CPU/Mobo Q6600 vs E8400

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xerocool

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well m planning to get a new processor
this is mainly for gaming purpose ..nd im gonna overclock it

guys plz help me on getting the right one ..read many stuff on forums but im more confused now

i was planning to get the q6600 nd oc it ...but the 45nm's 8400 are pretty much making the headlines nowdays ..

help :)
 
Buy quad only if you have real need for raw horsepower of all 4 cores. Gaming does not benefit that much from quads yet. So you would be better off with E8400.

Only those who use their pc extensively for media encoding, rendering, multi threaded science apps will benefit from quads. ( And ofcourse benchers ;) )

Before Q6600 came highly recommended even for gamers and home pcs as it was not that much more expensive and G0 stepping oced well.

Now there is something in the form of E8400 which will consume less power, will oc more and will benefit more for gamer.
 
yea :)

but in near future wont the 4 cores come more handy ??
(say a year or so ??)
though e8400 has more of clock speed ..nd as of now not many games support 4 cores
 
hmm..oc

q6600- upto 4ghz- 24x7

e8400- upto 4.3-4.5 ghz -24x7 ..from what i have read on xtremeforums..

i will get q6600..:)
 
Hmmm no 1 above mentioned that Quad needs good cooling too, 4GHz on E8400 24/7 is very easy, whereas for Q6600 to run even @ 3.6 U need CPU cooler like TRUE120, 4GHz is too far.
 
im using antec 900 case with Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (heat sink) so it should not cause much problems
 
xerocool said:
im using antec 900 case with Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (heat sink) so it should not cause much problems
Click to expand...

lol that does not guarantee anything.

On air expecting 4Ghz 24x7 from Q6600 is far fetched dream. Max you can expect is 3.8Ghz provided you get good stepping which is able to do 3.8Ghz under 1.6v. Most of the times you will have to settle for something like 3.5-3.6Ghz 24x7.

Even though G0 runs cooler than older B3 stepping CPUs, keeping Q6600 cool at such high speeds is not easy.

Also dont go by botmatch UT3 benchmark. Botmatch means there are plenty of CPU controlled characters running around on the screen taking CPU power. Even then E8400 framerate is more than enough for smooth gameplay.

As you see in the Crysis benchmark, quad core does not make much difference. Crysis or for that matter not many games are optimised for Quads anyway. And wont be for some time to come.

As I said, get quad only if you have an application to use it for now. Both E8400 and Q6600 will be outdated before the year end.
 
one year down the line 45nm quads will be cheaper+oc more+use less power+give less heating problems. until then u can play all upcoming games on the e8400.
 
everything will get outdated cos of "nehalem".

its difficult to get q6600 at 4ghz 24x7 ..but since u got antec 900 (means good airflow in cabi) as well as true 120 & if u get good stepping proci and nice mobo then its possible ..:)

which mobo u got there ?
 
^^ eventually the processors get "outdated" so i dont understand exactly what your trying to say. Both are good in their own league. For gaming, i would go for dual core gaming. I prefer to have more cache then more cores for now.
 
Even with Antec 900 and TRUE its really not a realistic goal for 4G 24x7 setup.

This is from personal experience. I am to my setup now but before this I had Q6600 in Antec 900 with TRUE with PUSH PULL dual fan setup with all case fans replaced with higher cfm ones.

And still to keep temps and most importantly voltages manageable I had to keep it at 3.6Ghz under air. Even under water 24x7 4G setup will need too much volts to make it a realistic 24x7 setup. Anything over 1.55-1.57vcore is not good for 24x7 setup of Q6600.

Its not as easy as it sounds even when you have top of the line hardware.

All those 4G Q6600 3Dmark / SPi bench runs you are watching on TE are just that, bench runs. These are not 24x7 setups. You can ask anyone if they ever had their Q6600 at 4G+ 24x7. And answer will be universally negative.

And yes, the reason I said both will be outdated is not because of cheaper 45nm C2Qs but Nehalem as Yogi has said. Its a complete platform change and not just processor upgrade.
 
q6600 @4ghz is difficult.:( ..seen few people on xtremeforums doing that with p35/x38 lanparty as well as on maximus formula ..

so its kinda possible but very hard to achieve ..i am sure my q6600 can do 3.8 but i need better mobo than this 650i ultra .
 
I'd prefer the E8400 anyday. You also get reduced power consumption and also ATM Dual Core if prefered by games and 4GHZ I think it should take the Q6600 head on.
 
I would advise people to go through this review before making a purchase decision between a Q6600, Q9300 and E8400/8500 :

X-bit labs - The Youngest of Yorkfields: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor Review

Some points that I noted that are related to the thread :

1. Most games are not optimized for quads except Supreme Commander, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Unreal Tournament 3, Microsoft Flight Simulator X, etc.

2. Video encoding tasks and rendering jobs do gain good benefits from a quad core processor.

3. It is pretty easy to run E8400 / 8500 processors at 4Ghz and even maintain the cooling. Running a Q6600 / Q9300 at 4 Ghz 24/7 is highly unlikely.

It all depends on what you are going to be using the machine for. If its only going to be for gaming and general use then a E8400/8500 with a good board is more than enough. If you are going to be doing 3D rendering or encoding then go for the quad.
 
Basically the OP has to decide between a Horse and a mule :)

Both are good for certain things and bad for other. Looking at the reqs, I would say go for the Horse ;)
 
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