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Futureproof?

dannywilco

dannywilco

dannywilco

Associate
Joined
13 Dec 2008
Posts
270
Having had my Q6600 rig for 3 years, the time has come to upgrade. In doing so, im going for an i5 build and just want to know if the i5 will last me the 3 years until the upgrade bug hits again?

At the moment im on a Q6600 with an Nvidia 9800gt, 4gbs of Kingston Hyper X RAM and this has quite happily dealt with everything ive thrown at it. New games (BFBC2, CoD's, Football Managers etc etc) and still plays at high settings without problem. I'm not an enthusiast, i just like my money going a long way. So in a round-a-bout way of asking, will my prospective i5 upgrade still play new releases in 3 years? The GPU im going for is something along the 5830 or equivalent Nvidia range.
 
aslong as its a i5 750 or 760 I see no reason why it won't, a better nvidia card would be a GTX460, but preferably a GTX460 1gb version.
 
Out of interest is the Q6600 overclocked or not?? If your CPU is still fine I would not bother to upgrade just yet. Also the AMD HD6000 series is being launched in October too.

Of the current graphics cards I would be looking at perhaps a GTX460 768MB or 1GB or even an HD5850 1GB if you can get one for around £200 or less.

I would probably skip the Core i5 750 or 760 and get the equivalent Sandy Bridge CPU in a few months time if you really want to do an upgrade. Not only will it have higher clockspeeds,but improved IPC and power consumption too. Also Sandy Bridge has some additional functionality which will mean quicker encoding of videos with supported software.

Edit!!

The HD5850 1GB is available for around £200 with 2 games:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-XF

For under £130 the GTX460 768MB is a better alternative to an HD5830:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1830&sortby=priceAsc

The 1GB version of the GTX460 has more RAM and more ROPs but is around £40 to £50 more expensive than the 768MB version.
 
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May I ask, what motherboard make/model number you currently have and have you tried overclocking the CPU?

The Q6600 is still a great chip and if you OC it to 3GHz+ then it will handle any modern games you need it to.

I would suggest just upgrading the graphics card (the GTX 460 1GB that stulid mentions would be my choice). This will give you a big performance boost in games and save you money from a full system upgrade.

As Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Bulldozer are arriving at the start of next year you would be best to put off the full system upgrade till then - your money will go much further.
 
The i5 760 should last a good few years. If you're gaming or overclocking you don't really need hyperthreading, so the 760 is where it's at.

In your situation though, you might be better waiting for sandy bridge. The q6600 isn't exactly crap, and if you could hold onto it for a few more months there will be even better upgrade options.
 
Wait till the Bulldozers and Sandy beigde release...........like me.....i am waiting too.

I think that your q6600 would be able to run any game you throw at it for a year?
 
all i can say is just wait i am doing that right now with my qx9650 overlocked to 3.8, i see sandy and bulldozer has a better future than all the other old i5 i7 and i3..also the new socket is going to 2011 so all the old motherboard wont be able to upgrade to the new chips.
 
I gotta agree with the above. I really dont think you will be that impressed with a upgrade from a Q6600 to i5. Imo wait until the tech has moved on more with a greater gap in performace from your current CPU.

A new video card would be the best way to go and OC your cpu.
 
Therein my problem lies! I've been granted £300 toward a PC upgrade which i must provide receipts of within 5 weeks of receiving the money. (5 weeks starting 26/9/2010. So waiting really isnt really viable.

My mobo at the moment is a MSI G33M and the chip is not overclocked. But my thinking is the price is still great on eBay so i'm going to flog it and land myself a better graphics card.

So for my RAM and CPU i reckon i can get about £120 on ebay altogether so id have £420 for a new mobo, processor, RAM and GPU.
 
dannywilco said:
  • Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600
  • 4gbs of Kingston Hyper X RAM
  • MSI G33M (Intel® G33 Express)
  • Nvidia 9800GT
  • PSU?
Click to expand...
Hey dannywilco,

you just need to overclock that chip to 3GHz+ and get yourself a new GPU . . . I checked out the motherboard manual on the link above and that board has the FSB, vCore and Memory BIOS settings you need! :p

dannywilco said:
I've been granted £300 toward a PC upgrade which i must provide receipts of within 5 weeks of receiving the money. (5 weeks starting 26/9/2010.
Click to expand...
The problem is a cheap Intel® Core™ i5 CPU/Mobo/Mem combo is gonna cost you £350 odd leaving you £64 spare for a GPU . . . . it's a loser! :D

Get an updated GPU, don't go mad as you know what happens once the new GPU's are released . . . using an 8800GT as a baseline (similar to yours) the GTX 460 1GB looks like a nice upgrade? . . . maybe get a MultiPlatform 3rd party HSF . . . possibly an SSD if you fancy it! :cool:
 
PSU is a Corsair HX520W.

Reason why i originally wanted to upgrade, was because im at a financial point where its not costing me any of my own cake and because i dont see my current Q6600 build lasting another 3 years?
 
Q6600 might have lasted you 3yrs because when it was released most games and apps didn't even support dual cores yet not to mention quads. As much an i5 is a very good CPU, i'd seriously doubt that it's gonna last any longer than 1,5yr over well OCed Q6600.

Upgrading more often ( 1-2yrs ) is just so much more efficient not to mention it's more fun as well due to having new stuff more often and having new tech and all the goodies as the tech moves on.

And the 460 is a low end card right now as well. i'd say if you want to have a long lasting card you'll have to be looking at 200+ budget for 5850 and 470. But then it's more efficient over time to grab a 460 or one of the cheap 5770s and when it's gettin slow just grab second one for peanuts for SLI/Xfire or just sell it and buy whatever is new at that time.

As others have said you'll better wait for new CPUs next year.
 
Oh and to mention, i do believe that my motherboard is on its way out. You turn on the machine and sometimes it starts perfectly, other times the fans come on 100% and nothing loads. TOUCH WOOD since a fresh install of Win7 ive not had this problem. But the board beingfrom a refurb pc and it approaching it's 2nd birthday makes me wonder?
 
Here we see dannywilco attempting to build up "justification" for his upgrade . . . . his mind is bent on upgrading to a Intel® Core™ i5 and no matter what we say or do the conclusion is already made! :p

dannywilco said:
Reason why i originally wanted to upgrade, was because im at a financial point where its not costing me any of my own cake
Click to expand...
What do you mean its not costing you are of your own "cake" . . . If you sell your older hardware and get pounds sterling £££ this is "cake" . . . . this cheque you have for £300 is your own "cake" :D

dannywilco said:
and because i dont see my current Q6600 build lasting another 3 years?
Click to expand...
If you overclock that chip or at least try to overclock that chip it will last you for a good while longer yet! . . . . once the new tech comes out you will be able to but a used Intel® Core™ i5 for a little piece of cake!

dannywilco said:
Oh and to mention, i do believe that my motherboard is on its way out.
Click to expand...
Are you sure your mobo is on its way out or are you using this as "justification" to blow £350-£500 on "upgraditus" :o

You could get a sweet new GPU and an SSD for that cheque you have . . . sell your older GPU for 50 cakes, happy days! :cool:
 
Ive been found out! :D

Are you sure your mobo is on its way out or are you using this as "justification" to blow £350-£500 on "upgraditus
Click to expand...

It is contagious! I've not bought anything for 2 years for my PC and as soon as i come back on here, ive got plans to spend spend spend.

You could get a sweet new GPU and an SSD for that cheque you have . . . sell your older GPU for 50 cakes, happy days!
Click to expand...

You see, ive asked the missus to use her cake to buy me a new GPU for Xmas as well. :D
 
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