Is my PC/CPU outdated?

[flexy]

I am running a quad Q6600 at 3.6Ghz, on a dfi X38 motherboard.

I have not paid too much attention to hardware developments recently, but i know that currently everyone is talking about X58 and i7. Some even think that phenoms are a very good alternative also.

In terms of performance/bang for buck....how much "better" is a recent X58 system w/ DDR3 and core i7? How overclockable are those? (air) ? Is the dfi X58 board still a "good" choice? I am with dfi for a while already - the prices for the Asus rampage boards really scare me!

G.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Your system is still good (CPU wise).

What are the rest of the specs?

 

[dguy6789]

A 3.6Ghz Q6600 is still way ahead of the curve. The i7 is more of a modest increase in performance rather than anything large and game changing overall. There are a few applications where the i7 is much faster than anything else on the market though. i7 is really only a solution for people who want the fastest without taking bang for buck into consideration(or for people who use those applications that see massive gains on Core i7). Core 2 Quad still offers far more performance per dollar.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3448&p=16

Core i7 processors are very overclockable, but they require more beefy cooling than Core 2 Quad to do so.

 

[Arkaign]

Your 2-year-old CPU kicks the crap out of my brand-new Phenom II 805 @ 3.4ghz.

 

[deimos3428]

The first thing you need to ask yourself is "Does my current PC do everything I need it to do." If yes, don't worry about upgrading. If no, the only thing at present that has a chance of doing something a Q6600 can't would be an i7. I can't think of what that might be, though..

 

[RussianSensation]

I found this benchmark recently where Core i7 is demolishing a Core 2 Quad:

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...-benchmark,2350-9.html

Other than that, unless you can sell your current parts and upgrade on the cheap, I'd wait for P55 chipset and see how fast intel ramps up clock speeds on those parts, how good the new turbo modes are and how well the new 95W quads overclock. That is what I plan to do.

 

[Keitero]

I agree with Russian. I was able to sell my parts to a friend to help me pay for my i7 upgrade (stupid Intel deal). It's faster, but worth the money outright? No.

 

[GEOrifle]

Do not listen to noone.
Keep your CPU and try add more RAM and better VGA.
What i'm gonna say still sitting on 478 3.4GH PRESCOT and just month ago desided to move over it by i7 920.
So take from your PC as more as possible...

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: flexy
In terms of performance/bang for buck....how much "better" is a recent X58 system w/ DDR3 and core i7?

Depends what you're using the computer for. Your overclocked Q6600 will destroy any modern PC game, so that's not an issue. The only thing that would run better with an i7 would be something like video encoding.

Some people will try to tell you the i7 is "snappier" but that's probably bullshit. Just today I underclocked my HTPC's Phenom 9600 from the stock 2300mhz down to only 1000mhz and there's literally no difference. Boot time is the exact same, HD video still works, file sharing still works, multitasking still works. Damn near everything a computer does is hard drive and memory limited. Your system's speed will best be improved by buying more memory and a solid state hard drive (or video card if you play games).

 

[Gikaseixas]

you could keep that cpu for another 2 years. It's a quad overclocked to 3.6, plenty fast for today's applications

 

[eternalone]

Yes it completely outdated Q6600 man havent heard of one of those in years. But you have to take into consideration Im from the year 2017. LOL

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Depends what you're using the computer for. Your overclocked Q6600 will destroy any modern PC game, so that's not an issue. The only thing that would run better with an i7 would be something like video encoding.

Some people will try to tell you the i7 is "snappier" but that's probably bullshit. Just today I underclocked my HTPC's Phenom 9600 from the stock 2300mhz down to only 1000mhz and there's literally no difference. Boot time is the exact same, HD video still works, file sharing still works, multitasking still works. Damn near everything a computer does is hard drive and memory limited. Your system's speed will best be improved by buying more memory and a solid state hard drive (or video card if you play games).

This post in its entirety.

A Q6600 @ 3.6GHz is an amazingly fast processor, still more than capable of handling anything you can throw at it today.

Yes, if you're heavily into video work you could benefit a bit from getting a 920 and overclocking to 4GHz. But that's literally the only typical desktop duty where you would see any appreciable improvement at all. i7 is really aimed at the server market where the workload is completely different - in that space it makes a lot of sense.

If you want a "snappier" feel to your system buy an Intel "G2" X25-M. Everything will go faster with one of those as your boot & app drive.

 

[taltamir]

what you do with your system makes a big difference.
I would second the intel G2 X25-M upgrade suggestion.

 

[RaptureMe]

Just sell your crappy q6600 and the rest of your system and get a core i7 920.
Its everything you've wanted in the future but you get it now!!
Kinda like getting a time machine and going a couple years into the future to get the newer part you've always dreamed of but like I said you get it now!!
plus by this time next year we will have 6 core with 12 threaded cpu's that you can just pop right into all existing x58 mobo's.
With what you have now there are no viable upgrade paths.
Really this is the only way to go!!
The benchmark up above speaks for it self and I know it to be true first hand just look at my sig.
Going from q6600 to q9650@4.0GHz then to core i7 920@4.0Ghz myself I seen huge differences between c2q and core i7's speed and power wise.
Ripping and converting a movie to say WMV-HD would take 15-20 mins using q9650 with nero ultimate and dropped to only 4-5 mins with core i7 920.
But dont let us convince you check around and do some google'ing and you'll make the right choice..

 

[AdamK47]

The i7 is snappier, peppier, and downright betterer.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: AdamK47
The i7 is snappier, peppier, and downright betterer.

all true, but most likely not worth the extra money

 

[MagickMan]

Keep the Q6600, unless you simply have money to burn.

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: flexy
Damn near everything a computer does is hard drive and memory limited. Your system's speed will best be improved by buying more memory and a solid state hard drive (or video card if you play games).

True! I just got a gtx 275, and i have to admit that i really dont have a "need" for a major upgrade since anything basically works "all right". I feel that the biggest bottleneck in Vista/W7 are indeed the drives.....MAYBE another 4gb would help also.

I have two Hitachi Sata II drives which are not "that bad"....but working in W7/V its just too much HD activity going on...and also some benchmarks also grade me down because the drives seem to be the weakest point of the whole system. Eg. WEI = 5.8 because of the drives, everything else at 7.5

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: MagickMan
Keep the Q6600, unless you simply have money to burn.

if he has money to burn, he should get an intel X25 G2 first...

Damn near everything a computer does is hard drive and memory limited. Your system's speed will best be improved by buying more memory and a solid state hard drive (or video card if you play games).

I concur!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Q6600 @ 3.6 rocks, there's very little that you cannot do with that rig. I second, or third, or whatever, the motion to pick up an X25 SSD.

 

[RikHollis]

You are sitting on a 'classic' with that Q6600, other than the I-7s, only the high-end Intel Quad-Cores can match it, and they are running on what, 1600 FSB mobos? Sure, yours burns more power, but it's like a 60's muscle car; you can pick up newer and better performance for considerably much more than you originally paid, but there are still beaucoup aficianados out there who secretly envy that Q6600 you're driving.