Given you stated transcoding video... go quad-core. It's GREAT for high end Photoshop, 3D Studio Max or video editing. The Q6600 is a great chip on a budget, but if you can, go for the Q9450. It's about 10 to 15% faster in most apps, and if you're a gamer, the 12MB of cache will really come in handy along with its added speed. It's a great step up from the Q6600.

I have an E8400 myself. I do all my video transcoding on my graphics card though. I can do an entire DVD in just a few minutes. It's win.

thank you for your advice , its an extra point for getting the q9450 , I think ^^

Frankly, I would have gone with the Q9450 myself... but they were out of stock. I waited a month to upgrade, and every day I checked, and every day they were out of stock. Go figure, the day I order mine, guess what comes back in stock?

D'oh.

The Q9450 is a beast of a processor. It'll last a few years. Once applications like Badaboom get further refined, we'll be able to encode all video on a graphics card in mere minutes. It'll be glorious. I can't live without Badaboom as it is.

I never knew about Badaboom until now ! XD
I used to assign one core to transcode a vid just to make me do other stuff on my pc .

again thanks for your advice :)

The current Intel quads are complete garbage at multitasking whenever there is any I/O contention. A dual might jsut be better value, because as far as your list goes only vid encoding will really use the extra cores to any extra effect.

There is a new architecture coming out real soon called Nehalem (Core i7) that fixes the FSB bottleneck issue. it will also have the effect of pushing the prices of current stuff way down too once it starts shipping in volume later this year.

There is never a good time to upgrade, but occasionally it pays to be patient.

hmm thanks for your input , not only nehalem but I also heard a new os will be coming soon too . I'll thnk more about this ^^;

My tech-geek BF and I are with dragoneer on this. I recently upgraded to a dual core myself and glad I did. It can handle the punch a lot of what I learning to use can make. He's wanting a qud core for his own stuff, but highly suggests it if you going to be doing video transcoding. But, as Tharsis mentioned, best not to multi-task with it until newer versions are out.

Hope this helps you to decide.

thanks for your input , seems most of this processors are good anway ^^ Still hard to decide which one XD

Yeah, it is hard to decide. I say go with the one that fits into your budget best. Ultimately, that is what decides it all for me.

Oh no! A geek question. AAAAAAAAAAH!!! >=D

not geeky enough XD

You don't need a Quad Core. And they are expensive.

What do you need a Quad Core for? Your personal computer?

It's still New Technology and I'd give it a few more years so most systems can support it. Plus you're probably running a 32 bit system, which is NO WHERE NEAR enough, you'd probably have to upgrade to AT LEAST 64 bit, which is also very un supported... Dont even get started on 86 bit. (but WOW it's fast. HOLY SHIT)


As for OS's, Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 as well as Windows XP Professional are VERY stable.

Apples? Eh... Kinda suck right now. Both my sisters have an apple macbook. both run like garbage.