Wanna Buy a Core 2 Duo ? HOLD ON !

**LeftEyeNine** · 12-20-2006, 12:55

Because Intel will be showing off their new 2x 4MB cached, 1066 MHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU on 7th January 2007, in response to AMD FX-70 's uprise the same month.

And this battle brings good news along as the topic tells: The prices of Core 2 Duo CPUs will be pulled down around %30-40. For instance, C2D E6700 will be priced down at 316$ while E6600 will be sold for 214$.

I've read the Turkish translation of the article. The source itself is in German and here it is.

w00t WooT!

**Husar** · 12-20-2006, 14:26

You know, if you wait a few months more, it will be even cheaper, and if you will wait even a few months more....
And after 10 years you may realize that you have waited for so many years for the newest hardware to become cheaper but still use your same old computer from 12 years ago.

Your choice of course, but I got the impression that waiting for hardware to become cheaper results in new hardware that you will then want and then you wait for this to become cheaper etc.
A good chance for people who get some money for christmas though.

**LeftEyeNine** · 12-20-2006, 15:12

I agree with the "endless waiting" part but how far is January, Hus-hus ?

**AussieGiant** · 12-20-2006, 15:38

You can always wait....and wait...and wait.

Maybe, just maybe as the technology surges and wains you can get slightly ahead of the curve in some instances, but your moment of advantage is never more than 3 to 5 months.

Bottom line, make sure you have an upgradeable machine.

**Beirut** · 12-20-2006, 15:46

I'm sitting here with my ancient AMD64-3000 CPU. It plays everything well. Goodness know I'll get a faster one, but seeing what a $55 CPU as old as mine can pull off with games like M:TW2, FEAR, and FSX, I cannot imagine what's happening with these new $750+ CPUs.

It must be mind boggling.

**BDC** · 12-20-2006, 16:51

My 2Ghz P4 is just pitiful...

**caravel** · 12-20-2006, 16:54

You can always wait and wait for years then buy something old hat, but if that suits you, and you're on a budget where's the harm? Personally I wait for prices to go down considerably before buying a CPU. Even a few months can make a different between i.e. from £600 down to £200. Fair enough you msy not have the lastest hardware but if it does it's job then it's worth it.

My current CPU is an Athlon XP 2400+. I bought this for a few quid to replace my old 1800+ which was a palomino cored furnace of a thing. That was years ago. Since then I haven't upgraded anything apart from my graphics card. Now my spec is very dated and I will probably be looking for something else next year.

**Spino** · 12-20-2006, 17:00

Nah, don't hold on...

Intel recently released their Core 2 Duo and Quad roadmap for 2007 and while there will be alot more choices for consumers there still isn't a whole lot to get worked up about, at least for those of us who think it's crazy to spend more than $250 on a processor.

A larger cache is always nice but the truth of the matter once you adjust for clock speed the performance boost going from a 2meg to 4meg cache is not that impressive, especially when it comes to games.

Bit-tech did some testing to illustrate the benefits of the C2Duo's 2 & 4meg cache offerings...

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...cessors/5.html

My biggest worry is the overclockability of these new chips. We don't know how well the new C2Duo chips will overclock versus the current batch of Core 2 Duos.

Basically if you're looking to upgrade sooner than later the best deal in town over the next 4-6 months will continue to be the C2Duo E6300 and E6400 chips; with decent PC-667 or PC-800 RAM you can overclock them like mad (even using Intel's stock heatsink/fan). Their overclockability is so impressive that one can easily match or surpass the performance of the much more expensive E6600, E6700 and E6800 chips, especially if you opt for an aftermarket cooling solution.

So until AMD releases their .65nm chips and the ensuing price war affects all segments of the processor market 2007 won't be quite as exciting for the budget minded gamer/enthusiast.

The worst part is that quad core chips will still be expensive as hell all throughout 2007 and probably through the first half of 2008.

**Lemur** · 12-20-2006, 17:20

Originally Posted by Beirut

I'm sitting here with my ancient AMD64-3000 CPU. It plays everything well. Goodness know I'll get a faster one, but seeing what a $55 CPU as old as mine can pull off with games like M:TW2, FEAR, and FSX, I cannot imagine what's happening with these new $750+ CPUs.

Remember, most games are not CPU-bound, but rather GPU-bound. It's exceedingly rare for the CPU to be the bottleneck.