CPU Dilemma

[Grimley]

Right, I've got a Q6600 & an E8400 to hand, Currently using the Q6600, E8400 is sitting up in the loft on a spare board.

I'm of the opinion that the Q6600 is overkill for what I'm using my Main PC for at the moment (Internet, office stuff, web editing, play Far Cry & HL2 occasionally) I would like to do is put the E8400 back in & overclock my system.

The thing is, the E8400 is the 1st generation stepping with the stuck temp sensor (on stock setting it says 65/66c on idle & load) so I've no idea what its real temps are.

So what do you think I should do? Keep the E8400 or sell both & get something else.

I'm not planning on an major upgrade for at least another year, probably when Westmere arrives.

Thanks.

 

[PermaBanned]

There's no such thing as overkill.

 

[JonJ678]

There's no such thing as overkill.

Yet another post of yours which I think is complete crap.

I vote for the e8400. Stuck sensors is unfortunate, but as long as they go up you're probably ok. If you've put a good cooler on it and don't go mental on voltages it'll be cool enough anyway.

Either processor is probably excessive, but at least go with two fast cores over four slow when using single threaded applications. I miss my e8400.

 

[deusexlumina]

Clock them both within an inch of their life, benchmark them and let the numbers decide

If the q6660 wont go past 3.2 for example, the e8400 shall be better
If the q6600 will go to 3.6 then it may be better than the possible 4ghz e8400...

 

[Grimley]

That was my thinking. I've got a Scythe Mine' doing cooling duties currently so I'll probably get a prolimatech (Me, PC's & water don't mix)

Board is a P35-DS4, so is 4gig stable a possiblity on air cooling?

 

[deusexlumina]

I'd say its a possibility, it will simply depend on the clockability of your chip. The older the q6600 the better, as the new ones are terrible clockers. I dont think the mobo will hold you back any great degree, but expect higher than normal temps given the stepping of your e8400, id say 70 would be the limit there. Still, give it a shot and see how the system feels with each chip inside

 

[WJA96]

Yet another post of yours which I think is complete crap.

A bit harsh?

I vote for the e8400. Stuck sensors is unfortunate, but as long as they go up you're probably ok. If you've put a good cooler on it and don't go mental on voltages it'll be cool enough anyway.

Either processor is probably excessive, but at least go with two fast cores over four slow when using single threaded applications. I miss my e8400.

E8400 is plenty for most folks and as long as you stay under 1.4V VCore you shouldn't be troubled by temperature issues. Generally, I think we spend too much time obsessing over temperatures anyway, but I still do it

 

[Plec]

You have two great chips in your locker there.

But, as already stated, the E8400 would probably be better geared to your every day needs – and was summed up very well by JonJ:

Either processor is probably excessive, but at least go with two fast cores over four slow when using single threaded applications. I miss my e8400.

If, however, you did decide to keep the Q6600, or would like the challenge of trying to hit the sweet spot of 3.6GHz (400x9) with a 4:3 divider before you sell – then this thread - link - has a very comprehensive guide on how to achieve it.

Don’t be fooled by the thread title – it turns into a very detailed step by step guide - and would prove to be a good selling point for your Q6600 if you managed it.

 

[JonJ678]

Replying to 'There is no such thing as overkill'? I think the response was fair.

That was a good thread Plec, despite the title

 

[Phil2008]

I have the 1st gen of the e8400, with a AC Freezer 7 pro cooler and Ive overclocked it to 3.6 from the word go. My temps are semi stuck and wont report anything lower then 45c, so idel temp are 45c and load temps between 52 -55c

Heres a pic of cpuz with speedstepping and another running orthos so cpu gets banged up to full speed. As you can see speedstepping really kills cpu speed and cpu volts down a lot, while cpu isnt doing much work

 

[Grimley]

If I can get the overclock up to 3.6 stable I'll be happy with that with the E8400, 3gig with the Q6600.

 

[Grimley]

Right - sorted the cooling - meghalem push/pull

Upped the vcore to 1.3
Upped the FSB to 400
Got the ram on 1:1

Testing it now on prime 95, seems to be OK so far after 15mins

Temps? realtemp 67
CPUID hardware monitor is reading 2 temps though CPU = 50 E8400 67 per core

Which ones right?