i7 860 @ 3.6GHz vs Q6600 @ 3Ghz

[clarkey01]

Hi guys

little out of the loop and haven't posted for a good while.

Looking to upgrade my rig and was looking at a deal which comes with an I7 860 overclocked at 3.6 Ghz.

Is it worth me getting? is there such a big difference this and my Q6600@ 3 ghz?

I game, some vmware, some ripping but not much.

Should I wait for anything ?

Cheers

 

[classy]

The 860, especially if @3.6, will crush that Q6600.

 

[happy medium]

The 860, especially if @3.6, will crush that Q6600.

A q6600 will game just fine for another year or so.
No need to upgrade just yet. It would be nice to have a q6600 @ 3.4,but at 3.0 it is just fine.

Save your money for a real upgrade when the new Sandybridge cpu and socket hits early next year.

 

[classy]

A q6600 will game just fine for another year or so.
No need to upgrade just yet. It would be nice to have a q6600 @ 3.4,but at 3.0 it is just fine.

Save your money for a real upgrade when the new Sandybridge cpu and socket hits early next year.

I don't disagree entirely, but there is always now and forever more something better down the road. And looking at a comparison of the two @stock really shows the significant advantage a 860 has over a Q6600.

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=108

 

[Insomniator]

I don't disagree entirely, but there is always now and forever more something better down the road. And looking at a comparison of the two @stock really shows the significant advantage a 860 has over a Q6600.

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=108

Yes there is an advantage but really... it probably wouldn't be worth it unless you can offset a lot of the cost by selling the current parts.

In games you literally wouldn't notice anything and probably won't notice anything for like 2 years. By the time a game takes advantage of a quad core you better have a 500 dollar video card to handle the rest of it.

'some ripping and vmware' doesn't sound like you are crunched for time... I don't think its worth the trouble.

 

[Ares202]

In games you literally wouldn't notice anything and probably won't notice anything for like 2 years. By the time a game takes advantage of a quad core you better have a 500 dollar video card to handle the rest of it.

Some of my games lag and my Q6600 is at 3ghz

If i Load up Empire total war or Supreme Commander i cant get a decent framerate for example, and even in world in conflict it can get a little bit laggy when there is lots going on. If you play FPS's all day then sure a Q6600 is fine, in SOME games is comes unstuck though, its silly to make that assumption when you havent played every game. Im considering upgrading to an i5-750 and would have done so already if DDR3 didnt cost so damn much, for gaming there is no reason to go for an i7 IMO.

Saying that id look to upgrade your 9800gt first, your likely to get 80-100% improvement in FPS in games that are GPU bound like BF:BC2 if you get an ATI 5850 or something similar

 

[RussianSensation]

The 860, especially if @3.6, will crush that Q6600.

Ok but his videocard is 9800GT 512mb. Are you advocating that a Core i7 860 upgrade from a Q6600 @ 3.0ghz is more valuable than say a 5850/70 + Q6600 @ 3.0ghz? What's the point of linking Q6600 at stock benchmarks?

For his system, a videocard upgrade is by far the best option. A Q6600 @ 3.0ghz + GTX470/5870 would mop the floor with a Core i7 860 + 9800GT 512mb in gaming.

Plus, OP you are running your Q6600 @ 1.171V. Crank that cpu to 1.35V and you'll get 3.4ghz with ease.

 

[Munky]

I say jump on the 860. You can always wait for something better, and it can always get delayed (SB did get delayed from the rumored release later this year). In fact, with an 860 you can skip SB until a later revision. Depending on your gaming resolution, you may or may not see any improvement if you keep the 9800gt, but if you run a lot of virtual machines or do video encoding, the 860 will noticeably faster.

 

[clarkey01]

Decided to go with the 860 upgrade, the whole system I just ordered is ;

Cooler Master HAF 932 Black Case
Intel Core i7 860 Processor (2.80GHz) Overclocked to 3.6GHz
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
Extra cooling fans Upgrade Pack
ASUS P7P55D-E (With Firewire and USB 3.0)
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Radeon HD 5850 1024MB
1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
500GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
Sony 24x DL DVD±RW SATA Optical Drive
EZCool 700W PSU
On-board High Definition Audio
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

 

[classy]

Decided to go with the 860 upgrade, the whole system I just ordered is ;

Cooler Master HAF 932 Black Case
Intel Core i7 860 Processor (2.80GHz) Overclocked to 3.6GHz
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler
Extra cooling fans Upgrade Pack (increases system cooling!)
ASUS P7P55D-E (With Firewire and USB 3.0)
8GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
Chillblast Radeon HD 5850 1024MB
1000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
500GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
Sony 24x DL DVD±RW SATA Optical Drive
EZCool 700W PSU
On-board High Definition Audio
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I thought you talking about a pre-built system when stated you were looking at a deal. Just excuse the other fellas, they read well, but fall a little short with comprehension . Now that looks really nice, but how much? Who is building it?

 

[clarkey01]

I got it in at around £1150 (1,753.58 USD)

I could of bought the bits myself and saved maybe £100 but I'm quite busy at work (Deployment of Citrix farms is taking up the majority of my time both in and out of work)

This Vista rig's been great, but I had a little money spare and figured I'd take the plunge now and re-asses in 24 months

 

[soccerballtux]

A q6600 will game just fine for another year or so.
No need to upgrade just yet. It would be nice to have a q6600 @ 3.4,but at 3.0 it is just fine.

Save your money for a real upgrade when the new Sandybridge cpu and socket hits early next year.

I don't disagree entirely, but there is always now and forever more something better down the road. And looking at a comparison of the two @stock really shows the significant advantage a 860 has over a Q6600.

http://anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=108

right, which is exactly why there's no reason to upgrade now unless you want to for fun.
My chip will game for the next 2-3 years perfectly fine. I don't need to upgrade, but I definitely do want to. SO I only do it for fun.

 

[classy]

I got it in at around £1150 (1,753.58 USD)

I could of bought the bits myself and saved maybe £100 but I'm quite busy at work (Deployment of Citrix farms is taking up the majority of my time both in and out of work)

This Vista rig's been great, but I had a little money spare and figured I'd take the plunge now and re-asses in 24 months

Ok. Good luck .

 

[poofyhairguy]

Good luck.

 

[Phil1977]

Good choice!

860 at 3.6 is lethal.

When overclocking read up on turbo mode. In many games a lower overclock + Turbo will give you better results than a higher overclock without Turbo... Depending on how many threads the game will use.

 

[classy]

right, which is exactly why there's no reason to upgrade now unless you want to for fun.
My chip will game for the next 2-3 years perfectly fine. I don't need to upgrade, but I definitely do want to. SO I only do it for fun.

OK?
I didn't say you needed to upgrade. I didn't say he needed to upgrade. He asked the question would he see a difference of an I7 860 over his current Q6600? The answer is an emphatic yes. What is silly is, the one guy trumpets "Save your money for a real upgrade".

Lets explore that for just a moment. First off every single time Intel has rolled out a new socket and chip to go with it, it has been seriously expensive. Right now is a great time to get a boost in performance reasonably priced that will at least take you through the inflated price stage of Sandy or Bulldozer.

Now for the real upgrade emphasis......I would say an on average 30% or better increase in gaming and 35% on upwards close to a blistering 50% faster in rendering and application speed are a "Real Upgrade". And that is how much an I7 860 performs over a Q6600.

 

[Phil1977]

860 @ 3.6 GHz should easily be on par if not faster than the top 32nm sandy bridge.

Games are becoming more and more CPU limited and Lynnfield is amazing for removing CPU limitation. It dominates at min. frames and I am confident that in many games it would manage 50-100% better min. frames performance.

 

[nyker96]

Hi guys

little out of the loop and haven't posted for a good while.

Looking to upgrade my rig and was looking at a deal which comes with an I7 860 overclocked at 3.6 Ghz.

Is it worth me getting? is there such a big difference this and my Q6600@ 3 ghz?

I game, some vmware, some ripping but not much.

Should I wait for anything ?

Cheers

I see that you are only running a 9800gt, I mean you will be much better served upgrading your graphics card with the money to say something like a hd5850. I bet you will see a much larger boost.

 

[wiedersehen]

good choice