Should I upgrade my CPU on my current motherboard? E6600

What applications do you run? Are you OC'ing your CPU? My old E6300 running at 3GHz still runs fine for me for most tasks.

If you have a Fry's near you you can get the i7 930 + MSI X58 PRO-E for $350 + tax. You'll need some DDR3 memory though. I picked one up today and will be running it in dual channel mode till I need more umpf.
 
If you live near a MicroCenter you can get a Q9550 Boxed for $179.99.

I'm basically in the same upgrade boat as you are.. I can't decide between this Q9550 or upgrading to an i7-920 which will require a new mobo and new DDR3 RAM so I'm just gonna wait it out some more. :p
 
Gaming, mostly.

Is overclocking this CPU hard? I have the stock intel cooling fan that came with the retail box. Running a Gigabyte 965P-DS3.

I'd O/C but I dont want to go into the range of worrying about frying my unit.

What I don't want to do is have to get a whole new MB and ram. I want to push what I have now for a while longer if I can. New CPU, some faster ram, and a new GPU.

How about this though, not worrying about prices, what CPU on that list would actually make a difference to me? Then I'll just wait for a price break.
 
I have the same E6600 & DS3 (rev2.0 tho) which still runs pretty strong for gaming, my main use.

The best way to stretch your performance without hurting your wallet is to buy a decent CPU heatsink and try OCing it around 3.3ghz+

This thread here is a great help for OCing with your motherboard. Good luck!
 
I have a q9550 with the ds3r motherboard. Works great, oc at 3.82ghz, with a 5850 oc'ed as well. I can run crysis in Max settings 1920x1200 and 2xaa 16af
I had an e6750 before, so was a similar chip, quad makes a big difference in some apps, not so much in others. Bad Company 2 was a large improvement.
 
LordJezo said:
With that cooler you have, the one listed in your sig, this one I think:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Does it keep the temps down when playing games? I know it will be fine surfing and doing usual tasks, but how does it hold together when playing games that really push it?
Click to expand...

If your planning on overclocking your E6600 that cooler will work great and will let you overclock very well. However at $40 bucks + $7 shipping thats a horrible price. The benefits of this heatsink (which I am using right now) is its usually in the 25-35 dollar range shipped. Its an awesome budget cooler but $47 dollars in not a budget price. If you can get one significantly cheaper go for it, if not there are better options for the price.

If your going to upgrade to a Quad core (which isn't a bad idea IMO) get a better air cooler like the Xigmatec which is cheaper anyway.
 
LordJezo said:
Gaming, mostly.

Is overclocking this CPU hard? I have the stock intel cooling fan that came with the retail box. Running a Gigabyte 965P-DS3.

I'd O/C but I dont want to go into the range of worrying about frying my unit.

What I don't want to do is have to get a whole new MB and ram. I want to push what I have now for a while longer if I can. New CPU, some faster ram, and a new GPU.

How about this though, not worrying about prices, what CPU on that list would actually make a difference to me? Then I'll just wait for a price break.
Click to expand...

Definitely overclock first before you spend any $$. The Gigabyte 965P-DS3 is a good O/C board and 3Ghz should be no problem with the stock Intel cooler, but youll need a better cooler to go maybe to 3.3GHz+

What Video card do you have or will you buy? and what resolution are you gaming in?. Trying to establish if a CPU upgrade is a worthwhile option considering you can overclock.
 
I have an 8800 GTS 320 MB.

That is next on my list to upgrade, I am just waiting for the Nvidia release/unveiling in the next couple of weeks to see if it will drive the price of a 260 down to the 120~140 range after rebate or sale.

I could get an 5770 for that price point but I don't know if I want to go ATI at this point in time.

I found the Artic Freezer 7 cooler for $33 on Amazon. With free 2-day Prime shipping and no tax I should have it by Tuesday. I did find places a little cheaper but this is the quickest and I like Amazon's return policy in case it doesn't fit.
 
One of the hard things with your configuration is that unless you have already some of the things needed to overclock you end up spending money on stuff that you won't be able to carry forward. I have quite a bit invested in the Socket 775 and DDR2 (see my sig). So I waited for a good combo deal and bit the bullet.

For gaming a Dual Core 3GHz+ CPU will last a while still. Getting a better GPU will get you better bang for the buck than upgrading everything. The GPU is also the only future safe upgrade. I'd get that first (e.g. Radeon 5850 upward, ATI currently has the better price/value ratio now). See how your games are doing then. One thing you can do with your 8800GTS is use it for PhyX on an X58 board.

After that check your CPU temps with the stock cooler and do some OC to see how far you can push it. The 9x multiplier should really help here. If you really need to get a CPU cooler, get one that will support socket 1156 (i5) and 1366 (i7). That way you can reuse the cooler when you upgrade your CPU and motherboard. Otherwise don't spend a lot of money (<$30). All those small $20-30 add up and you could have gotten that i7 system.
 
^^^ I've heard lots of good things about the core contact freezer. I'd give it a shot for $25. I'm running a Scythe Mugen 2, and I only got that because it was on sale for $25 or so. You don't have to spend $50 to get a good cooler.
 
Im in the same boat man. I think Im just going to upgrade my video card. My E6600 is water cooled and been running at 3.3 for a long ass time. So no need to spend any more money on cpu's. At least for the time being. i7 not yet.
 
I would keep what you have for 1 more year until Intel releases the next socket generation. You have until the end of next year to save for the new computer, and the newer Fermi cards will be out and will be available.
 
quad could be worth it.. depends what you want to use it for. personally i'm sticking with my OC'd E6850 for as long as possible.
 
For gaming I dont think you will notice much of a difference unless you play supreme commander 2 or something.
 
LordJezo said:
With that cooler you have, the one listed in your sig, this one I think:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Does it keep the temps down when playing games? I know it will be fine surfing and doing usual tasks, but how does it hold together when playing games that really push it?
Click to expand...


According to the HardOCP review of budget coolers, you should stay away from that heatsink....

I'm using this $20 heatsink though, and it let me OC my i3 to 4.5~ GHz... Very pleased with it for the money. 775 compatible.
 
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