AMD Quad OR Hex core - Whats best?

Please can somewhere explain, in detail, the differences betwen quad and hex core?

I am thinking that the AMD Phenom ii x 6 1075T - thoughts please? Will this be ok on the PC Specialist 600w PSU? Would there be a difference between the Phenom ii x4 970 AND Phenom ii x 6 1075T ???

Any other comments welcome.

It depends what you intend on using your PC for.

As you'd expect, The quad has 4 cores and the hex has 6. These extra cores only come into play when running multithreaded applications - programs capable of taking advantage of more than one core. Regular programs, such as a web browser, do not make use of any extra cores. When this is the case, the processor's clockspeed is more significant than the amount of cores it has.

To give you an example of this:

- AMD X4 970 @ 3.5GHz
- AMD X6 1075T@ 3.0GHz

The X4 would actually be faster than the X6 for non-multithreaded applications.

Advanced software, however, does utilise multiple cores, such as music and video editing suites and games. In this situtation, the X4 may have more clockspeed, but it would be outnumbered in terms of cores and ultiumately come out second best.

Basically, the X6 is not necessary unless you plan to use a program capable of maxing out all 6 cores or want to make a system that is as future proof as possible. I can tell you that at the moment, very few programs will run on all 6 cores.

Mate that is really helpful.

I really just want the PC for gaming and will NOT be video editing or anything like that.

would the AMD X4 970 @ 3.5GHz be best?? It is just slightly cheaper than the AMD X6 1075T@ 3.0GHz.

thoughts please?

At stock speeds for gaming, yes.

Thanks guys!