e7300 vs q6600

[cannondale06]

I am looking at two different oem comps and one has the e7300($599) and the other has a q6600($679). the q6600 comp has 6gb ram and the e7300 has 4gb but other than that they are basically the same. the main problem is that I obviously will not be able to oc either cpu. I dont have time nor do I want to build my own pc at the moment but I am sick of my slow 2yr old one and want something better this week.

my only interests are general usage and gaming and I will probably get a 9800gt or 4850 to go in which ever comp I get. it seems the q6600 does really well in Far Cry 2 because that game utilizes all 4 cores. other than that is hard to find any comparable gaming benchmarks with these two cpus.

one disadvantage of the q6600 is that it will be using much more power than the e7300. I personally think the e7300 comp is the way to go but the fact that I will be stuck at 2.66 ghz and only 2 cores bothers me a bit. I dont want to buy another pc for well over a year.

any thoughts or opinions would be great. please keep it about the two cpus that I have mentioned though because they are my only decent options available for immediate purchase.

 

[Joe Average]

I'd go for the Q6600 myself, because I would use all those cores... this could turn into another "dual vs quad" nightmare thread, so, it's up to you. Do you do things that require 4 cores or can benefit from it, aside from the fact that your overall system responsiveness will be slick like butter on Teflon, or do you absolutely need the fastest possible dual core performance?

Those are the questions you need to ask yourself to find out which CPU is best for you. The E7300 is smokin' fast for $114 (OEM chip from Fry's), but the Q6600 is still the best overall processor value on the market today in my opinion. For what you get, it's still effectively unbeatable...

Plus the additional RAM in the Q6600 box... you have to look at it as a big package, not just the CPUs. I would most definitely choose that Q6600 machine. In terms of day to day general computing performance, I'd say they're both going to perform almost identically but the Q6600 having the 4 cores and Windows being able to use all of them means that yes, that machine will run better overall than the E7300 box.

 

[legcramp]

I am looking at two different oem comps and one has the e7300($599) and the other has a q6600($679). the q6600 comp has 6gb ram and the e7300 has 4gb but other than that they are basically the same. the main problem is that I obviously will not be able to oc either cpu. I dont have time nor do I want to build my own pc at the moment but I am sick of my slow 2yr old one and want something better this week.

my only interests are general usage and gaming and I will probably get a 9800gt or 4850 to go in which ever comp I get. it seems the q6600 does really well in Far Cry 2 because that game utilizes all 4 cores. other than that is hard to find any comparable gaming benchmarks with these two cpus.

one disadvantage of the q6600 is that it will be using much more power than the e7300. I personally think the e7300 comp is the way to go but the fact that I will be stuck at 2.66 ghz and only 2 cores bothers me a bit. I dont want to buy another pc for well over a year.

any thoughts or opinions would be great. please keep it about the two cpus that I have mentioned though because they are my only decent options available for immediate purchase.

Assuming you can't overclock at all since you said you'll be stuck and it's an oem computer.

The E7200 will do 4ghz most of the time, but I would get the Q6600.

4mb x2 cache vs 3mb cache

4 cores vs 2 cores

The Q6600 is basically running the same speed as the E7200 at stock speeds, and it's only $80 difference.

Get the Q6600.

 

[cannondale06]

Assuming you can't overclock at all since you said you'll be stuck and it's an oem computer.

The E7200 will do 4ghz most of the time, but I would get the Q6600.

4mb x2 cache vs 3mb cache

4 cores vs 2 cores

The Q6600 is basically running the same speed as the E7200 at stock speeds, and it's only $80 difference.

Get the Q6600.

its e7300 not e7200. the q6600 at 2.4 with more cache should also be really close to the 2.66 e7300 in games that dont utilize more than 2 cores though. man I have trouble making decisions. lol

 

[legcramp]

Opps yeah I mean E7300.

You're right, it would be right there with the E7300 just because of the cache size difference, might as well go for the q6600, games are taking advantage and the price difference is leaning towards the quad anyways

 

[cannondale06]

Opps yeah I mean E7300.

You're right, it would be right there with the E7300 just because of the cache size difference, might as well go for the q6600, games are taking advantage and the price difference is leaning towards the quad anyways

well I just checked and they dont have any of the e7300 comps in stock so I guess that makes the decision a little easier. Im on my way there now so I will more than likely go with the q6600 pc. then again I could freak out and walk out of there with nothing. lol

 

[RichardCory]

Opps yeah I mean E7300.

You're right, it would be right there with the E7300 just because of the cache size difference, might as well go for the q6600, games are taking advantage and the price difference is leaning towards the quad anyways

I haven't done much research on this, but what games are currently or are expected to be taking advantage of quad cores?

 

[legcramp]

Far Cry 2 comes to mind lol

 

[cannondale06]

HOLY SHIT

well I went into BB for the Gateway and they had a Dell with a q9300, larger hd and 2600xt marked down from $899 to $769. I know the q9300 and q6600 are about the same so I though it was just a meh deal but I decided to go with it anyway. when I checked out it only came up as $584 and I sure as hell didnt say anything. so for a little over $600 with tax I got q9300, 6gb ram, Vista 64bit, 750 gb HD, and 2600xt. also Dell comes with a clean Vista install disc too so thats nice.

 

[AFG34]

get the q6600 one, but you can't trust the psu in pre-built comps.

 

[cannondale06]

get the q6600 one, but you can't trust the psu in pre-built comps.

I guess you didnt read my last post. yeah all of those comps including the one I bought have 300watt power supplies. it will be fine with my 4670 but I will swap out the psu when I get a better card.

 

[Joe Average]

HOLY SHIT

well I went into BB for the Gateway and they had a Dell with a q9300, larger hd and 2600xt marked down from $899 to $769. I know the q9300 and q6600 are about the same so I though it was just a meh deal but I decided to go with it anyway. when I checked out it only came up as $584 and I sure as hell didnt say anything. so for a little over $600 with tax I got q9300, 6gb ram, Vista 64bit, 750 gb HD, and 2600xt. also Dell comes with a clean Vista install disc too so thats nice.

You officially SUCK. Good job on the deal though... congrats...

 

[legcramp]

Good find cannon

 

[GonzoP]

Now that's a ray of sunshine for ya. I assume 6gb is 2x2b, 2x1gb? Still 6 ought to be enough for awhile. Basically just need a new PSU and gpu then. The lack of cpu OCing won't matter in gaming anyway right now

 

[cannondale06]

Now that's a ray of sunshine for ya. I assume 6gb is 2x2b, 2x1gb? Still 6 ought to be enough for awhile. Basically just need a new PSU and gpu then. The lack of cpu OCing won't matter in gaming anyway right now

I might have to return it because the Seagate hard drive is driving me nuts. it grinds like crazy and even make a little whining noise sometimes.

well getting this comp with a good cpu has confirmed the fact the my old 5000 X2 sucks in modern games. in Far Cry 2 at 1280x1024 on Very High settings my framerates went from 22fps to 38. thats a whopping 75% increase from having a better cpu. anybody running any card faster than a 4670 on slow X2 cpu are just wasting money.

 

[BikePilot]

Killer deal! Just stick in a different drive if that one buggs you.

 

[cannondale06]

Killer deal! Just stick in a different drive if that one buggs you.

well then it wont be a killer deal anymore. also the Dell OEM OS probably woudnt work on a different brand drive.

 

[GonzoP]

I might have to return it because the Seagate hard drive is driving me nuts. it grinds like crazy and even make a little whining noise sometimes.

well getting this comp with a good cpu has confirmed the fact the my old 5000 X2 sucks in modern games. in Far Cry 2 at 1280x1024 on Very High settings my framerates went from 22fps to 38. thats a whopping 75% increase from having a better cpu. anybody running any card faster than a 4670 on slow X2 cpu are just wasting money.

Yeah there is a world of difference from the X2's to the C2D line

 

[cannondale06]

Yeah there is a world of difference from the X2's to the C2D line

yep but everytime I mentioned that people would say games are gpu limited. well the facts are clear now that even a lowly card like the 4670 needs a good cpu for modern games.

 

[GonzoP]

yep but everytime I mentioned that people would say games are gpu limited. well the facts are clear now that even a lowly card like the 4670 needs a good cpu for modern games.

And that statement is still true which is why my E7200 at stock does not lag behind a stock E8500 lets say for a number of games at 1680x1050. Maybe a better way to say it is this: for most high end 2008 titles if you have a C2D and game above 1440x900 your gpu is going to be a greater source of your bottleneck than your gpu. Which is why if I swapped out my E7200 and put a Q9550 my in game frames would move proportionally little compared to me keeping my same cpu and dropping a GTX280 in.

Bottom Line once your cpu has enough it does not matter if you have 5% too much of 50% too much you're still over what the gpu can handle

 

[cannondale06]

And that statement is still true which is why my E7200 at stock does not lag behind a stock E8500 lets say for a number of games at 1680x1050. Maybe a better way to say it is this: for most high end 2008 titles if you have a C2D and game above 1440x900 your gpu is going to be a greater source of your bottleneck than your gpu. Which is why if I swapped out my E7200 and put a Q9550 my in game frames would move proportionally little compared to me keeping my same cpu and dropping a GTX280 in.

Bottom Line once your cpu has enough it does not matter if you have 5% too much of 50% too much you're still over what the gpu can handle

games are gpu limited when you have a decent cpu to begin with. and core 2 at 2.4 or above will be decent enough for a midrange to high end card. for a very high end card or especially two of them you will want more than a 3.0 core 2 duo or quad.

the X2 line especially 5000 and below of cpus suck even with a midrange card. adding a nice video card to a system with a slow cpu like that is a waste of money. I got much more of a performance increase in most games by going with a better cpu then I would have going with a very high end card.

I ran tons of benchmarks with different gpus on the 5000 X2 comp and even the 8600gt and 2600xt get the same fps on high settings in Far Cry 2 as the faster 4670. through those same cards in the q9300 machine though and the 4670 can do its thing and beat the crap out of those cards.

 

[GonzoP]

Not disagreeing with you. The X2-Phenom line just does not bring enough to the table. There's a reason most of us upgrade our gpu twice as often as our cpus though. Its easier to get and find a cpu which will last longer and be good enough. A Q6600 bought 18 months ago is plenty fine now [when paired with the right gpu] and even 18 months from now I with a high end card will still be able to do a thing or two with 2010's hot titles. I just got my E7200 not even six weeks ago but I'm counting on it powering me for awhile. Now someday I probably will drop a Q9550 in there but rest assured the 3870 is going to be long gone by then

 

[cannondale06]

okay I think its going back. I cant take the hard drive noise another minute. its a Seagate 750gb 7200.10 and it is almost unbearable. I can hear it grinding from 30 feet away a quick google search confirms that this is one loud ass hd. Im a cheap bastard but my ears come first in this situation.

 

[QwertyJuan]

okay I think its going back. I cant take the hard drive noise another minute. its a Seagate 750gb 7200.10 and it is almost unbearable. I can hear it grinding from 30 feet away a quick google search confirms that this is one loud ass hd. Im a cheap bastard but my ears come first in this situation.

wimp!

 

[QwertyJuan]

p.s. if you were TRULY [H], you shouldn't be able to hear it above all the extra cooling fans!!

 

[cannondale06]

p.s. if you were TRULY [H], you shouldn't be able to hear it above all the extra cooling fans!!

I even put the air purifier right beside the pc. I couldnt hear the tv anymore but I could still hear that Seagate churning.

 

[Ponder]

okay I think its going back. I cant take the hard drive noise another minute. its a Seagate 750gb 7200.10 and it is almost unbearable. I can hear it grinding from 30 feet away a quick google search confirms that this is one loud ass hd. Im a cheap bastard but my ears come first in this situation.

This might be an odd choice, have you considered just buying a new hd? You could pick up a WD 500 for 60 dollars shipped or a 640 for 75. Both are reasonable quiet with aam on. You still end up with a killer deal on a computer and can protect your ears. Then give the drive away or sell it(even if you get half the cost of your new drive you end up ahead as you will no longer be annoyed.)

 

[cannondale06]

This might be an odd choice, have you considered just buying a new hd? You could pick up a WD 500 for 60 dollars shipped or a 640 for 75. Both are reasonable quiet with aam on. You still end up with a killer deal on a computer and can protect your ears. Then give the drive away or sell it(even if you get half the cost of your new drive you end up ahead as you will no longer be annoyed.)

yeah thats actually what I am thinking about doing. I havent made my mind up yet and I am also deciding if I should just bite the bullet and build my own. it may cost me more than that deal but I could get better parts and also overclock.