• 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.

CPU Upgrade

_lecro_

_lecro_

_lecro_

Associate
Joined
10 Dec 2007
Posts
2,195
Location
South Yorkshire
Below is my current system !!

basically just looking for a CPU upgrade that will last a couple of years.
wont say money is no object but have got a bout 300 quid as xmas prezzie so that pretty much covers all current cpu's

Any ideas??

Manufacturer: lecro
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: Corsair 6GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5
Hard Drive: 150 GB WD Raptor ,500 GB WD Caviar, 1TB Samsung F1 Spinpoint
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870
Monitor: SyncMaster 2433BW(Digital), Digimon 24" (Digital)
Sound Card: Speakers (ASUS Xonar D2X Audio Device)
Speakers/Headphones: Creative / Roccat Kave
Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse 3
Mouse: Razer Diamondback 3G
Mouse Surface: Errrr desk WTF else
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Motherboard: XFX S775 nForce 680i SLI
Computer Case: CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Nvidea
 
Just overclock the Q6600. That will manage 3.2 very easily. Depending on stepping, could get you to 3.4. Afraid I don't know which steppings are the good ones, but I know that chip is a very good one.

What CPU cooler have you got? If you're using stock, you need a better one. Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 is only £20.

Since its a manufactured PC, do you have access to any advanced features in the BIOS? It may be locked, depending on the board you have. Do you know what the Motherboard is in that PC?
 
For cpu , alone, upgrade would go for a Q9550. Should clock easily to 3.4 and could get to 4.00+ (More likely if an EO stepping- which if your buying new you should,hopefully, get).

Would say that unfortunately prices of the 9550 look to have risen again. You might do better looking on MM.

Although I run a 9650 myself I cannot see a really good reason to pay the extra £40 over the 9550. (I did move from the 9550 to a 9650 myself - principally because I could not get the CO stepping 9550 stable above 3.6:( and wanted 4ghz (sad really as performance enhancement is negligable) which I easily got with the 9650:))

Just to add - I have no experience of your board and have no idea if it's good to clock with. The cpu suggestions above are based upon the assumption that the board clocks well - if it does not would probably not look to upgrade cpu - would look at new system.

BUT what about selling what you've got and investing in a 'new' i5/i7 system ?
(have a look at MM if you want an idea as to value)

Probably better than investing in 'old' tech :)
 
Last edited:
This is cpu in its current state
cpuz.jpg


And a shot from when i first got it and had it clocked to 3.2
I just followed a guide to get this , i have no actual knowledge of Oc'ing :D
cpu_results2.jpg


Problem was i could never get it to run stable and had numerous crashes
also the NB fan used to go mad..
I had it suggested that the 680 was very good at Oc'ing so in the interest of reliability i returned it to normal.
Now after a recent gpu death i have a 5870 hence the cpu is a bottleneck at that speed
So im basically looking for tha fastest chip straight out of the box with potential to Oc if i also upgrade the Mobo at a later date.

Oh the cooler is a zalman 9700
 
Nforce 680i motherboards and kentsfield(65nm) quads such as your Q6600 really dont get along.

At best they work to a certain extent to around 3ghz,after that there are so many holes in the frequencies trying to find one stable is a bloody pain.

In your situation I'd dump the motherboard and pick up a P45 motherboard instead of looking to upgrade the cpu.

The P45 chipset is far superior to the Nforce pile of junk and you will be able to overclock your Q6600 to it's best potential once you dump your current motherboard.
 
Assuming that your board 'dislikes' yorkfield (9550/9650) as much as kentfield then can see sense of first changing the board to a P45 chipset which usually play well with 'yorkfield' (and , presumably, Kentfield); But for a new board you'll be looking at £90+ (the Asus P5Q - turbo looks a decent buy (am running P5Q-E myself; nice board!!).

BUT you would still be stuck in 'old' tech - running the chip a bit faster tho :D

In your position with the budget mentioned I would be more tempted to sell the Q6600 , DDR2 ram and the board and then invest in an i5 system.
The i5750 is available (with 'free' Dirt2) here for £140
A new P55 board will cost you between £100 - £150' ish
New DDR3 ram £ aagh :( - bit expensive now I know but hopefully you'd get a good price for your DDR2 :)

If I were not changing the motherboard would be inclined to stick with S775 but if changing would , personally, take the view that it was time to change to i5
 
Last edited:
I5 ? or I7 ? .. even I9
heard of 6 cores coming next year ..:eek:

I have read that I5 is better for gaming , which i do a fair bit of .
but i also need good performance from Photoshop and video encoding software

BTW ive already got dirt2 with my new gpu :D
 
Overclock the Q6600 you have, I've had one and only got a 9650 cos I could get one cheap and was nearly a free upgrade. Not a huge difference really.
Save you're money and get an i7 or i5 and a new board. £300 plus money from selling your current cpu/mem/board and you should be able to get one of those.
 
Well ive been thinking about this all week
decided to go with the I7 theme..
Its gonna be a looker aswel as a cooker .
Found this mobo http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000445
Only reason is its orange , which will be the theme of the new system.

Basically im gonna try to copy this system http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-003-OB
but just use parts that are orange :D yea i got a thing for orange ..
will be using a full W/C system most likely ,once i get upto speed with it

So cpu I7
ram .. MMM dunno something orange .. spose i could paint it but orange as default is better

This is the pic that made my mind up



looks sweet but i just want to change it to be black and orange..

Any thoughts

EDIT : old parts will go to my sons system ;)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom