Like most people, I have spent most of the last decade using dual core processors. I was an early adopter using the AMD X2 processors on desktops, and eventually jumping to the Core Duos, and i3 series chips in a few laptops. I never decided to make the jump to a quad core processor. Partly because I did not need the extra power, and also because a consumer quad core processor was more money then I wanted to spend.
In mid July someone I know needed to offload a computer they didn’t have room for. With their space in an apartment becoming increasingly limited, I had no qualms taking it off their hands. Now that I have had some time to use the computer for a while, and see how it performs for my daily tasks, I have to say it’s a bit underwhelming.
Like most people, most of my computer usage comes in the form of emails, writing word documents, maybe a bit of excel, and a fair bit of video streaming. I also run Windows 8.1 on my laptop and desktop, so there is a bit of thirst for power, but it primarily a memory hog, not a processor hog.
I may not be willing to splurge on a quad core for my current needs, or feel the need to suggest it to 90% of people who are looking for a new computer. I do see where it’s necessary. If you do a lot of financial work, math intensive computing, programming, or anything of the like, then a quad core is more-less a requirement. Just looking for something new and a bit faster? Stick with a newer generation i series chip, or one of AMD’s A series APUs.