Q6600. Go Ivy or wait on Haswell

[MonsterMoshi]

I was very happy with my upgrade from Q6600

I'd say ignore performance benefits from the CPU because they are likely to be very small going by Intels recent record year on year.

Think more about if you actually need it now? Are you losing out on anything by not having it?

Think about what will come with the new chip sets too and not just the CPU itself
There has been very little new technology's come into the spotlight recently which the Z77 etc. chipsets don't already support so the newer ones which will come with Haswell aren't likely to bring a lot more to the table.

So basically, do you need a faster computer now? -then go for Ivy
If not then your not losing out on anything by waiting.

Main kicker for me with upgrading was the jump to SATA 3.0 and easier overclocking potential and ease of use with UEFI bios

 

[tbh]

This is very true, especially when you think that Intel are not shouting about the speed of Haswell but its extra features and improved GPU, its unlikely that IB-Haswell is going to be all that greater than SB-IB was (roughly speaking SB+200mhz=IB performance) wheras something previous to SB/IB is a big jump.

Agreed.

Most of the improvements Intel are introducing are either forward looking additional features which won't offer immediate gains or aimed at increasing the chips attractiveness to Apple/ultrabook manufacturers (ie improved power efficiency and onboard GPU).

The simple truth is that the desktop PC and enthusiast market is increasingly unimportant to Intel; although with that said I do still believe that we will reap benefits from these new architectures, perhaps just not as much as we have been used to from past experiences.

 

[WingZero30]

Yeah I have noticed aswell that since nehalem, Intel has been introducing more features such AVX, than pure raw performance/speed boost and concentrating more on power efficiency.

The largest performance boost was from netburst to core 2. Since then it has been more of an incremental performance increase.

 

[NirK]

For some of us... these upgrades don't use "all" our money

Yes I am just unemployed, poor and jealous tbh. lol.

 

[crinkleshoes]

Yes I am just unemployed, poor and jealous tbh. lol.

lol

Benefits suck - I only had them for 6 weeks after leaving uni, can't imagine going any longer & wouldn't cope going back to that

 

[BrianB]

Considering getting an e8400 for £50 and selling me Q6600 for £40, £10 to possibly get a 3.8-4GHz cpu, can't afford a full step up to SB/IB. Worth a shot? Should run cooler too. Or save?

 

[MonsterMoshi]

Considering getting an e8400 for £50 and selling me Q6600 for £40, £10 to possibly get a 3.8-4GHz cpu, can't afford a full step up to SB/IB. Worth a shot? Should run cooler too. Or save?

Probably save, the E8400 is only a dual core CPU where as the Q6600 is Quad.
Most applications nowadays are multithreaded so would run better on a slower quad then a slightly faster dual.

 

[Guest2]

Just food for thought...
I bought an i5 760, arctic cooler HSF, 8gb and P55 board for £170

I sold my Q6600, P45, 4gb, H50 and fans for £160

Quite a worthwhile upgrade for £10! I use this with an EVGA GTX570 superclocked and Crucial M4 which takes everything at the moment (apart from Metro 2012 in 2560 x 1440)

I recommend doing something like this and pumping money into a better graphics card. Maybe sell the 470 for £100 or something, put £200 towards it and keep £300 for something else - Personally something like an IPS 27" Hazro screen to take full advantage of the new card



edit - The only issue I have is have is that the board is sata 2, not sata 3 so the M4 is not at its full potential

 

[NirK]

Considering getting an e8400 for £50 and selling me Q6600 for £40, £10 to possibly get a 3.8-4GHz cpu, can't afford a full step up to SB/IB. Worth a shot? Should run cooler too. Or save?

That is a downgrade and a very bad idea... You are swapping 4 cores for 2 so that is effectively halving the performance in multi threaded apps!