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Quad or duo

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I want to be able to run new games at the highest settings for a few years from any new CPU I buy.

Should I go for a quad core (Core 2 Duo Extreme QX6700) or is that quad processor just meant for stuff like 3D rendering and would I be just as well off with something like the Duo E6700?

I plan to be using this alongside x2 GeForce 8800 Ultra's. I have about £2200 to spend on the whole system.

MOD: Please move to CPU section.
 
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Soldato
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Go for a QX6700 but the G0 stepping not the current one. It's cooler, overclocks better and has a 10w lower tdp.

QX6800 or QX6850 are only worth it if you have a massive reserve of cash.

Also, welcome to OcUK! :D
 
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What's "G0 Stepping"?

What's a resonable speed that this could be overclocked to? I'm not going to have liquid cooling so I'm not expecting anything crazy.
 
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Exactly what will you be using your PC for? If you're going to be using it just for games, running the OS and writing word documents don't bother with quad cores, I'd go with the duo. By the time games are properly optimized for four cores you'll probably need another upgrade anyway.
 
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You could do a lot worse than start out with an e2160, a tuniq tower and an 8800 GTX, then upgrade when you need to, rather than spending thousands on hardware you don't need, IMHO.

Oh, and G0 stepping is a batch of CPUs (quad cores I think) that produce less heat. Basically you can safely overclock them more.
 
Soldato
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I would suggest that you edit out the competitor name since its not allowed to post them here... also I did a quick spec for you to show that you can get it to a better price then from them.. [but you will have to get your hands "dirty" and build it yourself! :p ]

Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink £32.99 (£38.76)
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional 7.1 Soundcard - Retail £75.99 (£89.29)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £127.99 (£150.39)
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £77.99 (£91.64)
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.99 (£18.79)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 3200AAKS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM x2 £45.99 (£108.08)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk (66I-00788) £59.99 (£70.49)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) x2 £84.99 (£199.72)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail x2 £324.99 (£763.72)
Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £119.99 (£140.99)
Zalman ZM-MFC2 Multi Fan Controller £24.99 (£29.36)
Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin x3 £11.99 (£42.27)
Akasa Eclipse 62 Aluminium Case - No PSU £79.99 (£93.99)

Sub Total : £1,563.82
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £14.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £276.28

Total : £1,855.05

Bare in mind that I tried to follow your spec in the first instant [mainly the SLI requirement] and then modified it a bit from what the other users posted.. I have also added a sound card so you can get the most out of your gaming, a fan controller to better control your fans, the case is highly recommended around here but that is also a personal opinion so that might change.. I also changed the Quad to a Duo..

Kace said:
*snip*
By the time games are properly optimized for four cores you'll probably need another upgrade anyway.
This spec with SLI would save you about £350 compared to the one from elsewhere.. if you would go just for a single GTX and with another mobo you would save another £420 or so.. and I am sure more experience user would be able to make another spec showing you that you can save even a bit more without lowering the performance of your system.. Also, if you would opt to not have the Fan Controller and the Sound Card it would save you another £120!

Basically if you would build it yourself you can save between £350 - £890! :eek:

Might be worth thinking about before spending your money?

Cheers
Tom
 
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Thanks for putting up that spec for me. I like the idea of building it myself but when so much money is involved I really don't want to mess anything up. I'll look into it more and see if I think I could do it.

What would be more futureproof and better for a high-spec gaming system, a top of the range gpu (SLI Nvidia 8800 Ultra OC) or a top of the range CPU (Core 2 Extreme QX6850)?
 
Soldato
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No problem, thought it might be worth mention it! I am going to build my first rig after the 22nd July when the prices on the Intel chips have dropped.. will be my first build too.. :eek: not a gaming rig though but still will cost me around £700 or so with everything..

I am not a serious gamer but what I have read here you wont gain much in having a SLI since not many games is optimized for it [if any?].. And I probably would go GTX instead of Ultra since the difference between them is not that much [according what I have seen here, don't have either myself!] just a few fps in difference if memory serves me right...

Also if going Quad I would go for the Q6600 and overclock it.. then again I have not seen any reviews between the Q6600 and the QX6850 but I am sure someone else might have and might give an better opinion on them! But as I said I would go for the Q6600 and save myself some money! About £450 actually! :eek:

Anyone more experience then me regarding these questions feel free to correct me!

Cheers
Tom
 
Soldato
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ben16 said:
What would be more futureproof and better for a high-spec gaming system, a top of the range gpu (SLI Nvidia 8800 Ultra OC) or a top of the range CPU (Core 2 Extreme QX6850)?
Forget future-proofing, it never works.

Get an 8800GTX or even a GTS. The Ultra is total overkill, ridiculously expensive and, when the real DX10 games start appearing, the next generation will be here and you'll get double the performance for the same cash.

Similarly with processors, the QX6850 is stupidly expensive, go with a cheaper chip like the Q6600 and clock it. As an example, by the end of this month the E6850 will offer similar performance at £200-odd that the top of the range X6800 did less than a year ago at £700+. If you really really need the extra power now then it may be worth it but otherwise, what's the point?
 
Soldato
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Ultra is £35 more than an oc2 gtx, comes with a better cooler, ram and core. Given the choice I would go for them over the gtx now as they will sell off better due to the ultra moniker.
 
Soldato
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You'd still be better getting a standard GTX or even an OC GTS and then selling that for the next generation card when it arrives later this year.
 
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