Q6600 or E6600

[SS-89]

Im really unsure as to whether to get a q6600, i know technically its just two core 2 duos on the same die and not a true quad core, is it better to save the money get an e6600 and oc it and replace it with the new penryn cores when they come out. I'm getting a p35 mobo so thats my reasoning behind it.

 

[Dureth]

Wait until July the 22nd and you should be able to get the quad core at the dual core price. Or so the fairies tell me.

 

[mk17]

if you don't really need the juice of the Q6600, i.e. you're not running heavily multi-threaded code, or apps optimised for quad-core - then I'd recommend the E6600 for the moment. You can choose Penryn when they get here, or avail of the price drop in current quads, at that time, as you see fit. P35 looks like a great board by the way.


[edit]

Wait until July the 22nd and you should be able to get the quad core at the dual core price. Or so the fairies tell me.

... or what Dureth says, if you can wait, its good advice.

[/edit]

 

[SS-89]

Hmmmm not sure if i can hold off the purchase till july, i guess i will get an e6600, is there any point in getting an e6700 apart from the higher clock speeds or should i just oc the e6600, im getting a scythe rev.b ninja cooler for the cpu.

My prospective Specs:

C2D E6600
4GB Geil C4 DDR2 800mhz
Asus P5k-Deluxe Wifi-Ap
Leadtek 8800GTS 640mb
Creative X-Fi Gamer
500GB SataII WD
160GB SataII WD
Thermaltake Armour
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B
Enermax Infiniti 650W

Total Price: £1075.83 Inc Vat & Del

 

[mk17]

no point, imo, you're going to o/c in the first place. and you're planning to bump it soon anyway - unless you really need the performance, in which case you might reconsider the Q6600 anyway. hth.

 

[SS-89]

Not really, the machine will mostly be used for gaming, internet, work etc. mostly FPS & RTS, i was only contemplating the Quad for Supreme Commander, i know stupid for only one game but i can see most RTS's following suit. I'll get an e6600 and upgrade to the penryn core when it comes out. Also waiting for R700 and G90 thats why i'm only getting a 8800gts at this moment.

Good price overall?

 

[mk17]

seems good to me, except that you're buying a P35 DDR2 board at a premium - something cheap and cheerful might suffice for the moment.

Unless you're a real early-adopter for penryn you may want to wait until DDR3 boards and ram hit mainstream price levels. but you pays your money, etc.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Im really unsure as to whether to get a q6600

Hello SS-89, please tell me what machine you have now?

And who/what gave you the idea to buy a Quad?

 

[SS-89]

Atm i'm running on a P4 3.4 Prescott, 2gb pc3200 ddr and 6800gt, haven't bothered to upgrade in about 3 years as i haven't really needed to. Nobody in particular put quad core in my head lol, i just thought it might futureproof the system however since the current quads aren't actually true quads i guess i'll upgrade to the penryn cores later on. I dont fancy having to buy a new mobo when the new penryns arrive on top of the processor unless do you believe the p35's wont be as good as mobos released with the penryns in 6 months time?

I do some encoding and i also do 3d rendering however, ive seen the performance gains on the penryns hence why im not entirely sure if its worth getting the q6600, i don't mind waiting and i'm more than happy to get an e6600 and then sell it later on to get a true quad.

I personally don't want to adopt ddr3, considering tight timings for ddr2 have only really come to the fore in the last year i can only assume the same for ddr3.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Atm i'm running on a P4 3.4 Prescott, 2gb pc3200 ddr and 6800gt, haven't bothered to upgrade in about 3 years as i haven't really needed to

Ok thats cool, aside from saving some cash you have increased the chance of getting that 'wow' factor when you build and run your new uber PC.

Your kit is still worth money so if you sell it on you can recoup some of your new build costs.

Nobody in particular put quad core in my head lol, i just thought it might futureproof the system however since the current quads aren't actually true quads i guess i'll upgrade to the penryn cores later on. I dont fancy having to buy a new mobo when the new penryns arrive on top of the processor unless do you believe the p35's wont be as good as mobos released with the penryns in 6 months time?

Well the whole 'native' quad thing is not really a biggie, it either works or it doesn't work. From all accounts the Kentsfield Quad works.

However you would have to be pretty die-hard to pay out more money now for a Quad when they appear to be getting a decent price cut in a month or two.

I do some encoding and i also do 3d rendering however, ive seen the performance gains on the penryns hence why im not entirely sure if its worth getting the q6600

Well as good as the Penryn is looking, I suspect a Kentsfield Quad core is still gonna be faster for Encoding and stuff like that (unless the penryns are Quad also of course).

Still what you are suggesting is paying out extra money so your encoding time drops from say 1hour to a new time of 35 mins. Do you actually need that speed up? like do you sit there waiting for it to finish or do you put the rig to work and pop out down the pub?

I personally don't want to adopt ddr3, considering tight timings for ddr2 have only really come to the fore in the last year i can only assume the same for ddr3.

I think you are a bit ahead of yourself here

You could build a new kickass system for around £500-£600 quid, depending on what GPU you want (normally the most expensive component!) and then offset whatever you got from selling your old machine/kit.

Go with the E6600 at the top, but consider any of the lower chips too, and remember 'try not to spend too much money!

 

[mk17]

fwiw, penryn isn't "true quad-core", its essentially a die-shrink to 45nm + high-K dielectrics and some SSE extensions.

afaik, we have to wait for nehalem, or amd for single-die four-core chips. To be honest, I think integrated memory controller is more important, but time will tell...