Q6600 or E6850?

[se7en.hu]

Hey dudes those price drops are pretty intense but whats better to go for now? A Q6600 or a E6850?

There is like 10 dollars difference the Q being more, what would be better for gaming?

[ishiok]

Hey dudes those price drops are pretty intense but whats better to go for now? A Q6600 or a E6850?

There is like 10 dollars difference the Q being more, what would be better for gaming?

E6850

[12Iceman]

Q6600.

For reasons, see my posts in this thread where it was already been heavily debated.

[gwai lo]

Technically, the E6850 is better for gaming, but it barely pulls away ( 600 more MHz ). So if you were talking in absolutes, then the E6850 would technically have the advantage, however the Q6600 will be more future proof as well as support more multithreaded software. The Core architecture is designed to scale by cores, not MHz, anyway...you can't overclock two more cores.

( For all the people that never click on the links that people post )

[Vice]

Q6600. Just raise its FSB from 266 to 333 and you have a QX6850. Its so simple and that can be done easily with a cheap air cooler (?30)

You can OC the Q6600 but you cant add two more cores to a E6850 and with all the new games being SMP (Gears of War PC version, UT3, Crysis, Alanwake etc) it would be a mistake not to get a Quad.

[12Iceman]

Technically, the E6850 is better for gaming, but it barely pulls away ( 600 more MHz ).

Not if you are talking about new games. UT3 and Crysis have both been optimized for Quad-Core processors.

[gwai lo]

Yeah I know, I was speaking in absolutes. As in right-the-eff-now-what's-straight-up-better. Those aren't out yet. ;)

Alright alright, I'll stop with the extra information.

All back to the how-often-do-you-upgrade thing haha. -_-

[Vice]

There are some games which will use the multiple cores like Supreme Commander. But really at this point in time its applications which will benefit the most. Nero 7, WinRAR, Photoshop these are three programs that a lot of people probably use these days all of which will utilise that Quad to its full potential and mop the floor with the E6850 even with the Q6600 at stock speeds.

And when you look at the overclocking potential it becomes a very cost effective monster. The Q6600 is the equivalent of the Opteron 165 or the Pentium D 805. It is the low-cost overclockers dream. It would be a real mistake to get a Dual Core processor when the industry is moving away from single threading. We can expect 8 core processors (2x4 MCM design) in perhaps late 2008 - mid 2009. The time to jump on the multi-core bandwagon is now. If people don't buy them the software developers will lag behind, and really do you need any more convincing? Q6600!

[se7en.hu]

Cool thanks Q6600 then, definatly be overclocking it, I see people have gotten the q6600 to above 3 easily so it should be all good.

Edited July 21, 2007 by se7en.hu

[Vice]

yeah people have got some great results with it on the P35 and 680i based boards. Around 430FSB seems to be the top out for Air/Water before going to something more extreme like Phase or Nitrogen. That gives you an effective top-clock of 3.87GHz. Not to shabby if you are willing to take your savings from not getting a QX6850 or a E6850 and putting it in to good cooling and a decent chipset.

Good luck with your purchase se7en I'm sure you made the right choice with the Q6600.

[r5a]

I'm thinking of upgrading myself in a couple of weeks (****ing hell, I just upgraded like not more then a month ago)

and the Core 2 Duo would be my choice.

[toadeater]

At ~$340, the Q6600 is a good deal, even at stock speeds. Multithreaded applications and games will become more common in the near future, then the advantage of four cores will be more obvious.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

all i know is that quad cores will be used for Episode 2, and games like Alan Wake. it's not a bad option to have right now.

[toadeater]

Ok, I think this one is a buy. I don't see why you'd want two cores instead of four at this price:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB Retail Box

$295!

http://www.ncixus.com/products/22211/BX80562Q6600/Intel/

Anyone? Any reason not to get it?

[S.MULLA]

the Q6600 is at an awsome price atm... im desciding to build a new system for sept launch of ut3 and crysis etc... there are 2 versions of the q6600- the B3 (i think) chip, which is the current one available and a newer G0 (supposed to be running cooler and more overclockable than the B3) q6600 to be released in august. the B3 is at ~175 and the G0 is at ~186. so the G0 runs cooler, can be o/c more and runs on lower wattage on full load.

im going for a gigabyte DQ6 mobo (p35 chipset-very stable and really good and overclocking), 4 or maybe 8gb ram, 8800GTX ultra and a 620 corsair psu. and obviously with a quad in the core of the system.

people who already own a q6600 have been able to reach over 3ghz o/c easily on air and around upto 3.4 on water.

[lardiop Veteran]

I just picked up a Q6600 for $275 Canadian through NCIX.com

[hobsgrg]

I've just got a Q6600 and am running at 3 Ghz on air with default voltages, am sure I could push it further but 3 Ghz is a nice round number, I would definately recommend a Q6600

[gwai lo]

What are you temps ( under load ) at 3 GHz, what cooler, what's your ambient, and which stepping?

[hobsgrg]

CPU runs at around 41 degrees centrugrade at idle, 45-48 degrees under load but the fan is only running at half speed. I can get it run at 3.3 Ghz without increasing the voltages, at that speed it runs at about 55 degress but with cpu fan running at pretty much full speed. I've got the B3, and I'm using some random Akara heatsink and fan, was only one they had at the store, cost me ?25 so it's probably a decent one but nothing special.

[gwai lo]

huh...3.3 on stock volts ( stable? ) sounds like you got a good one.

[hobsgrg]

huh...3.3 on stock volts ( stable? ) sounds like you got a good one.

I tested it using Prime95 and it didn't fall over, but i didn't leave it running it for hours, when I raised the speed to 3.43 Ghz i did need to increase the voltage to 1.45v, but didn't try beyond that, but can probably push it a bit further. Yes I got a good one it doesn't run any hotter at 3 Ghz than at the stock speed of 2.4 Ghz

[mujjuman]

more and more apps and games are becoming optimized for multicore CPUs...

the more cores you have, the better it would be IMO, since it would be future proof.

not only that, you can overclock the quad core and increase your performance by so much, but you cant add more cores to a dual core.

the better choice is the quad core :)

[toadeater]

I tested it using Prime95 and it didn't fall over, but i didn't leave it running it for hours, when I raised the speed to 3.43 Ghz i did need to increase the voltage to 1.45v, but didn't try beyond that, but can probably push it a bit further. Yes I got a good one it doesn't run any hotter at 3 Ghz than at the stock speed of 2.4 Ghz

It seems the latest C2D revisions are also running cooler and using a few watts less power. Intel improved something in them where it is making a noticeable difference.