Q6600 to...?

H

haithamt

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Messages
119
Hey all,

So I've currently got the rig in my sig (built about 2 years ago) and I'm starting to get the itch to upgrade. Do I feel it is necessary to upgrade? Nah not necessarily but its been a few years and I feel its that time. So what would you recommend? 2500/2600k or wait for some of the newer chipsets (Ivy etc)?
 
2500K

If you have no reason and only the itch...there is no reason to spend the extra money on the 2600K.

P67+2500K+DDR3 will scratch it for you.

as always...imho
 
If your primary concern is gaming, then go with the 2500K. If you need to do video editing/encoding then go with the 2600K. You could always wait for socket 2011, but the problem with waiting with computers to get the next best thing, is that you're always waiting.
 
2500k, and use the $100 saved toward a ssd boot drive. Newegg has some C300s on sale for $200 shipped right now.
 
haithamt said:
Yeah as I look at it my whole PC looks like its in need of an overhaul....
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the jump to any newer platform would require a new CPU, Motherboard, AND memory. Plus, your graphics card will seriously be holding each and every component you buy back. As for SSD Drives. If you can afford an 80GB drive I would highly advise you get one. That way you can take advantage of the speed with a few games at a time.
 
I am jumping from a Q6600 @3GHz to a Core i5 2400. I plan to do the standard +4X multiplier overclock (3.8GHz max turbo), stock cooler, RAM @ 1600, and just leave it at that. Couldn't bring myself to get a 2500K + new LGA 1155 cooler to get to 4.x GHz. Plus I could not tell the difference in stock / OC clock speed on a friends 2500K system, its just so damn fast at everything. I can feel the enthusiast getting sucked right out of me by a desire for value...
 
Last edited:
I feel no need to upgrade my Q6600

2j17cp5.jpg
 
I was going to keep my old Q6600 for another year, but I came across a deal too good to pass up. 3/30 - 3/31 Newegg was giving out $25 off $100 on all new accounts. Every part I bought - Mobo, 8GB RAM, CPU was over $100, well not the RAM, it was like $99 so I just found something for a couple bucks and added it in to bump it over that mark. So I made 3 new accounts and bought it once piece at a time and got $75 off, lol. That took the price from $463 to $388. I sold my Q6600, MSI P45 Platinum, and DDR2 RAM.. So the total cost of upgrade to go from a Q6600 to a 2500 was like $190. That's a pretty sweet deal.
 
@OP: I just had the same bug, and I went with the i5-2500K. I don't do anything where I will benefit from Hyperthreading, and the extra cache is basically a nonissue. I don't plan on OCing any more than will run stably at 1.3V or so, so even if there is some mythical higher headroom on the 2600K, I'm not going to see it. 2500K was $80 off at Microcenter, mobo on sale too, price was too good to pass up.

IndianScout said:
I feel no need to upgrade my Q6600

2j17cp5.jpg
Click to expand...

Jealous. :(

Mine would not run stably at more than 3.4GHz (380x9) at 1.45V, which is as high as I felt comfortable pushing it for 24/7 operation.
 
Did you place your old parts on Craigslist? If I could get $198 for my old parts I would do it in a second. And yes the 8800gt is horrible lol
Thanks for all of the replies!
 
Omophorus said:
@OP: I just had the same bug, and I went with the i5-2500K. I don't do anything where I will benefit from Hyperthreading, and the extra cache is basically a nonissue. I don't plan on OCing any more than will run stably at 1.3V or so, so even if there is some mythical higher headroom on the 2600K, I'm not going to see it. 2500K was $80 off at Microcenter, mobo on sale too, price was too good to pass up.
Click to expand...

I made a special Microcenter run this weekend and got in on that 2500k deal. Got a 2500k, Asus P67 Pro, 8gb Vengeance kit, and a Hyper212+. Just have to wait for my C300 to get here from Newegg.

My Q6600 lasted me a long time, but I couldn't get it stable beyond 3.2ghz.
 
Omophorus said:
Jealous. :(

Mine would not run stably at more than 3.4GHz (380x9) at 1.45V, which is as high as I felt comfortable pushing it for 24/7 operation.
Click to expand...


I can get this to run at 4ghz, I just haven't found the sweet set of setting for it to be completely prime stable, it will run for a couple hours then reset, it's not heat or ram, it's just wanting to give me a hard time,

maybe even I've hit the wall with it, who knows but I'm going to keep pushing it as close as I can get to 4ghz..
 
I went from a Q6600 at 3.9GHZ to a 2600K at 4.5GHZ (chip will do 5GHZ) and am loving every bit of it. I got increased frames in games, and no longer get stuttering while watching some 1080 content on a second screen while playing WoW.

Best itch I've scratched in a while.
 
If everything works fine why to upgrade?

Your processor is just fine. If you want incresed framerates in gaming get new video card (ie 5870) and SSD drive for overal loading speed. That would be future proof upgrade and you will love how fast your computer will become without upgrading CPU and MB.
 
You do not need to upgrade. The worthy upgrade for you will be the first platform that will support PCIe 3.0. If you upgrade now, then you will still be using PCIe 2.0 for the next two years, since you don't upgrade often.

LGA2011 (Q4 2011) or Ivy Bridge (Q1 2012) will have PCIe 3.0.
 
Haiku214 said:
You do not need to upgrade. The worthy upgrade for you will be the first platform that will support PCIe 3.0. If you upgrade now, then you will still be using PCIe 2.0 for the next two years, since you don't upgrade often.

LGA2011 (Q4 2011) or Ivy Bridge (Q1 2012) will have PCIe 3.0.
Click to expand...

A Q6600 isn't exactly blazing fast right now, especially when paired with 4GB DDR2 and a 800GT...

PCI Express 2.0 isn't bottle-necking anything at 8X and over speeds, what benefit would 3.0 have?
 
May aswell jump in on this discussion. My current Q6600 comp (in sig) has been doing me proud for almost 3 years. Just up'd the cooling and im looking into a slight upgrade to give the old girl an adrenaline shot to last me until the next big spend (mobo/cpu/ram).

Thinking a GPU upgrade and maybe an SSD should do the trick. What (if any) would be a sensible upgrade to a 8800GTX? Dont really want it to be bottlenecked by the Q6600.

Also any recommendations on a 120gb SSD to go with my sata2 mobo? Cheers.
 
ocellaris said:
A Q6600 isn't exactly blazing fast right now, especially when paired with 4GB DDR2 and a 800GT...

PCI Express 2.0 isn't bottle-necking anything at 8X and over speeds, what benefit would 3.0 have?
Click to expand...

It is better for him to upgrade GPU first
 
Buztafen said:
May aswell jump in on this discussion. My current Q6600 comp (in sig) has been doing me proud for almost 3 years. Just up'd the cooling and im looking into a slight upgrade to give the old girl an adrenaline shot to last me until the next big spend (mobo/cpu/ram).

Thinking a GPU upgrade and maybe an SSD should do the trick. What (if any) would be a sensible upgrade to a 8800GTX? Dont really want it to be bottlenecked by the Q6600.

Also any recommendations on a 120gb SSD to go with my sata2 mobo? Cheers.
Click to expand...

You don't really need to worry about being cpu bottlenecked with modern day gpus (so long as you only run 1 gpu). The only game you will be cpu bottlenecked in from my experience in Bad Company 2. I upgraded from 2x 8800GT to a 5870 (and later eyefinity) and have loved it. 6950 or 570 -- it's really whatever you find the best bang for the buck on. A gpu upgrade will most definitely do the trick.
 
Ive been out of the loop for awhile (obviously) because work and life got in the way but I see that the 6950 is a PCI-Express 2.1 card. Will my board hold back my card because I dont believe it has Express 2.1?
I might just try out watercooling for kicks and see how far I can push the 6600.
 
You don't really need to worry about being cpu bottlenecked with modern day gpus (so long as you only run 1 gpu). The only game you will be cpu bottlenecked in from my experience in Bad Company 2. I upgraded from 2x 8800GT to a 5870 (and later eyefinity) and have loved it. 6950 or 570 -- it's really whatever you find the best bang for the buck on. A gpu upgrade will most definitely do the trick.
Click to expand...

Really?, that's great news. Im looking for this setup to last me hopefully until the next socket revisions come along. I only play at 1920x1080 as that's the native res of the Panny Plasma my pc's hooked upto so I dont think I need one of those insane SLi super quad gpu setups or anything, just enough ooomph to play games at that res with decent fps and moderate/high settings and also play .MKV's smooth as silk.

To be honest the 8800GTX is a trooper and still hold its own against some modern cards but it uses more power than sun, weighs more than a person and takes up 90% of the space in my case (may be slightly over exaggerating here but...). Basically its a bully but its done the job for the past 3 years and needs retiring soon.

Will take a look at the 6950/70.
 
I'm definitely waiting 3-4 years before building a new rig lol. I just sold my q6600 system for 750 too!
 
haithamt said:
Hey all,

So I've currently got the rig in my sig (built about 2 years ago) and I'm starting to get the itch to upgrade. Do I feel it is necessary to upgrade? Nah not necessarily but its been a few years and I feel its that time. So what would you recommend? 2500/2600k or wait for some of the newer chipsets (Ivy etc)?
Click to expand...
i would do a 2500k build and sell your old components.. you could easily get some decent $$$ for it.
 
A bit off topic, I'm in the same boat (Q6600 rig) and trying to stave off upgrading. So I'm thinking I should just o/c my Q6600.. what's a safe o/c for a G0 Q6600?
 
pookguy88 said:
A bit off topic, I'm in the same boat (Q6600 rig) and trying to stave off upgrading. So I'm thinking I should just o/c my Q6600.. what's a safe o/c for a G0 Q6600?
Click to expand...

Raise the bus speed to 333 and it should be good. That will get you 3GHz, its extremely rare to have problems at those speeds.
 
I had a q6600 overclocked to 3 ghz and then moved to a 2600k. It was like night and day in some cases, in games my fps went up like 30% using a ati 5770. This is not a rigorous measurement of course. I did not think i was bottlenecked before, but I was. I think the q6600 is approaching end of life/home server status. That said I think the smarter buy would of been to get a 2500. While the 2600 is faster, I think its more of a case by case basis for whether the extra performance is worth the premium.
 
nicknations said:
i would do a 2500k build and sell your old components.. you could easily get some decent $$$ for it.
Click to expand...

^This is what I did.
I moved my Q6700 over to my HTPC, and so far:

E7400 cpu: $85
8GB DDR2 800 ram: $125
P5B Deluxe Wifi/AP: $80


If I can get $165 for a dual core and older mobo than yours, you should be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top