Q6600 vs E8400 vs E8500

Molemanmus · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:39

Which one of these cpu's is the best to get for browsing the internet, word processing and heavy gaming?

Is quad core really worth it?

Flamers · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:48

nope go for E8500 if u can afford it...

Flamers

redeye_uk · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:00

Flamers said:
nope go for E8500 if u can afford it...

+1

Kalpsn2000 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:04

Get the E8400 and clock its boots off.

MooMoo444 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:09

Molemanmus said:
Which one of these cpu's is the best to get for browsing the internet, word processing and heavy gaming? - E8500, only a bit more than the E8400

Is quad core really worth it? - Not for what you use yours for

Narn · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:15

how easy is it to overclock the E8400? How fast and stable can it get on air?

MooMoo444 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:16

Narn said:
how easy is it to overclock the E8400? How fast and stable can it get on air?

Most people get it to 4ghz easily on air.

Fire Wizard · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:26

Hello Molemanmus, the only reason in my opinion to choose one of the Wolfdale Dual Core processors is if you aren't too keen on the heat and power consumption that the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 outputs. Have a look at the graph below to compare the power consumption between the different processors that you are looking at purchasing:

A lot of people judge which processor to go for purely on the basis of it's stock speeds and the faster a processor runs, the better it is. Now, whilst their is some truth to this, it doesn't tell you the whole story. The Intel Core 2 Duo E8400/8500 Wolfdale at stock is clocked higher than a stock Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and it will also probably reach a higher clock speed when overclocked. However, is the performance difference between say a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400/8500 Wolfdale running at 4GHz compared to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 running at 3.4 - 3.6GHz justify enough of a difference to warrant losing an extra 2 cores? In my opinion, no it isn't.

Take a look at the graphs below. It really shows that the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400/8500 Wolfdale may be clocked 600 - nearly 800MHz faster but the performance boost is minimal at best.

Source - Intel Core 2 Duo E8500, E8400 and E8200

AlexTrickle · 27 Oct 2008 at 15:38

E8xxx for gaming.

Qxxxx for video encoding and hardcore tasks.

GSDog · 27 Oct 2008 at 18:47

E8400 would be the most sensible choice for your uses IMO.

My uses are pretty much the same as yours and I am going for the E8400 in my new build. It uses less energy, runs cooler, is cheaper and most can easily hit 4Ghz on air...

GunRunner · 28 Oct 2008 at 00:28

Zildjian said:
E8400 would be the most sensible choice for your uses IMO.

My uses are pretty much the same as yours and I am going for the E8400 in my new build. It uses less energy, runs cooler, is cheaper and most can easily hit 4Ghz on air...

Good choice.

+1

ro55o · 28 Oct 2008 at 09:13

E8400 is a great chip, I've got one im my rig, overclocks easily on air. Definitely the choice here.

puppetworx · 28 Oct 2008 at 12:29

Games won't use the extra cores, it's all about the clock frequency(then cache) for those maximum frames per second just now. I'd get that E8400 and OC the bejesus out of her.

linktoinsanity · 28 Oct 2008 at 13:44

E8400 +1

Fire Wizard · 28 Oct 2008 at 13:51

puppetworx said:
Games won't use the extra cores, it's all about the clock frequency(then cache) for those maximum frames per second just now. I'd get that E8400 and OC the bejesus out of her.

I would disagree with that. The higher the clock speed is important but as already said, it does not tell you the whole story. You have to take into account does the extra speed of a dual core processor warrant enough of a performance jump to lose an extra two cores? By going by the graphs that I have already posted, it most certainly doesn't.

The only real reason to choose one of the Wolfdale dual core processors is if you aren't happy with the sort of heat and power consumption a quad core processor produces.

[TW]Fox · 28 Oct 2008 at 14:20

Fire Wizard said:
The only real reason to choose one of the Wolfdale dual core processors is if you aren't happy with the sort of heat and power consumption a quad core processor produces.

Or if you want the extra performance an E8500 can quite obviously give you :confused:

Fire Wizard · 28 Oct 2008 at 14:23

[TW]Fox;12785848 said:
Or if you want the extra performance an E8500 can quite obviously give you

Hello [TW]Fox, the extra performance that the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 gives you does not justify losing the extra two cores you get by having a quad core processor as shown by the graphs.

[TW]Fox · 28 Oct 2008 at 14:24

But if all you do is play games and browse the web what exactly is the detriment of 'losing the extra two cores'?

MooMoo444 · 28 Oct 2008 at 14:29

My motto is, if you're overclocking, then either is good. If not, get the higher clocked one.

End of story

GunRunner · 28 Oct 2008 at 15:29

No point in paying for 2 extra cores if you are not going to use them. If you are a gamer in general it is better to get the most cost effective e8xxx series cpu. IMO, the one that fits that bill at the moment is the e8400.