(WAS) what mobo for q6600? now: what for e8500?

[dbarton]

Any suggestions for a mobo?

Prefer Asus or Gigabyte.
I don't do any gaming , so basic video card also needed if no on board video.

ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45?

or is there a better chip that's newer I should look at at similar price/perf?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: dbarton
what mobo for q6600?

If your brain is locked into the old Q6600, stick with an Intel based MB.
All the P35, G35, P33, P45, G45, G43 and P43 chipsets will perform well for your tasks.
> Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H <
ICH10R... Realtek ALC889A HD audio, Intel GMA X4500HD video, 1000Mbps LAN, 1394a Firewire, Solid Capacitors


What specific applications do you run that benefit from the two extra cores that the quad offers?
In most cases, pure clock speed on 775 CPU's trump 4 cores.
A processor you might look at is the 45nm E8500. It runs at 3.16GHz on a 1333MHz FSB with 6MB L2 and better SSE4.1 instructions.

The Q6600 runs hotter, and slower at 2.4GHz all on a slower 1066MHz FSB.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Do you already have the Q6600. While they may not OC as well, there are other 1333MHz FSB CPUs that perform wonderfully.

 

[Blain]

I think his brain has got locked onto the Q6600 quad core based on the $190 price tag.

Originally posted by: dbarton
Does every app really use all 4 cores, so that a quad 2.5 machine is faster than a dual core 3.0?

Comments very welcome.

NO, only very few applications take advantage of 4 cores.
"In most cases, pure clock speed on 775 CPU's trump 4 cores." :laugh:

 

[dbarton]

I use music programs like Ableton Live that do seem to use all 4 cores. Not essential to focus on one app, as I use a lot of different ones all day.

The path the the 6600 was that I looked at AMD6000, and thought it looked good, but why not step up a little?
So I looked at AMD 9950 x4, and it sounded better, but seemed to use a lot of power, and I leave machine on 24/7.
So I looked at Intel 6600, but now I see it gets hot..

Tough to pick a processor,so I really appreciate feedback from you guys!

So you guys think Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 is a better choice? Price seems ok to me.
If so, same mobo choice?
Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H?
ASUS P5Q something
Something else?

 

[hclarkjr]

you will regret going dual core over quad core.

 

[dbcooper1]

I know the Asus has 8 phase power MOSFETS and solid caps; both good things with a Q6600 or anything that draws a lot of current and therefore generates heat.

 

[dbarton]

What's the quad core that's the newer version of the q6600? I think I'm at my budget limit at $200 for a cpu, but I guess I'd like to hear what I'm missing.

If it's the i7 920, then it's too $$ at almost double the price, so I think maybe the 8500 is my best bet in my price range..

I'm leaning towards the ASUS boards, and looking for one that has lots of connections but is very flexible, but easy to set up.

8500's go on sale tonight, so want to try and lock up my CPU plans, so input very helpful now!

 

[dbcooper1]

I guess it's the Q8200 for under $200 but from some of the benchmarks I've seen, people have had mixed results with performance in games; I guess they're limited by the small amount of cache. Probably fine for most other tasks and they overclock but are limited somewhat by low multiplier.

 

[dbarton]

thanks everybody! I ordered an e8500 and a p5q pro atx.