makwanad Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 So guys I have money to spend (at last) and I have a great problem, I don't need a new gfx card as I got a new one today and 2gb RAM is sufficient for me. However! My CPU is a Pentium D D930 which is a dual core 3.0ghz CPU, now aparently I've heard the Core 2 Duos even with their lower clock speeds outperform this CPU and I want to know if what I have heard is correct? So far my D930 has done me well (apart from the terrible stock heatsink and fan) but as always I crave extra power. Any help would be great guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stellarola Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 So guys I have money to spend (at last) and I have a great problem, I don't need a new gfx card as I got a new one today and 2gb RAM is sufficient for me. However! My CPU is a Pentium D D930 which is a dual core 3.0ghz CPU, now aparently I've heard the Core 2 Duos even with their lower clock speeds outperform this CPU and I want to know if what I have heard is correct? So far my D930 has done me well (apart from the terrible stock heatsink and fan) but as always I crave extra power. Any help would be great guys Yes, it'll be faster. Depending on the clock speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonestonne Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Here's the basics: most core 2 duos will have a higher FSB than the Pentium Ds will. most Pentium D based chips have an 800mhz FSB. the "standard" core 2 duo will have 1066mhz at minimum, however with newer wolfdale cores, the FSB is 800mhz in lower end chips, however enhancements in the core make up for the slower speed. Core 2's also have a better L2 cache, and are generally much cooler (i have a Pentium D 940 that i used for over a year, and it's a great CPU, but i upgraded to a C2D E6750, which has a 1333mhz FSB). the FSB is the link between the CPU and the northbridge. it's the bottleneck of most Intel based systems up until i7. Core i7 features an on-die memory controller, so it has a direct link to the RAM, which is much faster (albeit much much more expensive). given the choice, Core 2 Duo's are a more stable and better option, depending on specs, due to the lower power usage, better clock ratios, and cooler operating temps. your Pentium D 930 is 95W i think, i almost got that one, but newegg sold out at the time, so i went with the 940. Core 2 Duos are around 65W, which is a significant drop in power usage and heat, with more performance. so if you're worried about the electric bill as well, you'll need to keep things like that in mind, however the lowest of the low wattage (Core 2 Duo E8xxx series) will cost a pretty penny, while have real world idle power usage around 30-40W, compared to Pentium Ds which can easily eat up between 60-130W at any given time (depending on the CPU). most importantly though, if it aight broke, don't fix it. swapping hardware could break an OS x install, and sometimes the new hardware wont play nice with OSx86 (like i found the hard way with my 9600GT, and now P45 chipset). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makwanad Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 Wow thanks for all the help I think I shall buy a core2duo next pay day! I also need to do a reinstall of OSX anyway, I'm getting the XxX release of 10.5.6 so I can install that when I get my new chip Again thanks for the info guys Also I realise this is in the wrong bit was meant to put it in the buying and thoughts bit! Sorry Mod/Admin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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