Core2 Quad?

[Smorgasbord]

Hi all,

I'm considering a Quad Core. Mainly because I play a lot of GTA IV, and would simply like that extra power!!

I am wondering though, is it worth looking at the Q6600/Q6700 or should I aim for a Q8400/Q9400?

I'd love a Q9550 but it is a tad out of my price range unless I can sell my E7200 for about £50. This is also the reason I won't upgrade to i7.

TIA.

 

[Smorgasbord]

If your working to a budget then get a Q6600 or Q6700, overclock it upto or beyond 3.0Ghz and the game will run very well.

Nice one. I'd like to take a Q6700 to 3.3GHz or a Q6600 to 3GHz. Can't see me needing more than that. I've got an AKASA 965 cooler at the moment, which should be good enough shouldn't it?

I also think my motherboards not very good at overclocking so I may look to replace that in the near future.

I've heard the recent batches of Q6*00 CPU's aren't very good at overclocking, is this true? Or is it just Retail CPU's which are crap?

 

[Smorgasbord]

Akasa 965 should cope fine with a reasonable quad overclock, I've used it within a number of budget builds since release as it does a fine job. The newer Q6600's seem a be a bit poor for going beyond 3.2GHz, my youngest brothers year old Q6600 can only just manage 3.4Ghz with 1.450V.

but using a Q6700, I should hit 3-3.3GHz easily though I would hope.

Righteo, I shall order meself one come the day I get paid. Should go well with my recent purchase of a Radeon 4770!

 

[Smorgasbord]

I went from a E6750 dual core to a Q6600 for the same reasons as you. I can say, DON'T BOTHER! You will not see any improvements if you're going from a similar processor to me.

What's the rest of your system like? I'd heard that the likes of Far Cry 2, GTA IV ran better with 2+ Cores.

Also, I'm having extreme difficulty overclocking my E7200 as it runs so freaking hot even with the AKASA 965. I know the Quad will run warm, but would also be faster.

 

[Smorgasbord]

Hi,

so the general consensus is that I should stick with the E7200.

Further question, I have tried overclocking it on my motherboard, but the lack of proper controls seems to limit the overclock I can make, and the exceptionally high temps of the cpu.

Is it worth overclocking my processor, or simply running at stock 2.53GHz speeds, or should i get a quicker Dual Core OR get a better motherboard and OC the hell out of it - the problem being i have a mATX system

 

[Smorgasbord]

I have an ASUS P5KPL-AM motherboard with an AKASA 965 CPU cooler.

 

[Smorgasbord]

I would like to limit myself to about £130, obviously will go higher for quality or lower if possible.

 

[Smorgasbord]

OEM I think? And the other components of your system?

My current system is an E7200, 4GB of OCZ 'SLI Certified' 800MHz Ram, P5KPL-AM Motherbaord, 1TB Spinpoint HDD, 520W Cooler Master PSU, CM Elite 340 case, and a Sapphire 4770.

 

[Smorgasbord]

Unfortunately, your mobo doesn't support CrossFire. Second 4770 can be fresh power

Yeah I know my motherboard doesn't support Xfire. XFire's not something I'm too interested in at the moment.

So is the Q6700 definitely the best choice of chip for my setup? Rather than a Q8*00 or Dual Core E8*00?

 

[Smorgasbord]

Well I got the versus tests done early evening, been out till late tonight so won’t be posting them up now. However check back Tuesday for some interesting GTAIV results for both the E6750 and Q6600. I'm sure someone will find a way to pick holes in the results, but rest assured results are straight up.

Read what you will into them tomorrow.



Q6700 @ 3.2Ghz+ or any other Quad clocked to same speed or higher, well for GTAIV.



Sorry to say your wrong.

Nice one, look forward to seeing the results. In the meantime, i'm going to look at getting a P43/P45 motherboard with a new case, and will look at the Q6700's afterwards.

Cheers,

 

[Smorgasbord]

Thanks for that info pal!

You're not aware of a mATX motherboard that is good at overclocking do you? Or should I just go straight for a standard ATX case/mobo and OC the QUad?

Ta,

 

[Smorgasbord]

Mint, so it definitely likes the Quad Core.

As regard to case/motherboard, what could i get for £120?

I like the look of the Cooler Master 330 Elite, I've had one before and quite liked it, but suggestions welcome

I'm nearly definitely getting the Q6700 i believe too