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Q6600 or E8400 - please help me decide

K

Kmical

Gawd
Joined
Jan 23, 2003
Messages
797
I'm looking for an upgrade on a $350 budget. Looking to sell off an Opty 165/Asus A8N-SLI Premium/2GB P3200 DDR combo to subsidize at least half the cost.

I play only a few games (Company of Heroes, Silent Hunter IV, Medieval: Total War), but do some video work. I do plan on overclocking the CPU on air with a Xigmatek HDT-1283 (just waiting to pick a CPU to use it on).

I'm thinking the following:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 Motherboard (have one currently with a E2200 - really like it)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale -OR- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Since I'm going to use XP with this, I figure I'd start with 2GB of RAM and see how that works.

Video card will probably be an 8800GT (will be a gift from wife, so it's not in MY budget).

Which CPU should work better for my needs?
 
Q6600 is more than strong enough for gaming and will be faster for video encoding.

I would recommend 2x2GB kits. Even in XP, the OS will see 3.2-3.5GB of the memory, significant amount over 2GB still. Having 4 modules seems to limit overclocking, so if you wanted to expect later and add another 2x1GB kit, it may hurt your overclocking capability.
 
Menelmarar said:
Q6600 is more than strong enough for gaming and will be faster for video encoding.

I would recommend 2x2GB kits. Even in XP, the OS will see 3.2-3.5GB of the memory, significant amount over 2GB still. Having 4 modules seems to limit overclocking, so if you wanted to expect later and add another 2x1GB kit, it may hurt your overclocking capability.
Click to expand...

I agree. The 2x2 kits can be had for pretty cheap. With the CPU, you can't go wrong either way (though, I've been very happy with my quad).
 
Have you considered the Q9300? 45nm 2.5ghz 6mb cache should fall in between both. Would be a great buy for you. It's around $250.
 
No - the $80 price difference for slightly better performance in video editing just isn't worth it for me. I'm really leaning toward the 8400 for its OC potential.

The E8400 and the Q6600 are both available @ $199 right now, so that fits with my inital budget. If I take the suggestion to do the 2x2GB of DDR2 rather than the 2x1GB, then I'm already slightly over even with cheap memory.
 
You can pick up E8400s on the For Sale forum here sometimes for a nice discount, if you are budget limited.
 
i had a q6600, and liked it very much. i ran it at 3.0ghz on stock volts, and it was simply amazing. very fast to load COD4, which is the only game i play. video encoding was super quick too.
 
Before the price drop I'd have recommended the E8400, but the Q6600 is so over clockable and the price is bascially equivalent that it's silly not to use it.
 
+1 for the Q6600. You will be GPU limited in almost all current games, so you might as well get the Quad for better overall system performance and a longer lifespan as more apps are multithreaded.
 
I feel your pain, in the end the $179 + $7 s&h from frys online last week was the final straw so I snatched it up quick, now for the rest of the system...
 
I am in the same situation. I can get a new e8400 OEM for $150. Conversely, I would have to retail for Q6600. Should I get the e8400? Also, what cooler should I use if I want to clock it at 3.6? I'm debating between XIGMATEK S1283 and Arctic Cooler 7.
 
OMG YOUR AN IDIOT IF YOU BUY A DUAL CORE OVER A QUAD CORE OMG OMG OMG OMG
Q6700'S ARE THE BEST!
 
pedophilekiller said:
I am in the same situation. I can get a new e8400 OEM for $150. Conversely, I would have to retail for Q6600. Should I get the e8400? Also, what cooler should I use if I want to clock it at 3.6? I'm debating between XIGMATEK S1283 and Arctic Cooler 7.
Click to expand...


arctic cooler 7 IMO(i have one) is not good enough for 3.6 on a q6600. temps were already getting up there on stock volts at 3.0.
 
Xigmatek over the AC 7, that's a no-brainer, excellent cooling for the price.

Everybody seems to agree that if you mostly game then the 8400 is the way to go (I don't agree however). If you want improvements in every aspect of the PC experience then go Q6600. You can read til your blue in the face on every message board on the internet that anything over 3.2Ghz is basically overkill for almost every game and even most applications. GPU limitaitions is where most of us are right now and will be there until the next generation of GPU's come out.

I have an 8500 @ 4.2, a Q6600 @ 3.6, and then this rig in my sig that is the only one I go on the internet with and I honestly cannot tell the difference on any game comparing the 3 to each other.

But, I will not rar, zip, encode, cad, or anything of that sort on anything but my quad. Good luck with your decision.
 
i've been running a q6600 since july. I can't say anything bad about this cpu.
Runs everything like a champ. I will probably shock you at how much faster than your opty it is.
Since you don't play many games but you do some video work i would fully recommend a quad.
The price difference of the two cpus is negligible but the performance difference in video editing and rendering is way better on quad cores.

I actually have an e8400 on the way right now. i should have it monday or tuesday. I can run some benchmarks on it next week and compare with mine.
I also intend to overclock it. My Q is running at 3.4 right now. had it at 3.6 but it doesnt like 4 sticks of ram at that speed. I hope to hit 4Ghz with the e8400.
Then i'm gonna sell the whole build. Don't really need this one, just want to play with the cpu.
 
That's the dilemma I'm facing right now. Is the few seconds (or minutes) that I save with a Quad doing once-a-month video editing worth it over generally faster responsiveness with an e8400 while multi-tasking a couple of apps and playing a few games?
 
Kmical said:
That's the dilemma I'm facing right now. Is the few seconds (or minutes) that I save with a Quad doing once-a-month video editing worth it over generally faster responsiveness with an e8400 while multi-tasking a couple of apps and playing a few games?
Click to expand...

Either way do you really think you'll notice the few millisecond difference? If your a gamer get the cheaper of the two and put more money into ur vid card
 
Glow said:
Either way do you really think you'll notice the few millisecond difference? If your a gamer get the cheaper of the two and put more money into ur vid card
Click to expand...

Looks like the Gigabyte DS3L + e8400 + 8800GT for me, then ... since the e8400 is $30 cheaper at the Egg.

Thanks everyone!
 
Konceptz said:
Get a quad, you'll thank us in the long run.
Click to expand...

Well, in the long run I'll ditch the E2200 and put a quad in my primary system. This purchase is intended to replace the Opty 165 ... which either the E8400 or the Q6600 should stomp all over ...
 
Hi guys. I picked up the new e8400 for $150. It's batch is Q745. Now I have my e8400, DS3L, 8800GT. I want to pick up the Xigmatek, but would it fit on a DS3L in a Lian Li PC-61?
 
I got locally because the person bought the cpu mobo bundle from Microcenter. Not for him, but for one of his client. He has a Yorkfield so I guess he has no use for a mere duo.
 
pedophilekiller said:
I got locally because the person bought the cpu mobo bundle from Microcenter. Not for him, but for one of his client. He has a Yorkfield so I guess he has no use for a mere duo.
Click to expand...

Great price on that E8400. Definitely better than a Q6600 at that price.
 
Look at his board. Its a DS3L. Its voltage regulation is just a basic 4 phase setup. Also it only has a 4 pin connector vs the 8 pin. I would highly recommend a 8400 now and then in 6 months to a year if software/ games have shown advancements in being truly multi threaded aware, he can grab a nice cheap 45nm Quads when yields are better and prices are cheaper. At this moment the 8400 is your best bang for your buck chip. Everyone can hit 4GHZ, it will run cooler, A plus with Summer coming, and will out pace a Quad in games. I used to use a Quad at 3200MHZ Due to heat and now with my 8400@4.05GHZ, everything I do just feels a bit quicker and things respond better as well.
 
I love ;) how NewEgg currently shows the E8400 at $189.99 with free shipping. As soon as I add it to my cart, its price in the cart is $199.99

Hmmm ...
 
$199 now on the egg. You must have clicked the second it changed. Which probably means they are starting to run out again.
 
E8400 is the best way to go. I have it in Abit IX38 QuadGt @ 4005Mhz.CPU voltage @ 1.265 and MCH @ 1.3. Any faster requred voltage above 1.3 so i just stopped there but it was stabe @ 4.4Ghz @ 1.4v. I just didnt notice any performance diff. so i clocked it back down. I got the oem for 189 and i love it ...newegg ofcource. :)

Oh yea get the Nirvana NV120 cpu cooler....freaking monster
Corsair dominator pc8500 @ 2.1v and 5-5-5-12 @ 1068.
 
+1 for the Q6600

My buddy was thinking about picking up the E8400 over the Q6600 from Microcenter but opted for the 6600. He was laughing about a situation where his nephew was playing a pretty intensive game, burning a CD, and encoding a full DVD movie at the same time and he said that the CPU cores were hitting only around 30% or so for the most part across the board... I mean chip! :p

Dual core can do that as well, but not AS good. The choice is easy though - 2 cores for normal gaming or 4 cores for the idea that you might do something else on a computer involving media or REAL multitasking such as the situation above and then some. Plus, more games are "trying" to utilize more cores, so who knows what games will be triple/quad threaded.

Also, after like 3.0GHz, there is almost no difference in noticeable game FPS most of the time on a dual core. Even on a Q6600 @ 2.6 stock the chip is fast enough to rock and sock anything in its path for the most part.
 
Shambler said:
OMG YOUR AN IDIOT IF YOU BUY A DUAL CORE OVER A QUAD CORE OMG OMG OMG OMG
Q6700'S ARE THE BEST!
Click to expand...

I lol'd.

If it helps persuade you in one direction or the other:

9salmost601.png
 
Kmical said:
The multi-tasking is not THAT big a deal for me - I've got three systems ;)

Getting ready to order (today) the E8400 + 4GB G.Skill + Gigabyte DS3L + XFX 8800GT + Xigmatek HDT1283 from NewEgg.

Opinions on the G.Skill for helping to get it up to 4.0GHz?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Total with shipping: $584 (and my wife will reimburse me for the 8800GT).
Click to expand...

Shouldn't have any trouble pushing that gskill to 450mhz. Looks good. :)
 
Never mind - went with the DDR2-1000. Total for my upgrade = $600.50

Yes! - close to my budget ;)

Anyone want a good Opty 165+MB+mem combo? :p
 
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