If I have the money, should I blow my load on the 6600/6700?

[utahraptor]

I have been saving for quite some time for my new computer. I will buy soon as the DFI 680i LT lanparty mobo and the new ATI card are for sale. I have heard weird stuff that its dumb to buy the 6700 as opposed to the 6600. If I might not even overclock and I want a slight boost, should I go ahead and get the 6700? Also, does the 6600 overclock better/worse/same as the 6700? Thanks!

 

[ChefOfDeath]

Um, E6600/E6700 or Q6600/QX6700? You need to specify...

 

[darious00777]

The E6700 was a bad buy, but now it doesn't seem so bad, but most will tell you otherwise. For overclocking purposes you can look at it this way.

E6700 @ ~3ghz = 73 watts
E6600 @ ~3ghz = 81 watts

What you're buying is a slighly different build of the same chip. The E6700 will save you money in the long run if you really overclock it over the E6600. That $200 disparity before has dropped down to $100, and the E6700 is $10 more then what the E6600 was this time last month.

If you've got the money to blow, go with the E6700.

 

[senor_bob]

The E6700 was a bad buy, but now it doesn't seem so bad, but most will tell you otherwise. For overclocking purposes you can look at it this way.

E6700 @ ~3ghz = 73 watts
E6600 @ ~3ghz = 81 watts

In addition to dissipating a little less power, probably due to needing less voltage, the E6700's higher multiplier will let you get by with cheaper RAM as well since you don'need to OC the FSB so much. This also allows more motherboards to be used that can't hit the insane FSB speeds E6300's require for 3+ GHz. Seriously hitting 3.6 GHz on the E6700 is near trivial if you have a decent heatsink, and while the E6600s can also hit that speed, they're starting to need more aggressive cooling.

The 6600 is still probably a better buy, but I am happy with the 6700.

 

[jsc]

Considering the recent price drops, that is a harder decision to make now than it was 6 months ago when I bought my parts. If you add the "extra" $100 to the cost of the entire system, your decision gets harder.

Do you put the extra money into an E6700, or do you put it into more, better, or faster RAM, bigger or faster hard drives, or a better video card? Do you add a PCI audio card instead of using the on board audio?

Consider that $50 will get you an HSF that will probably let you push an E6600 farther than an E6700 with the stock HSF if you overclock.

Consider your design goals for your system. What is the best use for the extra $100? That may include just keeping it in your pocket.

If you want a simple answer, the answer is , "Maybe."
Otherwise...decisions, descisions.

 

[lizzardking]

blowing your load on any type of cpu is a very bad, and messy experience

 

[darious00777]

I resisted the temptation... I'm glad someone didn't. :lol:

 

[lizzardking]

I just couldn't help myself! :lol:

 

[realzeus]

blowing your load on any type of cpu is a very bad, and messy experience

We have got a winner ladies and gentlemen!
:trophy: