• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Did I make a mistake getting the Q6600?

y2viks

y2viks

y2viks

Associate
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
1,652
Location
I Freed Fishfingers 13/08
I just specced a new machine with a £500ish budget and at the time (errr yesterday >< :p) and I went for a Q6600.

I was just checking some more stuff on the forums about the processor and I'm not sure if I should have gone for a CPU with 45nm.

The only one I can see within my price range is the Q8200 for another £15 - £20. After that is the Q9300 which is £45 more and really out of my budget.

Have I made a mistake or should that processor be fine? I use my PC for gaming and encoding.

Also if I have made a mistake can i return the Q6600 for a refund and get a different processor?

Thanks

Viks :)
 
Have I made a mistake or should that processor be fine? I use my PC for gaming and encoding.
Click to expand...

It would depend on how much encoding you are doing and whether the application that you use can take advantage of all four cores. It also depends on whether any time saved, over that of a potentially faster Dual, is that important to you..?
I would have preferred a Dual Core over the Quad that you have bought as the encoding that I do from home videos taken with my Camcorder or camera, or even still photos converted to a DVD, is more than fast enough with my CPU.
An E5200, much cheaper, or a E8400, a good overclocker, so it seems, being both examples of my preferred choice.
 
Last edited:
For encoding a quad core is better but for games you cant beat a E8400 for the money (117). Do you intend to OC? Is the encoding a higher priority than gaming and what games do you play, also the amount of mem you have and the resolution you game at will all have an effect. To get a Q6600 up to the E8400's gaming performance you will need to OC it which will draw more power and generate more heat.
 
depends on the clock settings really, it increases with clock speed and voltage. at 4ghz its as much as 60% higher with the 65nm q6600 over a 45nm qx9650. ( ~105w for the 45nm, ~165w for the 65nm)
 
To the OP, what OS are you using and how much memory do you have? The reason i ask is that if you are using 2gb of ram then the benafit of a quad may be lessened when encoding.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far :)

I tihnk looking at it - this is mainly for games with only a bit of encoding. to be honest I can't remember the last time I did encode, but i know i would in the future.

For all the questions asked:

1 - Time saved wouldn't be a huge issue as i'm on a 2.8 P4 at the moment and i'm sure either Dual or Quad would be significantly faster then what i have currently

2 - I do intend to OC but only up to what i can get with the stock cooler. I've been told that the Q6600's can go from anywhere to 3.0 to 3.6 with stock so i'm happy with that.

3 - I have 4Gb of RAM and i'm not 100% sure what res i'll be playing at. I have a 22" and a 20" monitor at the moment.

4 - I'll be using Windows Bisto Ultimate 64Bit

Thanks

Viks :)
 
Last edited:
Vista 64 and 4 gb is good, i think you will do well to get a q6600 to 3.6 with a stock cooler. An E8400 with even a modest OC will smash through encoding far far faster than your current rig.
 
All in all am I making a bit of fuss over nothing?

I'm on a P4 2.8, 2gb RAM machine now - so whether i go for the E or the Q, either way i'm getting a huge performance boost and it's a case of one being 100% better then what i've got (at certain things) and one being 105% better?
 
There will be rarely a consensus of opinion or agreement as there is no 'one' right option for what you want, within your budget, to fulfil your expectations and your needs.

I think looking at it - this is mainly for games with only a bit of encoding. to be honest I can't remember the last time I did encode, but i know i would in the future.
Click to expand...

That is why I asked just how much encoding that you do.

However in your first post you noted that you will be gaming and encoding. So people could reasonably assume that one is an equal priority for you as the other, and so recommend accordingly. A you do not encode currently, and can't remember when you last did, then I would suggest its importance isn't worth thinking about when choosing the CPU that is the most appropriate for you.

I will suggest though that you have left it a little late to be asking about your CPU when you had previously made your mind up and actually placed the order for the system, still better late than never.! :)

EDIT:
Don't forget have a think about what I posted b4
An E5200, much cheaper, or a E8400, a good overclocker, so it seems, being both examples of my preferred choice.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
y2viks said:
I just specced a new machine with a £500ish budget and at the time (errr yesterday >< :p) and I went for a Q6600.

I was just checking some more stuff on the forums about the processor and I'm not sure if I should have gone for a CPU with 45nm.

The only one I can see within my price range is the Q8200 for another £15 - £20. After that is the Q9300 which is £45 more and really out of my budget.

Have I made a mistake or should that processor be fine? I use my PC for gaming and encoding.

Also if I have made a mistake can i return the Q6600 for a refund and get a different processor?

Thanks

Viks :)
Click to expand...


Daz hugs his Q6600

:D
 
pegasus1 said:
To get a Q6600 up to the E8400's gaming performance you will need to OC it which will draw more power and generate more heat.
Click to expand...

According to these figures you need to OC the E8400 (3.3) to get Q6600 (2.4) gaming performance http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=0
On lower end GPU's its a closer match between the 2 (both within 5fps on all games with both running stock speeds) which just shows we still have GPU bottleneck


I really wish people would stop posting crap. The only thing the E series has over the Q6600 is power consumption (which isnt all that much unless your giving it 1.5V+) in which case go for a Q9450/Q9550 which matches the E series on power consumption :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom