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q6600/AMD Phenom // First time build problem!

Nitrojan

Nitrojan

Nitrojan

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12 Jan 2008
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I'm really starting to find this annoying :P Ok yeah, this is my first build, and I'm not amazingly good at hardware. Ive only ever owned 1 pc of which was bought for me and it's worked absolutely fine for years. It's only until now Ive really decided I want to go the extra mile.

So as you can understand when it comes to CPU's I dont really have that much of an idea. I ask a few people and some say the new Intel q6600 because it's this that and the other and can do this, this and this. Then I ask someone else and they vouch for AMD Phenom.

It's an annoying position to be in :P I'm just wanting to see what the overal verdict from you guys would be. If you were building the ultimate gaming PC, what would it be? AMD or Intel?
 
By far intel. They overclock far better and are a lot faster as a result.

I think almost all will agree go for intel. Are you an overclocker? A q6600 will go to 3.6ghz on air and we can show you how. Its not as difficult as it may sound.

The new intel chips coming out look to be a bargin also. The E8400 should do 4ghz on air i beleive and is 10% faster clock for clock then a conrow (Ie a E6850)
 
intel, as they OC better.

currently phenom have problems, that should be hopefully resolved when the new stepping are released. this may then give intel a wake up call, as the amds with unlocked multipliers are usually cheaper then the intels
 
Intel.

Q6600 is better than any Phenom, the Q6600 is 2.4 Ghz, fastest Phenom is 2.3.

The Intel not only clocks better but performs better out of the box.
 
The Black Edition Phenom is a good option for those not wanting to overclock, which might sound ridiculous, but changing a multiplier once and leaving it doesn't constitute overclocking or difficult in any shape or form.

2.5-2.7GHz on stock volts just from upping the multiplier makes the Phenom BE good value for money.

Naturally, if you were looking to overclocking 'properly' then the current Intel has the overhead that the new Phenom has yet to see.
 
Edleake said:
The Black Edition Phenom is a good option for those not wanting to overclock, which might sound ridiculous, but changing a multiplier once and leaving it doesn't constitute overclocking or difficult in any shape or form.
Click to expand...

Of course changing the multiplier is still overclocking. Sure the motherboard and ram are still running at the same speed, but the CPU which is a 2.3Ghz part is running at 2.5-2.7Ghz.. therefore its running at higher than its rated design speed.

It is pretty cheap though. But the Q6600's are cheap too, and its no harder to set the FSB on a Q6600 to 300(1200) which will give the same 2.7Ghz final clock. Most people buy DDR2 PC6400 or better, which is already rated at 800mhz, and most new motherboards are designed for 333Mhz (1333FSB) to support the newer dual cores, and the upcoming 45nm quads.

So what exactly is being overclocked on an intel system... Motherboard.. Nope, Ram... Nope, CPU Well yes of course.

One could say the 'Ideal' beginners overclock is to set the FSB to 333(1333), using DDR2 PC5400 (or better) memory. This is taking the advantage of the fact that current motherboards are designed to take the 1333 FSB dual core processors, but the FSB on the Q6600 still remains at 1066, effectivly giving a very easy overclock.

Im sure the vast majority of Q6600's will run at 3ghz+ without a huge investment in cooling. (I only have a dual, so feel free to correct me on that :P )
 
yup, have to agree,

gab a native 1333 mb, new q6600 (will be a g0 steeping) and PC2-5400 ram.

set ram 1:1
up fsb from 266 to 333
test to see if prime stable (most will be with stock vcore)
If fails just up the vcore slightly above stock.

If you can build a pc you can change these 3 settings, everything else can be left on auto.

The skill in overclocking comes when you are trying to reach the limit of the cpu, that’s when it gets tricky.
 
Hesky82 said:
yup, have to agree,

gab a native 1333 mb, new q6600 (will be a g0 steeping) and PC2-5400 ram.

set ram 1:1
up fsb from 266 to 333
test to see if prime stable (most will be with stock vcore)
If fails just up the vcore slightly above stock.

If you can build a pc you can change these 3 settings, everything else can be left on auto.

The skill in overclocking comes when you are trying to reach the limit of the cpu, that’s when it gets tricky.
Click to expand...

G0 is 1066Mhz (thus why it isnt 333FSB from stock) and PC2-5300 ram is grosly inadequate for OCing unless you get the Balistixs. Also, you'll prob need to tweak chipset, RAM and CPU voltages a little even for that overclock.... or at least know how to in case you fubar the OC.
 
simonnance said:
G0 is 1066Mhz (thus why it isnt 333FSB from stock) and PC2-5300 ram is grosly inadequate for OCing unless you get the Balistixs. Also, you'll prob need to tweak chipset, RAM and CPU voltages a little even for that overclock.... or at least know how to in case you fubar the OC.
Click to expand...

You wouldn’t need to overclock the ram if its stock speed is 333mhz (PC5300) already.

If all you want is 3ghz from your Q6600, PC2-5300 is perfect, why do you need Micron D9’s for that???

Why would you need to tweak a board that can already run 333mhz/1333QDR natively.

My P5k needs ZERO tweaking to get to 1800QDR! non what so ever! and that is native 1333QDR.

My G0 will run stock volts all the way up to 3.2Ghz.

Corasik earlier statement was spot on! your only overclocking the cpu, every other component will be clocked within spec.

So with this in mind upping the FSB on a Q6600 from 266 to 333 is not that indifferent from changing the multiplier on a Phenom.
 
Q6600 without a doubt.

Question is, do you really need a quad? Should you save money and get a cheaper dual chip instead?

Matthew
 
what about future proofing? amd have confirmed that there sockets will be backwards compatible... so and am3 chip will work in an am2+ board... but intel are changing sockets after penryn which the op might want to take in to account personally i'd take a small ish hit on performance for long term upgradablity it seems like the op doesn't upgrade all that often so this may be a factor
 
Definetly the Phenom, bought the 9600 and it performs superbly....:cool: No problems at all...;) All my games COD4,Crysis etc run perfectly....
 
Personally I'd wait 2 months and see what the B3 stepping of the Phenom brings, it's highly likely we'll see clock speeds more akin to Intel standard i.e. 3GHz+. :)
 
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