E8400 or Q6600?

Topic. Which way to go? Thanks in advance.

Oh god not this again. I'll go with quad, more cores the better.achilles614

[QUOTE="achilles614"]Oh god not this again. I'll go with quad, more cores the better.X360PS3AMD05

If this processor is going to be used for 2+ years, you're better served going with the Q6600.

If this processor is going to be replaced within a few years, the E8400 is going to be the better choice.

e8400 is faster in 99% of today's games.Baselerd

But the Q6600 will be MUCH faster than the E8400 when games properly support quad cores!

I'm very happy with my E8400 and by the time games properly utilize quad cores and quad cores become a mainstream gaming requirement it will be time for a complete system upgrade anyway with more powerful future technology.I use my PC mainly for gaming and I don't see a jump by devs to quad core gaming happening anytime soon for a majority of games.I think my OC'd E8400 will give me all the performance I will need for quite a while.DarkSidexxx

Well some people buy CPU's just to last 10 months or something untill something better comes out, in which case a duel core would be better. But some people like to get maximum life for what they pay, in which case a quad core would be best....and i know duel cores are a bit faster in current games, but what about when games are optimizes for quads? The fact is then a Q6600 will destroy a 3.5Ghz duel core!

I'm very happy with my E8400 and by the time games properly utilize quad cores and quad cores become a mainstream gaming requirement it will be time for a complete system upgrade anyway with more powerful future technology.I use my PC mainly for gaming and I don't see a jump by devs to quad core gaming happening anytime soon for a majority of games.I think my OC'd E8400 will give me all the performance I will need for quite a while.DarkSidexxx

it sure will :). but with the q6600 being soo cheap now i dont see why people wouldnt just go with those.thats what i went with :) even without quad support it still adds some power and advntages to gaming right? but nothing a over clocked 8400,8500 couldnt handle. basically its just which will work in your mobo. if it dont support a quad then go for a duo right? no need to spend the extra money to buy a new one when you can just go with a duo and overclock it and get just as good results if not better then a quad? am i starting to get this computer stuff now? :P

from the look of those benchmarks with the 8500 oc'd to 4ghz and the q6600 at stock. the q6600 did better in som games including crysis,and was running at stock.so i guess if you just get a q6600 and have it oc'd to 3.0-3.4 it would be the better choice then right?? glad i went with a q6600floridaskater05

why is the none overclocked version of the 8500 doing better in crysis than the 4ghz oc'd one??floridaskater05

Crysis is hugely GPU-bound - the CPU doesn't even come into play much as long as it is above a certain level.

but werent those benchmarks run off the same gpus? just different cpus? i mean the difference was little but i just thought it was weird. can like if youre doing one of those benchmarks can it be one score and then you do it again,and get a different score? not by alot but can the score change at all just running the stuff a second time?floridaskater05

That's exactly why those benchmarks show how GPU-bound Crysis is. The CPU is doing its best in the game, but the GPU clearly cannot keep up.

okay guys, thanks for your replies. It's becoming clear to me that a q6600 is more future proof. But I'm planning to get a Gigabyte P35-DS3L mobo. Will this mobo support q6600?

I'm getting a 9600 gt and I want to play the latest games especially Crysis. Probably, upgrading the 9600 gt after two years and retaining the q6600. What do you think of this?

okay guys, thanks for your replies. It's becoming clear to me that a q6600 is more future proof. But I'm planning to get a Gigabyte P35-DS3L mobo. Will this mobo support q6600?

I'm getting a 9600 gt and I want to play the latest games especially Crysis. Probably, upgrading the 9600 gt after two years and retaining the q6600. What do you think of this?

danny321

yes that mobo will work but get the 8800gt instead of the 9600gt

if u have no intention of getting a new CPU for quite some time after this, get a quad core. if u can get a G0 step q6600 then itll overclock like the beans, even with the standard cooler. if u dont mind overclocking when the CPUs speed doesent seem to be enough then a g0 q6600 should easily get to 3.0GHz anyway and thats plenty.

an E8400 will be faster out of the box for the vast majority of games....but more games will like there extra cores in the future.

okay guys, thanks for your replies. It's becoming clear to me that a q6600 is more future proof. But I'm planning to get a Gigabyte P35-DS3L mobo. Will this mobo support q6600?

I'm getting a 9600 gt and I want to play the latest games especially Crysis. Probably, upgrading the 9600 gt after two years and retaining the q6600. What do you think of this?

danny321

Well, the Q6600 on my P35-DS3L is a happy camper...even though it's one of the older B3 stepping procs. It's running 3.0Ghz 24/7. Very strong.:D I have a similar plan for my GPU upgrade schedule. I plan to keep my Q6600 for four years and upgrade the vid card in two. The 9600GT looks to be a great card, from what I've read. Wish I had one... :roll: