Greetings Anandtech,
Currently I have an E2140 sitting comfortably at 3.2GHz beneath an Arctic 7 Freezer Pro. I have a G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2 800 kit at 5-5-5-15. My motherboard is the lovely DFI LP DK P35 T2RS. Build details are in the signature.
I've been very happy with my current system. I bought a 70$ CPU (at the time) and got a 100% overclock out of it. I made out like a bandit, because I came here, did some research, and considered my options before buying.
Anyway I wanted to upgrade, seeing as how Starcraft 2 and maybe even Diablo 3 will (probably) be here before or about the same time Sandy Bridge is. My question to you is how far do I go with this upgrade?
I could do an E6300 (45nm
) and in all probability get it to around 4GHz if its a good chip.
I could do a Q9550 and have a lesser clock but still have a quad CPU.
Obviously two very different CPUs at very different price points. Here are my current thoughts:
In all probability, the E6300@4GHz (or there abouts) would not give me any SC2/D3 limitations, which is my primary concern. However I want to last this wait comfortably and not be tempted to make any further upgrades on this system, and the Q9550 is impossible to beat on this socket. However for the Q9550 I may have to purchase a beefier heatsink and possibly a DDR2 1066 kit to get the highest overclock possible, which is also important to me. I don't like having my OC headroom limited by anything but the chip itself.
Another thought is I don't see the point in dual channel DDR3. If I'm not going to wait, I'll have to do the full out X58/triple channel/920 D0/Megahalem wallet breaker.
And so Andantech, I come to you, and would like to ask anyone who's waiting for Sandy Bridge as well what they're doing in the mean time while we weather the i5/i7 storm.
Currently I have an E2140 sitting comfortably at 3.2GHz beneath an Arctic 7 Freezer Pro. I have a G.Skill 2x1GB DDR2 800 kit at 5-5-5-15. My motherboard is the lovely DFI LP DK P35 T2RS. Build details are in the signature.
I've been very happy with my current system. I bought a 70$ CPU (at the time) and got a 100% overclock out of it. I made out like a bandit, because I came here, did some research, and considered my options before buying.
Anyway I wanted to upgrade, seeing as how Starcraft 2 and maybe even Diablo 3 will (probably) be here before or about the same time Sandy Bridge is. My question to you is how far do I go with this upgrade?
I could do an E6300 (45nm
) and in all probability get it to around 4GHz if its a good chip.I could do a Q9550 and have a lesser clock but still have a quad CPU.
Obviously two very different CPUs at very different price points. Here are my current thoughts:
In all probability, the E6300@4GHz (or there abouts) would not give me any SC2/D3 limitations, which is my primary concern. However I want to last this wait comfortably and not be tempted to make any further upgrades on this system, and the Q9550 is impossible to beat on this socket. However for the Q9550 I may have to purchase a beefier heatsink and possibly a DDR2 1066 kit to get the highest overclock possible, which is also important to me. I don't like having my OC headroom limited by anything but the chip itself.
Another thought is I don't see the point in dual channel DDR3. If I'm not going to wait, I'll have to do the full out X58/triple channel/920 D0/Megahalem wallet breaker.
And so Andantech, I come to you, and would like to ask anyone who's waiting for Sandy Bridge as well what they're doing in the mean time while we weather the i5/i7 storm.
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