Wait for the Penryns?

thanks for all the replies again.
appreciate it very much!

i should get in the habit of upgrading maybe every 2 years or so...
im just hoping that the release of the penryns will drop the q6600 down.

anything now is better than my setup lol.

on the side note...saw the 3.0 penryn and its +1000$ !!!!!!

geez i wish i can afford that chip lol.
 
I am in similar boat as you OP, but my rig isn't 5 years old; it's only 2.5 years old. When I upgraded to my current rig, it cost me quite a bit: AMD X2 4400+ was $500, and 7800GTX and $500 as well. So with MB, I spent total of around $1150 which makes my stomach churn. As you now know, 7800GTX didn't have the lasting power of 8800 series and Core 2 Duo debuted later to slaughter the AMD offerings at much lower price.

I recently upgraded my 7800GTX with a 8800GT for half the price. I am thinking of upgrading to a Q6600 now because Q9450 won't be $316 when it debuts (that price is for 1000 tray units anyways). In fact, I would predict its price will hover around $370~$400 for a while. I don't know if $100~$130 premium over Q6600 is worth ~8% performance increase. I am thinking of getting an ABIt IP35-E for around $80 AR with a Q6600 and I should able to game quite well with a 8800GT.

So ask yourself this, is $100~$130 premium over Q6600 worth ~8% performance increase? If yes, get Penryn, if not and you want to enjoy it now, get Q6600. You can pick up a 8800GT at Bestbuy with 10% (12% if you are RZ member).
 
i am kinda in the same boat as the op, so ive thought a bit about this.

what u failed to address in ur op was the fact that DDR3 and PCI-E 2.0 are both around the corner just like penryn.

just some more food for thought. haha.
 
dacalo07 said:
I am thinking of upgrading to a Q6600 now because Q9450 won't be $316 when it debuts (that price is for 1000 tray units anyways). In fact, I would predict its price will hover around $370~$400 for a while.
Click to expand...

What do you base your prediction on?
 
SockMan! said:
What do you base your prediction on?
Click to expand...

It is a well known fact that new hardware will be priced above MSRP (which $316 ISN'T, it's wholesale price). Retailers will likely will sell around $340 ~$360, and they will mark up due to new release.

Of course, the price will normalize and will inch closer to $316 once it's out for a while. Look at Q6600. It was touted as $266 (1000 quantity price) and it's still around $279 almost everywhere.
 
ic3dblue said:
i am kinda in the same boat as the op, so ive thought a bit about this.

what u failed to address in ur op was the fact that DDR3 and PCI-E 2.0 are both around the corner just like penryn.

just some more food for thought. haha.
Click to expand...

if thats the case...then i think i will wait lol.
dd3 is way too expensive now.
 
Quick question, pretty dopey but whatever.

I'm thinking of selling my 4400+x2, 2gb (ddr1) ram and x1950xtx and getting a nice new Penryn and possibly 8800gt (and hopefully stepping up to newer card when possible)

Some nice DDR2 stuff at at least 667 will be fine for the Penryn chips since they are at 1333, right? Also, what's a good motherboard thats not f'n 250 bucks? Finally, RAM is dirt cheap. 55 bucks for some Corsair stuff? Heck yeah. Might as well get 4gb. What am I looking at running 4x1gb? I take it wouldnt run in DDR mode any more? What kind of performance difference am I going to see? getting a 64 bit version of vista is no problem, so thats no worry.
 
socK said:
Quick question, pretty dopey but whatever.

I'm thinking of selling my 4400+x2, 2gb (ddr1) ram and x1950xtx and getting a nice new Penryn and possibly 8800gt (and hopefully stepping up to newer card when possible)

Some nice DDR2 stuff at at least 667 will be fine for the Penryn chips since they are at 1333, right? Also, what's a good motherboard thats not f'n 250 bucks? Finally, RAM is dirt cheap. 55 bucks for some Corsair stuff? Heck yeah. Might as well get 4gb. What am I looking at running 4x1gb? I take it wouldnt run in DDR mode any more? What kind of performance difference am I going to see? getting a 64 bit version of vista is no problem, so thats no worry.
Click to expand...

667 is fine if you are not planing to overclock at 1:1. Remember 1333/4 = 333 and DDR2 667 = 333. Might as well as get 800 anyways since RAM is dirt cheap now.

There are a lot of good affordable MBs out there, do some research.

Do you even know what DDR is? Of course 4x1gb will still run in DDR mode.
 
dacalo07 said:
667 is fine if you are not planing to overclock at 1:1. Remember 1333/4 = 333 and DDR2 667 = 333. Might as well as get 800 anyways since RAM is dirt cheap now.

There are a lot of good affordable MBs out there, do some research.

Do you even know what DDR is? Of course 4x1gb will still run in DDR mode.
Click to expand...

Never ran 4 sticks at once, so no firsthand experience in that field. Just always figured, you have 2, or you miss out somehow.

Anyway, I'll be shooting for at least 3ghz in the OC field, which seems like it's going to be piss easy to do since these chips overclock ridiculously. I'll be getting 800 on the ram, so I should be covered for a bit.
 
The TS should reassess his/her needs after all the say about the new high end stuff round the corner. Numbers & names you pay for remain in your sig only if you do not use them. A quad core might not be necessary over a C2D for gaming and even 2D graphics work. There are actually people using E6600s and Nvidia Quadros sitting next ot me in the office doing nothing but MS Office work as we speak.
 
Hey guys, I need a new system before christmas, so I think I am going to build a X38 based system with either a Q6600 or E6750. I was gonna wait for the Penryns but I dont have time, so I'll build it now and perhaps upgrade next summer.

When will the Nehalems be out? Is X38 and P35 equally future-proof in terms of supporting these CPUs? What is the big deal with Nehalem? Will it support DDR2?

Also, does the E6750 produce substantially less heat than the Q6600?

Thanks!
 
CC_Pirate said:
Hey guys, I need a new system before christmas, so I think I am going to build a X38 based system with either a Q6600 or E6750. I was gonna wait for the Penryns but I dont have time, so I'll build it now and perhaps upgrade next summer.

When will the Nehalems be out? Is X38 and P35 equally future-proof in terms of supporting these CPUs? What is the big deal with Nehalem? Will it support DDR2?

Also, does the E6750 produce substantially less heat than the Q6600?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Nehalem is an entirely new socket according to early rumors, in which case you will need a new CPU and motherboard. Pretty certain it will be DDR3 only.
 
CC_Pirate said:
Hey guys, I need a new system before christmas, so I think I am going to build a X38 based system with either a Q6600...
Click to expand...

I'm basically in the same boat you are. I'm not a big SLI person so I'm figuring either P35 or x38 for myself.

Wouldn't mind some input on that from folks. :)
 
Q-BZ said:
I'm basically in the same boat you are. I'm not a big SLI person so I'm figuring either P35 or x38 for myself.

Wouldn't mind some input on that from folks. :)
Click to expand...

Agreed.. I know the performance difference betw. P35 and X38 are minimal. But are there any other significant improvements in terms of future proofing?
 
CC_Pirate said:
Agreed.. I know the performance difference betw. P35 and X38 are minimal. But are there any other significant improvements in terms of future proofing?
Click to expand...

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=409

The X38 chipset will offer a few new features over the P35 chipset that is being released today including support for PCI Express 2.0, support for Intel's upcoming 45nm processors and dual x16 PCIe graphics slots. Additionally, this slide indicates that Intel will be REMOVING the overclocking protection from the chipset and this should allow tweakers to really push Intel's core logic and CPUs to the limits.
Click to expand...

If you read around you'll see varying opinions about value for dollar, performance, and some other things so this is a fairly interesting decision to make here between these two.

Case in point:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3150&p=1

The performance of the X38 was clearly not a step above the P35 upon release. Test results from new features such as PCI Express 2.0 and true dual x16 PCI Express capable slots were not available...Even several weeks after launch, we are just now seeing boards from manufacturers other than ASUS and Gigabyte hitting the channels. It was not until this last series of BIOS releases that we would even consider purchasing an X38 based board over a P35 equivalent.
Click to expand...

P35 seems to have the benefit of time, stability, and more mature BIOS. I'm getting the idea it's more of the "sweet spot" for value/performance outside of an SLI situation.
 
I would just buy a system now rather than waiting. The Penryn chips will definitely be priced decently above wholesale for a while after release, and I really don't think you're going to see a big performance increase over the Q6600 - especially in games where you'd be GPU limited.

I'd also go with the P35 over the X38 just based on the price, since you say you're on a budget. I haven't seen any X38 boards for under $200 yet, but there are a few decent P35 boards that can be had for less than $100. That's a big difference considering how narrow the performance gap is between the two chipsets. X38 is also newer to the market and thus more prone to having issues. If you add up the difference between the P35 and the X38, as well as the likely price of the Penryn chip when it debuts ($350-$375), you're not only getting a new system sooner, but you're shaving up to $200 off of the price without much impact on performance.
 
Outnumbered said:
I would just buy a system now rather than waiting. The Penryn chips will definitely be priced decently above wholesale for a while after release, and I really don't think you're going to see a big performance increase over the Q6600 - especially in games where you'd be GPU limited.

I'd also go with the P35 over the X38 just based on the price, since you say you're on a budget. I haven't seen any X38 boards for under $200 yet, but there are a few decent P35 boards that can be had for less than $100. That's a big difference considering how narrow the performance gap is between the two chipsets. X38 is also newer to the market and thus more prone to having issues. If you add up the difference between the P35 and the X38, as well as the likely price of the Penryn chip when it debuts ($350-$375), you're not only getting a new system sooner, but you're shaving up to $200 off of the price without much impact on performance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. :)
 
I'm disappointed with the Penryn's because of the high FSB requirements and low multipliers.

Unless you're buyin' the top end unlocked multi piece, they'll be tougher to OC than the conroes /quads. What good is that 45nm stuff when they jacked uop the multi's?
 
Stupid Q 1: what is Penryns? is it the 45nm processors?
Stupid Q 2: what is x38 chipset? is it something like the SLI based mobo's and p35 based mobo's?


I'm disappointed with the Penryn's because of the high FSB requirements and low multipliers.

Unless you're buyin' the top end unlocked multi piece, they'll be tougher to OC than the conroes /quads. What good is that 45nm stuff when they jacked uop the multi's?
Click to expand...
so is there like locked processors that you can't OC and unlocked one's?


sorry & thnx

btw: I wanted to buy
Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (4x 2.4GHz/8MB L2 Cache)
and now waiting for the
Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.67ghz 1333fsb 12 l2cache LGA775
so yes WAIT
 
Both P35 and X38 chipsets are by Intel and they do not support SLI. Only Nvidia chipsets do.

'Extreme' high end models of Intel processors have unlocked multipliers (Q6600 is not one of them) that makes OC easier.

If you want to buy a 1333fsb processor it will be harder to OC then a 800fsb or 1066fsb processor. This is because by default the board is already running at 333fsb (1333/4) instead of 266fsb or 200fsb. There is more possibility to run a 200fsb chip at 333fsb then a 333fsb chip at 466fsb.

Most decent overclocking motherboards will crap out at around 450fsb, and be prepared to pay more for faster memory and extra NB cooling at high a FSB.
 
reviving an old thread instead of creating a new similar one.

so the 45nm are just around the corner
and now my computer is dead and i need one.

i speced out a x38mobo with a good video card
all i need is a cpu.

so my question to you guys is should i just buy a q6600 and use it for a year or so and then upgrade to the 45nm after the prices drop to around retail(assuming resellers rasie the price) or buy a cheapo duo core and upgrade once the new 45nm hits the shelves.

need your help and advice!

thanks in advance!
 
if you could hold out for a year with a q6600 you're in nehalem territory at that point. wait for a 45nm if you care about power savings. otherwise there's no huge reason to hold out for a 45nm
 
I was faced with this same dilemna.. I held out from about August'07 - Jan'08.. =)

I ended up with an Asus Maximus mobo (X38 chipset) and a q6600 g0.

I just couldn't wait any longer. I'll wait for benchmarks/comparisons on the 45nm quads, then make a decision to upgrade or not. I just hope when I decide that the q6600 hasn't dropped too dramatically in re-sale price

Ultimately, the decision is yours.. Don't let us make up your mind and spend your money =)
 
thanks for the replies.

as my previous posts state i have waited 5 years!
still on AGP lol.

not really concerned about power.
i guess i will do the same.
buy a q6600 and decide to upgrade later or not.

i am also just worried that the re-sale of the q6600 will drop a lot.
 
hehe i got my Qx9650 yesterday, it's pretty hard to motivate the buy but i will sure have some OC:ing fun :D
 
well thanks everyone for your advice and help.
i took the plunge for the q6600 just like jmphx

i guess if i need to upgrade i can just get the cpu at a later time.

thanks again.
 
to the OP - my guess is either way you go considering the upgrade you're going to go through, you'll have a blast anyway (you know, the WOW factor of doubling the RAM or your screen size).

I'm in a similar situation. I did my last major upgrade when WoW came out in January 05. I was just going to get a 8800GT and 2Gb of RAM before Christmas but low stocks and a bit of research made me decide to wait a bit.

now I'm really excited about 45nm for power comsumption and heat. DDR3 though so far looks like crap so that's a downer. so what I might do is wait out for Nehalem for the DDR3 to develop and the 9 series to pan out....though that puts me out another year :/
I don't plan to upgrade for another 3 years or so, so i want my rig to last quite a bit (i like to hit the still-great-bang for now-low-buck spot)
 
Geez, my opteron 165 + 8800GT still runs crysis fine (High Settings on my 37" westinghouse) and is not bottle necked so what is the rush? I do admit this 3 year old system has been one of my most solid builds to this date though :)
 
yea the reason why i didn't wait is that i really don't overclock. I will maybe try this time.
not a heavy gamer too.

i don't really care about power consumption nor the heat.

plan to use this till the nehalems come out or so.

i think i made the right move. waited long enough!

thanks again.
 
USMC2Hard4U said:
Dont wait.

Buy the Peryn Extreme Edition now for $1200.
Click to expand...

Actually as crazy as that sounds it is the best option if you can afford the $999.00 price. Because that cpu will be top dog for a long time, like until Winter '08/'09.

There will be nothing better than that with 3.0ghz speed, 4 cores, 1333fsb, and 12mb cache, I don't see a much faster cpu than for for quite awhile, yeah there will be some eXtreme ones that come out, but may 10% faster at best, for something like much faster it won't be untill 2009
 
Zorachus said:
Actually as crazy as that sounds it is the best option if you can afford the $999.00 price. Because that cpu will be top dog for a long time, like until Winter '08/'09.

There will be nothing better than that with 3.0ghz speed, 4 cores, 1333fsb, and 12mb cache, I don't see a much faster cpu than for for quite awhile, yeah there will be some eXtreme ones that come out, but may 10% faster at best, for something like much faster it won't be untill 2009
Click to expand...
Yep, for the first time they are worth the money since none of the cheaper ones will reach 4GHz, and absolutely not for any 24/7 use on low vcore.
 
Is there really that much of a difference between the 3.5(-ish) GHz that most Q6600 will get vs a 4 GHz chip? The price for that extra 500MHz is pretty steep if you ask me...
 
I finally came around to buying the components for my new build. You can see the list here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1247111

Last page has my final specs and thoughts.

One thing to consider is that Feb is not a definite date and could be release in late Mar by Q1. Even then not all of the new Intel CPU line are being release and there might be more delays. Price will be high and benchmarks will start to come for the whole month. Some hardware prices will not drop by much or at all. I've played the wait game long enough and if worst comes i'll just do a minor upgrade in the fall season when prices are down, reviews are out, and plenty of benchmarks. This is just my opinion, take it how you want.
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Is there really that much of a difference between the 3.5(-ish) GHz that most Q6600 will get vs a 4 GHz chip? The price for that extra 500MHz is pretty steep if you ask me...
Click to expand...
Yes it is since Yorkfield is faster then Kentfield at same clock, think it is about 8-10% or so.
But 4GHz is just for 24/7 on low and safe(max 1,45v) vcore, max OC is more for this CPU, just that the vcore needed for that is not healty for 24/7 but compare 3.5-3.6 Kentfield with 4.5ish+ Yorkfield and the differens will be big enough for some people while some dont care about it so it is up to each and everybody.
But what i mean by worth the money is that not even topdog will reach 4Ghz for 24/7 as all QX9650 can do without and problem on the right board and some small tweaks and Yorkfield seems to have about the same max FSB as Kentfield has.
 
junglicious said:
I finally came around to buying the components for my new build. You can see the list here:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1247111

Last page has my final specs and thoughts.

One thing to consider is that Feb is not a definite date and could be release in late Mar by Q1. Even then not all of the new Intel CPU line are being release and there might be more delays. Price will be high and benchmarks will start to come for the whole month. Some hardware prices will not drop by much or at all. I've played the wait game long enough and if worst comes i'll just do a minor upgrade in the fall season when prices are down, reviews are out, and plenty of benchmarks. This is just my opinion, take it how you want.
Click to expand...

I still recommend you to wait further,buy a yorkfield,it will be better for sure than kentsfield for the same money.Don't buy now the Kentsfield because this is what Intel wants,to get rid of the old Kentsfields in stock
 
A little update I thought may be interesting to this thread....

Noticed this over on XS:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=173287

Summary: Q9450 has maximum 8x multi and potentially low FSB wall of around 480mhz. So max OC may be around 3.8ghz.

That's something to keep in mind. With the Q6600 G0, 3.8ghz or higher shouldn't be too hard to achieve w/ proper cooling.

To me, I see 2 things:
1) My choice to stop waiting and get a Q6600 was a good one
2) If the 45nm chips are a must-upgrade in a couple months, I will want to go with at least a Q9550 and not a Q9450 as I had originally thought (the q9450 will be right around the same price as current Q6600's, I believe, while q9550 will be a hundred or so more)
 
about the Qx9650 overclocking easy to 4Ghz i can nothing but agree, mine does prime stable 4Ghz @ 1.352V which is pretty damn good i think.

Well i jumped the train and im happy about it. And it's so damn nice to be back at the good old T-bird days with unlocked multipliers :D

so my advice is to you if you can afford it buy it. also these Extreme models tend to have a fairly good 2:nd hand value. atleast if you like me think about selling it like a month beafore nehalem arrives.

sorry about my terrible spelling btw :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top