[SATLUG] Core 2 Quad for how much?!

[Geoff]

Daniel J. Givens wrote:
>>>
>>> Where have you found a Core 2 Quad + mobo for $339?
>>>       
>> http://tinyurl.com/29acgg
>>     
>
> And Newegg has the retail Q6600 for $279.99 and I saw other places had them
> for two dollars cheaper. Those are cheap motherboards, but combos typically
> are. I don't like skimping on motherboards. I'll get less processor power
> and less GPU power before I would sacrifice on the motherboard, amount of
> memory, or quality of the power supply. That's just my opinion...
>   

According to my gurus, over in Spring.. that's the 'stripped down, 
Celeron version' of a Core 2 Quad.

not really 4 cpu's on one die, rather a pair of dual's, sharing some of 
the same circuitry.

I also found out something interesting about 64-bit processing... while 
there might be some 64-bit OS's out there, and -limited- 64-bit 
applications, as soon as the 64-bit CPU sees 32-bit code, it reverts 
(aka: falls-back-to) to being a 32-bit processor.

Some of the true 64-bit processors will stop cold, dead-in-its-tracks, 
if it comes across even one line of 16-bit code.

It seems, 20 years in the future of where we were in the 300-baud modem 
days, there's still lots of uncertainty occurring in the wonderful world 
of computing.

There's no 'standard', therefore there's still a myriad of options.  
Options are good and permit a huge variety of marketing possibilities, 
but a few -less- options could steer us in a straighter path.

The flip side of that coin is, the light at the end of the tunnel, might 
be a freight-train, running full-steam in your direction.

I wish my crystal ball would clear up... at least to 10:30pm so I can 
see tonights lotto numbers ;-)

--
Regards,
-Geoff