Upgrade E6400? Go Quad core?

[gazjam]

I'm currently using Intel E6400 which is overclocked to 3.2Ghz.

I do a lot of 3D / CAD work and I'm looking to throw some money at my rig to get a performance leap in my 3D work.

I thought at first the potential "weakspot" is my Core 2 Duo as compared to a Quad core.

Is this right? Considering I'm running at 3.2Ghz, would I notice a significant improvement going quad core?
* My 3D apps can use all 4 cores *

If I go for a quad core, what one gives best bang for buck at the moment?


Thanks.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

I'm currently using Intel E6400 which is overclocked to 3.2Ghz.

I do a lot of 3D / CAD work and I'm looking to throw some money at my rig to get a performance leap in my 3D work.

I thought at first the potential "weakspot" is my Core 2 Duo as compared to a Quad core.

Is this right? Considering I'm running at 3.2Ghz, would I notice a significant improvement going quad core?
* My 3D apps can use all 4 cores *

If I go for a quad core, what one gives best bang for buck at the moment?


Thanks.

I would imagine that the Q6600 is still the best bang for buck.

I would also imagine that you would see a performance increase.

BUT.... Could you not wait a few months for the new Intel cores? They are ment to be 5-10% better clock for clock than the current cores, OC higher, run cooler and use less power.

Even if you then decide that you don't want a new core the prices of the current line should be a bit lower due to AMD's new cores coming out soon and the new Intel one's...

Just a thought...

 

[gazjam]

thanks for that...i wasn't aware of the new cores round the corner.

I'll wait for now, cheers.

 

[simonnance]

new cores will cost more, but result in a drop of the current ones hopefully, and some good second hand deals.

Have you tried OCing higher in the meantime.... my E6400 is happy on 3.65Ghz atm on air.

 

[gazjam]

how did you get your 6400 to 3.65Ghz?

Mine seems stable @ 3.2 but my P35 DS3p and Corsair 520W PSU would suggest I have more overclocking room?

Any tips? I'm a total noob!

 

[gazjam]

I got the E6400 to 3.6Ghz by upping the FSB to 450 and Vcore to 1.5.
Wasn't totally stable though so reduced FSSB to 425 now gettng a stable 3.4Ghz.

Not bad for a chip rated at 2.1Ghz!

 

[simonnance]

3.4Ghz is pretty good, i can get that on a shade over 1.325V, but after that i need some serious volts to hit higher.

456 x 8 (3650Mhz) on 1.52V is about the limit with reasonable temps on air. Less in the summer, but the nice cool ambient winter temps help with tweaking.

I can max out the chip at maybe 485MHz (where i hit a wall) just i dont have the cooling to take it there.

If you wait for the new cores to come out, you should be able to scoop up a G0 Q6600 for peanuts.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

How the hell are you guys getting 3.4ghz on an E6400!?

I gots a E6600 and I;m at 3ghz and Orthos 'APPARETNLY' fails on blend but when I run just CPU stress or the RAM test it doesn't fail...

My temps are at 64-65C at full load as well

I guess I'm just not cut out for this OC'ing buissness

As I said before I think I'm gonna wait but choosing between waiting 5 months for a quad or getting one now is a hard choice. ALl you got to remember is that the current Q6600 will be hotter, drink more juice, not OC as well and be around the same price as the new chips....

 

[gazjam]

It could mabye be your PSU?
I had a bog standard "500W" one that came with my case, turned out it put out nearer to 380W.
I'm kinda new to OC too...guess I caught a lucky break?
I DID research my P35DS3p and Corsair PSU as being good overclocking hardware - so mabye thats it.

Whats your voltage? You got the CPU maxed out?

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

Hey,

My PSU is an Enermax 485W so it should be ok... I hope.

Well over the last few days I have cleared and cleaned the case and now can have the voltage at 1.35V I think in the BIOS with 1.304V in windows idle and 1.288V under load.

Temps are 50 idle and 65-66 load with the case on etc (case is pretty crap)

I have only just the other day reseated the heatsink with the right amount of paste according to Arctic Sliver with AS5 paste.

I just don't get it really. I have NO crashes in windows, games or anything but Orthos fails on blend in under a min.

I'm only at 3ghz so surely it can't be a stupid overclock? Don't really want to put more volts in as the temps are already a bit high...

Any suggestions?

 

[simonnance]

first:

what cooling are you using
what motherboard is it in

PSU should be fine, im on an HX520, the prob seems to be a quite strong Vdrop (Vbios -> Vactual) on the motherboard, and a significant Vdroop (Vidle -> Vload). Stock is 1.325V, so you are actually doing very well with that little voltage to hit 3Ghz.

With your temps from the looks for your clock speed and voltage it looks like you are either on stock cooling or a cheap aftermarket job. Either that or the case really is THAT bad. To compare, i idle at 42C with my fans on 5V, vs high 30s on 12V, with Orthos loading to low 60s/high 50s. Thast with substantialy more voltage and a sizeable frequency boost.

So my gut says you need better cooling, either that or you just have a stupidly hot chip. Try taking the side of your case off to see the effect on temps, i get nill temp drop with open vs closed (at either fan setting), which is the sign of a reasonably good case.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

first:

what cooling are you using
what motherboard is it in

Arctic Freezer Pro 7
Asus P5B Deluxe

PSU should be fine, im on an HX520, the prob seems to be a quite strong Vdrop (Vbios -> Vactual) on the motherboard, and a significant Vdroop (Vidle -> Vload). Stock is 1.325V, so you are actually doing very well with that little voltage to hit 3Ghz.

Cool, that's what I like to hear

With your temps from the looks for your clock speed and voltage it looks like you are either on stock cooling or a cheap aftermarket job. Either that or the case really is THAT bad. To compare, i idle at 42C with my fans on 5V, vs high 30s on 12V, with Orthos loading to low 60s/high 50s. Thast with substantialy more voltage and a sizeable frequency boost.

So my gut says you need better cooling, either that or you just have a stupidly hot chip. Try taking the side of your case off to see the effect on temps, i get nill temp drop with open vs closed (at either fan setting), which is the sign of a reasonably good case.

Well... Yep. My case is that bad. with case off I get around 62C. Looking to get a new one around xmas

Thing is I don;t mind leaving the side panel off but 62C is still quite high isn't it?

Cheers, Doug.

 

[simonnance]

Arctic Freezer Pro 7

There's your problem. As good as the Freezer Pros are for a budget HSF, they realy cant hold a candle to the bigger, badder heatsinks out there. 3Ghz is prob about right for one of those.

4C is noticable, but not dire.... what case are you running?

My case airflow is aided by the rather obcene no of case fans (6 120mm, pus another on the CPU heatsink), some good cable routing, and a clearly deffined airflow path (in front, out back). If you either have insufficient air comming in the case, major obstructions to airflow (PATA ribbon cables are nasty ones), or a confused airflow path, then temps will suffer.

At times i think my temps actualy INCREASE when i take my side off (particularly my passive GFX), as you are disturbing the airflow generated by the case fans.

New CPU cooler is needed i'm afraid if you want to clock higher, though 3Ghz for an extra what £15(?) outlay on the AC7 isnt a bad deal. Most E6600s get between 3.4 and 3.6Ghz on air last i heard, so you have some more headroom in there if you want it. Temps arent dire enough to NEED a new heatsink to prevent damage, so its really up to you!

 

[easyrider]

I'm currently using Intel E6400 which is overclocked to 3.2Ghz.

I do a lot of 3D / CAD work and I'm looking to throw some money at my rig to get a performance leap in my 3D work.

I thought at first the potential "weakspot" is my Core 2 Duo as compared to a Quad core.

Is this right? Considering I'm running at 3.2Ghz, would I notice a significant improvement going quad core?
* My 3D apps can use all 4 cores *

If I go for a quad core, what one gives best bang for buck at the moment?


Thanks.

Q6600

 

[Talrinys]

Yeah give it some time, i'm waiting for a cheap penryn quadcore which should clock enourmously well Your 3d apps should use SSE4 too, the new instruction set in Penryn, which would give an enormous boost to your work, SSE4 + higher clocks + higher IPC + another 2 cores = great!

 

[gazjam]

Magic guys, you've made my mind up for me, cheers.
I wasn't really getting any performance drop at the moment, just had cash burning a hole n my pocket (for now!)
About the Artic Freezer 7 Pro, thats what I'm using with Artic Silver 5 and I can hit 3.6Ghz with it. Windows and 3d apps run fine temps within limits, its just when I play Half life 2 or whatever it crashes.

Thinking about it - could it mabye be the overclock I've done on my Ati HD2900Pro?
After magic wand wand waved at it, its now a FireGl V8600 clocked at 850/1000.

Hmnnn..need to play around with that one.
Anyway..on the CPU front I'm gonna sit tight.

Cheers guys.

 

[gazjam]

Whens the new Intel Chips coming out?

 

[gazjam]

Just ordered the G0 Q6600.
Wont have the spondoolies in the new year so best time to upgrade is now.

Gonna be a good performance jump from Dual to quad in my 3d apps.

My new rig is complete!
*(and I've enough spare parts to build a 2nd pc for network rendering)*

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

There's your problem. As good as the Freezer Pros are for a budget HSF, they realy cant hold a candle to the bigger, badder heatsinks out there. 3Ghz is prob about right for one of those.

4C is noticable, but not dire.... what case are you running?

My case airflow is aided by the rather obcene no of case fans (6 120mm, pus another on the CPU heatsink), some good cable routing, and a clearly deffined airflow path (in front, out back). If you either have insufficient air comming in the case, major obstructions to airflow (PATA ribbon cables are nasty ones), or a confused airflow path, then temps will suffer.

At times i think my temps actualy INCREASE when i take my side off (particularly my passive GFX), as you are disturbing the airflow generated by the case fans.

New CPU cooler is needed i'm afraid if you want to clock higher, though 3Ghz for an extra what £15(?) outlay on the AC7 isnt a bad deal. Most E6600s get between 3.4 and 3.6Ghz on air last i heard, so you have some more headroom in there if you want it. Temps arent dire enough to NEED a new heatsink to prevent damage, so its really up to you!

Cheers for replying!

I did think that the Freezer Pro was holding me back a bit. My case is a Coolermaster Cav...

I got all the wires sorted by making a hole next to my PSU and running all the cables behind the mobo. I got a 120mm fan blowing air in the front (bodge job) and a 80mm blowing over my HDD's.

Like I said im now at 1.35V in bios. I'm still failing orthos but can't really increase voltages too much. Is 65C about the highest I should be looking at under load?

I might get a new cooler with my case at xmas An extra few hundered mhz would always be nice! Might cut 5 mins off my S@H time!

Cheers, Doug.

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

Just ordered the G0 Q6600.
Wont have the spondoolies in the new year so best time to upgrade is now.

Gonna be a good performance jump from Dual to quad in my 3d apps.

My new rig is complete!
*(and I've enough spare parts to build a 2nd pc for network rendering)*

Congrats on the purchase!

You will deffo notice an improvement in performance with the extra 2 cores!

If you want a new core when the Penryn's come out im sure you could always sell yours on the bay!