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Worth upgrading from Q6600 @3.6 to I7 ?

as905

as905

as905

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Joined
11 May 2009
Posts
576
hi,
i'm a pc gamer & have my Q6600 clocked @ 3.6 which i though was great until i found this video on youtube which shows an i7 @ 4.0 beating a 3.6 Q6600 by 30 - 40 fps in dirt 2. it's hard to believe the huge jump in fps the i7 made so i came here to ask what do gamers think about the i7 performance in gaming & is it worth upgrading to it from a 3.6 Q6600 or should i wait 1-2 years for the newer socket chips by intel ?
 
IMO, I'd wait until the next chip Intel are planning to bring out in 2011. They say thais won't use DDR3, but something else. But its up to you, I wouldn't really rush out to buy an i7 pc setup, as the Q6600 isn't really that far behind.
 
yeah i think i'm going to wait for the newer intel socket which should last me (as a gamer) for 4-5 years. thanks Ryan ;)
 
Np, I was in this situtation about a year ago, but it seems more silly now when x68 is just around the bend :)
 
I try and block out benchmarks until I feel slowdown in my games - then I look to upgrade.

So my question would be are all your games playing smooth? Do you feel stuttering that is annoying or spoiling your gaming experience?

If so, upgrade. Don't chase performance that stands out on benchmarks only.
 
I am in a great position to answer this :)

I just went from a 3.6 Q6600 to a 4ghz i7 (does 4.2 but with the summer coming I'm going to keep the volts down). Dirt 2 is a completely different game, I used to run it at 1080p 4x AA with everything on but the minimum fps would drop into the low 40s. I just did a benchmark and got minimum fps of 59.9 and average 60.2 - i.e perfect vsync. The game feels so much nicer for it, too.

The i7 kit cost £520 and I sold my Q6600 kit for £180, so for £350 ish it's not bad at all. Also means I can put another 5870 in at a later date.

Do it!

[edit] Just seen your graphics card - I think it'd be a huge limitation on an i7 system, you would be better off getting a 5870 now and upgrading to intels new kit next year imo
 
as905 said:
Worth upgrading from Q6600 @3.6 to I7 ?
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Hey as905,

The meaning of "Worth" is always different depending who you ask . . . If someone is a PC Hardware "Hobbyist" and enjoys getting hands on experience of as much modern hardware as possible and also enjoys Benchmarking then it would seem that it's worth upgrading! . . . Hobbyist's aside you would have to be a pretty serious power-user to find a Q6600 @ 3.6GHz is causing you problems with any games? . . . is there any chance you may just be a little bored of your older hardware and fancy something newer . . more shiny? :D

The other point you should consider that *if* you did manage to find enough good reasons to "Justify" the splurge . . . why would you be looking at a Intel® Core™ i7 for gaming when a lot of test results demonstrate that clock-for-clock the Intel® Core™ i5 is faster and more affordable? :confused:

as905 said:
i'm a pc gamer
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"Is Intel® Core™ i7 the most logical choice for playing PC games?"
 
ATM i think we are spoilt for processors. From the old dual cores/quad cores which still run pretty anything thrown at them to the number crunching top end i7 series. Happy days :)

As said its easy to keep chasing the tech. but if it runs everything you want it to, one things for certain something better/quicker is just around the corner....and the corner after that etc.
 
I have a q6600 and its handling what I throw at it nicely. Its too late in the day now for me to make a big move to i7 (CPU, M/board, RAM), with new stuff on the horizon. I might as well just skip the i7 generation and get the whole bunch for whats approaching.

My 5870 is handling Dirt 2 ok for me.
 
as905 said:
hi,
i'm a pc gamer & have my Q6600 clocked @ 3.6 which i though was great until i found this video on youtube which shows an i7 @ 4.0 beating a 3.6 Q6600 by 30 - 40 fps in dirt 2. it's hard to believe ?
Click to expand...

Did you see the result at the end of the video?, the i7 930 frame avg was 48, even though fraps was showing over 100 throughout . odd?
 
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