# Q8200 vs E8500



## F1R3STORM (Apr 17, 2009)

So I'm helping my friend upgrade his pc 
Current Specs:
Pentium 4
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
no graphics card
Vista 32-bit

He mainly uses his PC to write books and edit photography, I figure a higher end Core 2 Duo and 2 additional gigs of ram should set him up good along with a cheap graphics card for aero and photo editing. My question is if i should get the cheaper quad-core or stick with the dual that has a larger FSB and faster Ghz?


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## IBEPCWIZ (Apr 17, 2009)

Either way you look at it ... Quad core is the future so i would always say quad....


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## zombine210 (Apr 17, 2009)

if he's an experienced photography editor, you should go for a better quad core, but if you decide to get a dual core, the best value would be a E8400 for 25 less.
the only diff between that and E8500 is .5 multiplier. which would give you negligible overclocks. imho, the e8500 is an 'enthusiast' cpu.


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## jevery (Apr 17, 2009)

With Photoshop CS 3, which I think is the only photo editing software benchmarked at Tom’ Hardware, the higher clocked Duos handily outperform the lower clocked Quads.  
 Photoshop CS 3 

As with some image rendering and playback benchmarks
Acrobat 9 Professional
Blueray HD Playback

The Quads do better on some of the others
3D Studio Max 9
Premiere Pro CS3 HDTV

If the machine is used primarily for a specific application I’d certainly go for the processer with the higher benchmark.  With word processing, I doubt you could tell the difference between most processors.


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## 2048Megabytes (Apr 18, 2009)

The Core 2 Duo E8400 is over priced.  You could get the Phenom II 810 Quad-Core processor for only about $175.  The E8400 is about $167.  The Phenom II also has more processing power.

The Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 is also only $180.  E8400 is too expensive for the processing power it has.  If you really want a Core 2 Duo get the E7400 for $120.  

But for the price of the E7400 processor you could get the Phenom II 710 Tri-Core Processor which also beats the Core 2 Duo E7400 in processing power.


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## bomberboysk (Apr 18, 2009)

2048Megabytes said:


> The Core 2 Duo E8400 is over priced.  You could get the Phenom II 810 Quad-Core processor for only about $175.  The E8400 is about $167.  The Phenom II also has more processing power.
> 
> The Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 is also only $180.  E8400 is too expensive for the processing power it has.  If you really want a Core 2 Duo get the E7400 for $120.
> 
> But for the price of the E7400 processor you could get the Phenom II 710 Tri-Core Processor which also beats the Core 2 Duo E7400 in processing power.



+1, For the price the Phenom II X3 710 is the best cpu for the money, but if you have the budget even a Phenom II X4 810 would be a great cpu, over the intel offerings that are a little bit over priced.


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## F1R3STORM (Apr 19, 2009)

2048Megabytes said:


> The Core 2 Duo E8400 is over priced.  You could get the Phenom II 810 Quad-Core processor for only about $175.  The E8400 is about $167.  The Phenom II also has more processing power.
> 
> The Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 is also only $180.  E8400 is too expensive for the processing power it has.  If you really want a Core 2 Duo get the E7400 for $120.
> 
> But for the price of the E7400 processor you could get the Phenom II 710 Tri-Core Processor which also beats the Core 2 Duo E7400 in processing power.



Yeah, that's great but I'm upgrading an existing system, not building a new one. I'm open to any LGA775 suggestions for under $170. Right now I'm thinking the Q6600 as i have experience with it and it runs smooth.


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## ScOuT (Apr 19, 2009)

What are the specs of the entire system you have planned for your friend? (model number, motherboard info)

Just because the Pentium 4 runs on an LGA 775 socket does not mean any LGA 775 chip will work with that motherboard. This issue will really come into play if it is a pre-built computer from a company (Dell, HP, ect...)

Many older computers and motherboards can run modern chips but require a BIOS flash to be able to recognize a new processors, especially 45nm Duals and Quads.

Let's check and make sure the two processors you have narrowed the search down to are even compatible with the motherboard before any decisions are made.

If the Quad does and can work....that's what I would do


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## F1R3STORM (Apr 20, 2009)

I know, I still have to have a closer look at it but I put a quad core in my dell which had an early dual core. All that I needed to do was to flash the bios, but even before i did it still worked.


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## maroon1 (Apr 23, 2009)

Q8400 is out, buy this instead of Q8300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115057

.......

Intel CPU do much better in photoshop and other photo editing softwares

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3492&p=13

And he said that he want to use it for  photo editing


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