q6600 - still viable for gaming? or is it time to upgrade?

[aaksheytalwar]

Well, when you guys bought your Q6600's there was not much point in having them - you paid a premium. Presumably, you'd be willing to pay a premium again to see the same type of longevity.

The 4c/4t part in many scenarios will give you the same performance as the 4c/8t part, yes. But you didn't that stop you in 2008/9 when it was 2c/2t vs 4c/4t

This

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Well, when you guys bought your Q6600's there was not much point in having them - you paid a premium. Presumably, you'd be willing to pay a premium again to see the same type of longevity.

The 4c/4t part in many scenarios will give you the same performance as the 4c/8t part, yes. But you didn't that stop you in 2008/9 when it was 2c/2t vs 4c/4t

Looking back on that purchase, i still dont regret it, as it lasted this long, and i havent really suffered at all. But if i could do it again, if i had spent less initially, and then just upgraded sooner, i probably overall would had had a better experience. (possibly even right away in most cases as all 4 cores werent utilized, and 45nm dual core cpu's could be OCed much higher.

Which is my point now. I think spending ~200 on 2500k or the IVB equivalent is smarter than ~350 for 4c/8t.

So now im back to: if both were out right now, and IVB costs slightly more than SB, which would you go with?

I know IVB should bring performance increases to the integrated graphics, so i could care less about that. Im more concerned with just performance, and if it actually is 15% faster than SB, then my decision is made and ill be waiting until (May hopefully??).

This

how did you quote someone who commented after you?

 

[nyker96]

OP I think if you really thinking about upgrading, I'd just wait for Ivy, since I almost certain you will regret getting a 2500k so close to Ivy release. You waited long enough, what's 1.5-2 more months? You certainly got the money's worth for your Q6600. besides, I think q6600 +board+ddr2 still go for some cash on ebay, drop those off ebay and your upgrade will cost a bit less too!

 

[greenhawk]

how did you quote someone who commented after you?

two steps.

reply to post that you want to reply to.

Then copy and paste into a edit of a previous post.

done.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

two steps.

reply to post that you want to reply to.

Then copy and paste into a edit of a previous post.

done.

I was thinking that, but the post wasn't edited....

and im pretty sure im gonna wait, but im wondering if both were available, is IVB really any better? In a few months, ill be faced with IVB for 225 or SB used for like 170 (maybe?)

If I had to make that choice today, would i just get the 2500k, since performance will be so close? If the answer is yes then why wait for IVB.

Like i said probably gonna wait and buy IVB new when it comes out, but i was just playing with the idea.

 

[felang]

It depends on what you plan to do or what games you play, for example, I´ve only ever seen my 2600k (HT disabled) pushed while gaming (running at over 80% utilization) when playing BF3 multiplayer (64 man servers).

In every other game (and usually even BF3) my 5870 is the bottleneck.

So, since I play a lot of BF3 at the moment, for me it was totally worth it to upgrade from a Q6600 @3.6.

Also, in case you do actually switch the Q6600 to let´s say an HTPC, IMO it uses way to much power, you´d be better off just getting a vid card that does hardware decoding or SB based pentium with integrated graphics.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

It depends on what you plan to do or what games you play, for example, I´ve only ever seen my 2600k (HT disabled) pushed while gaming (running at over 80% utilization) when playing BF3 multiplayer (64 man servers).

In every other game (and usually even BF3) my 5870 is the bottleneck.

So, since I play a lot of BF3 at the moment, for me it was totally worth it to upgrade from a Q6600 @3.6.

Also, in case you do actually switch the Q6600 to let´s say an HTPC, IMO it uses way to much power, you´d be better off just getting a vid card that does hardware decoding or SB based pentium with integrated graphics.

Well i was going to put that in the living room PC paired with my old 8800GT which i think should be good enough for light gaming/HTPC/Server. Bad idea?

just bought BF3, haven't played it yet, but everything else is OK on my Q6600.

 

[felang]

Well i was going to put that in the living room PC paired with my old 8800GT which i think should be good enough for light gaming/HTPC/Server. Bad idea?

just bought BF3, haven't played it yet, but everything else is OK on my Q6600.

If you´re going to do a little gaming it´s fine, I thought it would be overkill for a HTPC only setup.

BF3 should be fine except for 64 player multiplayer matches where every mhz counts, you are probably going to have some slowdowns.

 

[FalseChristian]

get the 2500K. They overclock to 4.5GHz so easily. At stock 3.3GHz it's twice as fast as my old Core2Duo E8400.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

get the 2500K. They overclock to 4.5GHz so easily. At stock 3.3GHz it's twice as fast as my old Core2Duo E8400.

probably will now. Just heard IVB wont be coming out until 2013, i dont think its worth the wait.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

You must be talking of ivy e not ivy

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

You must be talking of ivy e not ivy

crap. guess i missed "enthusiast" in the title of the other thread. my bad

 

[GoStumpy]

Isn't IVY for the most part just better onboard graphics? Really worth waiting for?

 

[Dranoche]

If you game at your monitor's native resolution and at generally high settings then even most traditionally cpu-bound games will usually be more limited by your gpu than your cpu. Unless you've found something specific where your cpu is noticeably holding you back, I would wait. Though as some people have pointed out, by building a new base now you would be making a similar long term investment like you did with the Q6600 and you could easily upgrade again later, so you certainly won't be making a mistake if you upgrade now.

The Q6600 would be an odd item for a pure HTPC and if you want to run it all the time it would probably be beneficial to get newer hardware. But if you just want a 2nd computer to sit in the living room for some light gaming here and there it might be cheaper to hold on to it.

I'm in a similar position as you, still rocking the Q6600 and trying to figure out if/when I want to upgrade.

Edit/Update: Waiting for Haswell for right now, in case you were curious.

 

[tweakboy]

All games run 60fps for me, no slow downs. 1080p high detail, game settings to auto video vsync on... smooth as butter. no matter what game and what situation, it falls to 52 maybe at lowest. soo Answer to you is. Yes you can play games on a LGA 775 QUAD core.. maybe with a sandy bridge its 10fps faster on certain scenarios....

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

All games run 60fps for me, no slow downs. 1080p high detail, game settings to auto video vsync on... smooth as butter. no matter what game and what situation, it falls to 52 maybe at lowest. soo Answer to you is. Yes you can play games on a LGA 775 QUAD core.. maybe with a sandy bridge its 10fps faster on certain scenarios....

10 fps? I was under the impression that it would help a little more than that....

And i think either way im sue for an upgrade. CPU is whats bottlenecking me right now, so why not. I cant wait another 1-2 years to upgrade.

 

[Arkaign]

10 fps? I was under the impression that it would help a little more than that....

And i think either way im sue for an upgrade. CPU is whats bottlenecking me right now, so why not. I cant wait another 1-2 years to upgrade.

Not sure if mentioned already, but a lot of the great upgrades will be in areas outside of normal CPU comparisons :

Lower power usage (unless you OC the 2500k to something retarded like 5.2ghz on super volts).

Much improved SATA

Much improved USB

Incrementally improved PCI-E (theoretically much improved as well, but not as immediately noticable as the SATA and USB unless you have truly ridiculously good video cards)

Much improved Memory speeds (particularly if you're using decent DDR3-1600 and beyond)

 

[Zebo]

snip

Those benches are useless with the different ck speeds and turbo tricks intel used to make you think they were so much better every generation to upsell.

I like clock for clock, meh - nothing to see here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/x86-core-performance-comparison/benchmarks,128.html

And yes I agree with you based on his system and low clocks. If he plans on Ocing 2500k now is the way to go for improvements.

But really any Ocable intel chip with mem controller will do. nehalem on.

 

[Tempered81]

Those benches are useless with the different ck speeds and turbo tricks intel used to make you think they were so much better every generation to upsell.

I like clock for clock, meh - nothing to see here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/x86-core-performance-comparison/benchmarks,128.html

And yes I agree with you based on his system and low clocks. If he plans on Ocing 2500k now is the way to go for improvements.

But really any Ocable intel chip with mem controller will do. nehalem on.

If you go back to the first post and re-read the title you can see he asked if the cpu was viable for gaming. So single core runs through winzip, blender and pcmark benched at tomshardware is about as irrelevant as you can get for a modern gaming cpu comparison.

Comparing the q6600 platform to the 2600k platform in crysis is more relevant to the topic. Real-time gaming in online Multiplayer Battlefield 3 would be even more accurate, since it's a demanding mult-core test that will even show a difference between 2500k, 2600k, and sandy E.

 

[Leyawiin]

Right now I don't think its really affecting my gaming performance

When you start hitting a wall with games you'll know. You basically just answered your own question regarding an upgrade if gaming is your primary concern.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

If increasing settings in games by a huge extent doesn't change your fps much, you are badly CPU bound.

If your minimum fps go below 60 fps in many situations with a modern gpu and 2-3 years old game, chances are you are CPU bound.

And anybody who says a 2500k @4.0 isn't needed, such a person knows zilch

 

[tweakboy]

if my q8400 mobo didnt die last november id still be using that up to haswell

Sorry to hear. Im going strong on all parts since Nov 2007. thx

 

[Cobra11]

not sure if i should ask on a old thread like this or make a new one

but i got a question and id like to see what everyone thinks?

heres what I got

Dell XPS 410
E6400 Core 2 duo, 2.13ghz
ATI 5670 Saphire 1GB GDRR5
6GB DDR 2 Ram

im able to play games pretty much not a prob but im noticing this last year or so games are not able to run on a lower cpu like this, would it be a good idea to get the q6700 (the max that ive found possible on the OEM Machine) or wait and build one?

im kinda stuck between both right now, Ive built one before (a 2011LGA for a bud) but now im thinkin its time for me to upgrade and not sure what to do

also, my powersupply is stock, and currently my core 2 runs at 60c sometimes (didnt start till i put the 5670 in, im thinkin of getting 2 80mm fans for it but im not sure if my powersupply will be able to take a quad and the 5670? any suggestions and should i just go with the q6700 for now? (i do game but not on max)

 

[Don Karnage]

I still remember when.frys had the e8500 for 319.99 and o had to have it. I wonder how it would perform today at 4.8ghz

 

[AkumaX]

I still remember when.frys had the e8500 for 319.99 and o had to have it. I wonder how it would perform today at 4.8ghz

people were taking the e8400/e8500 to 4.8ghz+?