who is willing to trade his 50-hour (time used) q6600 for $40+my e8400.

Should I do this? I've read around that you should hold off on a quad-core until more games support it (unless you do video editing, etc), but since GTA IV needs ungodly amounts of CPU (countless cars+people interacting all at the same time) I was considering this.

So....$40+e8400 for a q6600...good deal or not? (Basically, I'm selling my e8400 for $130, and buying a q6600 for $170.)

[Video_Master]

There is no need for a quad core for gaming at all.  If you really go by what the manufacturer says on the box for games then you need to turn your computer in for a console.

[crazydog]

Well the thing is GTA IV was designed so that "future computers" could run it at max settings. That's why it's so high.

[wonder.]

I think thats BS tho.  So far, I haven't encountered anything that utilizes four cores.  Especially if your core is 3.0 ghz, which I think it is, you will be fine running GTA 4 on max settings, there is no need to do that trade.  Use that $30 and buy more RAM if thats the case.  You will be fine tho, look below. 

Prefered:
OS:    Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
Processor:    Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1 Ghz
RAM:    2.5 GB Vista / 2 GB XP
Hard Drive    18 GB Free Space
Video Card:    512 MB Nvidia 8600 / 512 MB ATI 3870

Minimum:
OS:    Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
Processor:    Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4 Ghz
RAM:    1.5 GB Vista / 1 GB XP
Hard Drive    16 GB Free Space
Video Card:    256 MB Nvidia 7900 / 256 MB ATI X1900

[crazydog]

Nope, can't run at max. I believe them when they say it was built for the future.

I'm running it at about 60-75%, and it restricts you from turning it up (there's a command line option, but it doesn't seem to work).

I was thinking about buying RAM too. This game uses about 1900MB of RAM and about the same amount of VRAM, so I'm guessing installing 2GB of more RAM will take the load off the VRAM and improve performance.

[Luggage]

I do think that for games beyong GTA IV, the faster dual core is still a better option than the four core.  That said, specific to your deal at hand: I don't think it is a bad deal. That said, I do have a preference for the 45nm processors since they are much more efficient than the equally rated 65nm ones, and the Q8200 is selling at the same price as the Q6600.  Finally, if you OC at all (you may have to at some point if CPU is at 2.3-2.4GHz) then take a quick look at how these things OC.

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