Should I go Dual Core or Quad Core? Intel C2 DUO E6850 vs. Quad-CoreQ6600

In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt "Fred" wrote:

John Weiss wrote:
"Fred" wrote...
What about the new Intel Penryn range due out soon. Have you
considered one of them?

If you always wait to consider a computer part "due out soon," you'll
never buy ANYTHING!

IMHO sometimes it is a bad time to buy.
February should bring a next generation of Intel cpu's and quite possibly
lower prices.

There's the new AMD quad-cores out right now ....

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Frank McCoy wrote:
In alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt "Fred" wrote:

John Weiss wrote:
"Fred" wrote...
What about the new Intel Penryn range due out soon. Have you
considered one of them?

If you always wait to consider a computer part "due out soon,"
you'll never buy ANYTHING!

IMHO sometimes it is a bad time to buy.
February should bring a next generation of Intel cpu's and quite
possibly lower prices.

There's the new AMD quad-cores out right now ....

True and from what I have read the reason Intel have delayed their launch of
the new range is because of the hardware bug in the AMD quad-cores.
It must make the AMD offering less of a threat to their market share.

Erratum degrades Phenom 9500, 9600 performance
http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/13724

In article ,
Baudouin de Spa wrote:

[snip]

Have a look at this comparison:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...uad-q6600.html

and this one:
http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/int...spx?i=3038&p=8

Sorry if someone already mentionned this.

Not that I know. It's also comparisons like these (but not these
specifcally) which I ran into when researching myself a few months ago,
that prompted me to buy a Q6600 instead of an E6850.

Of course, all depends on future games and/or game-engines supporting more
than 2 cores. If they do (and if the Q6600 has been sold a lot of times
that will help), then the Q6600 will be the better long-term choice than
the E6850.

Short-term the E6850 is probably the faster choice, so if you expect or
are planning to swap out your CPU in about half a year, then perhaps
that's the better choice.

Regards, Patrick.

Short-term the E6850 is probably the faster choice, so if you expect or
are planning to swap out your CPU in about half a year, then perhaps
that's the better choice.

I would say I'm open to swapping the CPU I get for a new one in the
future, but not that soon.

Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB,
using only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then
I will get the Q6600.

Is this possible?

Kind Regards,

Matt

"Matt" wrote...

Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB, using
only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then I will get
the Q6600.

Is this possible?

You'll have to monitor the temps and decide whether you can live with the
increase. You'll also have to find out if the system is stable at that speed.

While it is "possible," I believe there is significant risk that it might not
work well in any random system. If the case and gfx cooling are top-notch, you
may have a better chance of success. If either are marginal, leaving too much
heat inside the case, it probably won't work.

Also, remember that this is winter. If your room is significantly warmer in the
summer, factor that in your assessment...

'Matt' wrote:
| I would say I'm open to swapping the CPU I get for a new one in the
| future, but not that soon.
|
| Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB,
| using only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then
| I will get the Q6600.
|
| Is this possible?
_____

Yes. See alt.comp.hardware.overclocking .

Phil Weldon

"Matt" wrote in message
...
| Short-term the E6850 is probably the faster choice, so if you expect or
| are planning to swap out your CPU in about half a year, then perhaps
| that's the better choice.
|
| I would say I'm open to swapping the CPU I get for a new one in the
| future, but not that soon.
|
| Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB,
| using only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then
| I will get the Q6600.
|
| Is this possible?
|
| Kind Regards,
|
| Matt

Matt wrote:

Short-term the E6850 is probably the faster choice, so if you expect or
are planning to swap out your CPU in about half a year, then perhaps
that's the better choice.

I would say I'm open to swapping the CPU I get for a new one in the
future, but not that soon.

Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB,
using only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then
I will get the Q6600.

Is this possible?

Kind Regards,

Matt

The Q6600 G0 stepping is easily overclocked to 3.0 GHZ.
I run mine at 3.2 Ghz on air cooling and my temps when
under extreme load ( Prime95 ) never approach the max within
10C. Under my normal load the temps are 20-25C below the max.

Paul

In article , Gypsy Baron wrote:

The Q6600 G0 stepping is easily overclocked to 3.0 GHZ.
I run mine at 3.2 Ghz on air cooling and my temps when
under extreme load ( Prime95 ) never approach the max within
10C. Under my normal load the temps are 20-25C below the max.

Out of curiosity, since you give relative values:

What temperature do you see for the Q6600 as a whole?

And what are each of the core's temperatures?

Regards,

Patrick.

Patrick Vervoorn wrote:

In article , Gypsy Baron wrote:

The Q6600 G0 stepping is easily overclocked to 3.0 GHZ.
I run mine at 3.2 Ghz on air cooling and my temps when
under extreme load ( Prime95 ) never approach the max within
10C. Under my normal load the temps are 20-25C below the max.

Out of curiosity, since you give relative values:

What temperature do you see for the Q6600 as a whole?

And what are each of the core's temperatures?

Regards,

Patrick.

Right now just running in 2D mode with browser I'm seeing
Tcase at 38C, core 0 45C, 1= 42C, 2 = 39C and 4 = 45C

My room ambient is 16C and hard drives are at 33C.
My 8800GTS GPU is at 56C.

Running Prime95 now I see Tcase = 50C, 0=58C, 1 = 48C, 2= 47C 3 = 59C.
Tcase MAX for the 6600 G0 is 71C.

I'm using Speedfan with the -15C temperarure adjustment applied.
Measurement readouts using Everest are the same.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor
Model BX80562Q6600
M-Board: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: 2 X CORSAIR Dominator 2GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual
Channel Kit ( $GB total )
Video: EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3
HD's: 2 x Seagate Barracuda ES ST3250620NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA
3.0Gb/s
Power: Thermaltake Purepower RX W0143RU ATX12V 550W Cable Management
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP ATX Mid Tower Case
Cooling: Rosewill RCX-Z775-EX 92mm 2 Ball PWM CPU Cooler

Paul

On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:04:46 +0000, Matt
wrote:

Short-term the E6850 is probably the faster choice, so if you expect or
are planning to swap out your CPU in about half a year, then perhaps
that's the better choice.

I would say I'm open to swapping the CPU I get for a new one in the
future, but not that soon.

Basically, if I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0GHz using a 1333MHz FSB,
using only the stock cooler, without reducing the life of the chip; then
I will get the Q6600.

Is this possible?

Kind Regards,

Matt


First, help us understand why the 3.0GHz figure. Did you
see one of my other posts where I mentioned the heat factor,
that you can overclock a dual core further than a quad (more
than 3.0GHz) before any particular cooling system becomes
the limitation.

It might seem as thought I am trying to steer you to a dual
core instead of quad. Perhaps, because it does seem it will
offer you more performance for the described uses, but in
the end I don't have to use the system and only present what
seems an overlooked aspect.