I got an E6300 is it worth the upgrade to E6600?

[TheArabian]

Ok i got the Intel Retail Edge bundle, with an e6300, a DG965WH intel Motherboard and vista ultimate. I'm thinking about selling the mobo and processor and going for a e6600 and better mobo.

I game and do everything else.

Is it worth it to upgrade?

Thanks

 

[yiranhu]

Mobo yes. Processor probably not

 

[harpoon84]

Keep the CPU, sell the mobo. The E6300 is an excellent overclocker. Pair it with a good P965 mobo (Asus P5B series, Gigabyte S3/DS3) and some decent DDR2-800 RAM (that can overclock to DDR2-1000 speeds) and you're set.

If you're a gamer it makes more sense to allocate more of the budget towards the GPU, as it has a greater impact on gaming performance than the CPU (generally speaking, there are exceptions of course, such as Flight Simularor X).

 

[Ayah]

Hook it up with a DS3 and overclock it like mad.

 

[TheArabian]

Doesn't Over clocking void your warranty?

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: TheArabian
Doesn't Over clocking void your warranty?

Morally and ethically it should...Intel wouldn't know though...

The E6600 is ofcourse 533mhz or 30% faster and then the 2mb more of L2 cache makes up 3-5% more performance....If you didn't want to Oc you will feel a gain...

The 6300 oc'd to even a moderate 3.2ghz is as fast as an E6600 at 3.05ghz...

Games are some of the rare applications where the L2 cache can make a diff...

 

[LouPoir]

Keep the processor - get another notherboard

 

[Jaap74]

Core 2 Duo is all about overclockability !! And the best thing is it's easy to do !! Not like the old days when it was a mystical operation that relied on tea-leaf reading and animal sacrifices...... OVERCLOCKING RULES !!!

 

[TheArabian]

Ok well i sold the processor and motherboard, figuring that would be the easiest way to get rid of the mobo, figured no one would want it by itself.

So now, you guys all think i should get another e6300 huh? what mobo should i get? and ur sure Intel wouldn't be able to know if i oc'd

 

[harpoon84]

Since you sold the E6300 already, I'd recommend the E6400 rather than E6300. It has an 8x multiplier (as opposed to 7x on the E6300) which should make overclocking easier by putting less stress on the mobo and RAM.

 

[coldpower27]

You might also look into getting a 975X with a Xeon 3060 for overclocking as well, if your budget would allow it of course.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Like harpoon said, the 6400 can be easier to overclock because of the lower multiplier, if this is purely for gaming, the higher overclock isn't likely to help you much anyway, so go with whichever one is best for your budget. I'm assuming the rig in your sig is old and you no longer have that 7600gt for a video card. You said gaming was the most important thing, I'd make sure you either a) have a good gaming card right now or b) plan on using some of the upgrade budget for one.

 

[amenx]

I have a DS3 with a e6400, its OC'd to 3ghz at stock cooling and stock voltage (1.33) and temps are low 30s idle to low 40's load. Its about the equal in performance (SANDRA CPU bench) to an x6800.

But as a previous poster mentioned, if your a gamer, focus on the GPU more than anything else.

 

[soydios]

The added L2 cache of the E6600 does noticeably increase your framerates. But, instead of spending the extra money to buy an E6600, use that extra money to get a better videocard, which will yield a far greater increase in framerates than getting a faster CPU.

 

[Raider1284]

right but going from a e6400-e6600 will give like at most +10 fps? while going from a 7600gt to a 8800gts/gtx will see like +150 fps!!

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

i doubt that 2xL2 cache will even him that +10fps..

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: soydios
The added L2 cache of the E6600 does noticeably increase your framerates. But, instead of spending the extra money to buy an E6600, use that extra money to get a better videocard, which will yield a far greater increase in framerates than getting a faster CPU.