Is Q6600 worth $160?

[GundamF91]

Fry's selling the Q6600 and ECS board combo for $200 on Black Friday, I figure you can sell the ECS board for $40, which means the Q6600 will cost about $160. Is there a reason to get it instead of the E6750 with the similar price?

Does the Q6600 quadcore make this more future proof compared to dual core systems? Or should I wait for Penryn to come down in price or even wait for something after Penryn? I'm a gamer so I am trying to get most game speed out of the system, but also don't want to spend more than $200 for processors.

 

[secretanchitman]

regardless of what c2d/c2q you choose...you'll be fine. trust me.

 

[imported_LoKe]

YES!

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: LoKe
YES!

QFT! You have a great find on your hands, but this and sell the motherboard on Ebay (and the CPU later, Im sure you can get $200 out of it.)

 

[n7]

Absolutely.

Yes, Penryn is [already & going to continue] pwning Conroe when it comes to overclocking, but that's a little ways away for most of us [who don't want to spend tons on the Extreme Editions].

Q6600 is the best choice out there overall for a higher end use/gaming system.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Kaching...as predicted, boxed Q6600 under $200. I missed this sale from the B&M Frys a few month back.

 

[GundamF91]

So should i jump on it, or go with E2180 with ECS motherboard for $100? So I guess it comes down whether Q6600 is twice the processor that E2180 is. Otherwise I'll probably just get E2180 and then wait for future Penryn when that drops below $200 or even lower in the future.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

You probably don't need the power of Q6600 at this time. I'm sure will will see sub $200 45nm quad with 9x multi in 2008.

 

[GundamF91]

When used effectively by multi-threading applications/games, does quad core yield 2x performance of the dual core of similar speed?

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: GundamF91
When used effectively by multi-threading applications/games, does quad core yield 2x performance of the dual core of similar speed?

No game will max out 4 cores, the gain over dual core for quad supported games is typically 5-25%.

Encoding sees nearly a 100% increase, though.

 

[darkxknight]

so where would i buy this? frys.com?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: GundamF91
When used effectively by multi-threading applications/games, does quad core yield 2x performance of the dual core of similar speed?

No game will max out 4 cores, the gain over dual core for quad supported games is typically 5-25%.

Actually, Microsoft's Flight Simulator X does, and I hear that Crysis does, too. Of course, Crysis is more a GPU-bound game, so it isn't going to reap the benefits of a quad, at least until video cards get faster. With FSX, I got roughly double the framerates with my Q6600 @ stock speed, compared to my Opteron 170 @ 2.8 Ghz. I was happily quite surprised.

edit: And remember, with each new game release, quad support is going to get better, not worse.

 

[cmdrdredd]

reminds me...I need to grab me one of dem Q6600s sometime lol...I feel like I'm in the stone age with only a dual core

 

[AkumaX]

was thinking of picking one up to switch out with my B3. likelyhood fry's is only carrying G0 stock?

 

[bryanW1995]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were b3 just to clean out their stock. who knows, though?

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: GundamF91
When used effectively by multi-threading applications/games, does quad core yield 2x performance of the dual core of similar speed?

No game will max out 4 cores, the gain over dual core for quad supported games is typically 5-25%.

Actually, Microsoft's Flight Simulator X does, and I hear that Crysis does, too. Of course, Crysis is more a GPU-bound game, so it isn't going to reap the benefits of a quad, at least until video cards get faster. With FSX, I got roughly double the framerates with my Q6600 @ stock speed, compared to my Opteron 170 @ 2.8 Ghz. I was happily quite surprised.

edit: And remember, with each new game release, quad support is going to get better, not worse.

I dont follow the flight simulator series, good to know that at least one game fully utilizes it.

Crysis will not max out 4 cores at all.

It uses 4, but itll max out one and use 20-50% on the other 3.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: AkumaX
was thinking of picking one up to switch out with my B3. likelyhood fry's is only carrying G0 stock?

I'm thinking about the same thing. If they have G0's I'm all in.

 

[o1die]

The board Fry's is selling with the q6600 doesn't support any quad core cpus, and no bios updates are available. It's still a good deal, and you'll save about $80 for the retail boxed cpu alone. Don't know if the q6600 will post with this board, or show up as "unknown cpu".

 

[GundamF91]

I'm thinking of coupling it with the Abit IP35-E board that's available for $66 right now. I wonder if that's a good combo. Or could just go with Fry's E6750+IP35E combo that's also going for $200. So the key is whether Quad is really worth more than Dual. I am guessing though for future, Quad's utility only get better and not worse.

 

[Hauk]

If there's a G0 to be had I'm gonna sell my B3, keep the G0, and use the mobo to build an internet rig. This is an awesome deal any way you look at it. What time are retail stores open?

* Edit, just found out local Fry's is open at 5am.

Damn, for years I've made fun of the fools who get up early to shop on Black Friday.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: darkxknight
so where would i buy this? frys.com?

Camp out at B&M Fry's. Don't know how many are available per store.

 

[MarcVenice]

I doubt they are 'cleaning out' their stock of b3's. There isn't that much difference between b3 and g0, only overclockers care, and that's a very small percentage of their sales.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Should be GO.

 

[bfdd]

This is a perfect opportunity if these are G0 steppings for someone with a B3 to buy it find out if it is or isn't, keep the G0 if it is and take it back with the B3 and be like "sry want my money back".

 

[non duality]

I don't understand. How are they able to price it so low?