HELP! Which CPU? Also wait for Penryn,Nehalem?

[Rolly1988]

Hi

Basically i am currently on using an e6400 (now 10 months old), which i now regret getting instead of the e6600. Dont get me wrong its a good processor, but when looking at the rest of my rig i wish i had spent that little bit more on the e6600 as sometimes i feel it struggles. Maybe im being picky or demanding, whatever. My rig is as follows:

Mobo BFG nvidia nforce 680i SLI
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo e6400 (with arctic cooling freezer pro 7)
GPU MSI nvidia geforce 8800gtx
Memory Corsair Twin XMS2 2GB pc6400
HDD1 Western Digital Raptor 150GB
HDD2 Seagate Barracuda 320GB
PSU Thermaltake toughpower 750w sli certified
CD Drive Polaroid CDRW
DVD Drive Lite-On LH18A1H Lightscribe DVDRW
O/S Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Case Thermaltake Tsunami
Monitor Asus MW221U 22" Widescreen HD Ready with HDCP (Res: 1650 x 1050)
Speakers Creative p5800 5.1 Surround Sound


Anyway, ive been hearing people talk about intel's new processors Penryn and some rumbles about nehalem. With everything i was thinking that i would upgrade my cpu so to satisfy me a bit more and to help futureproof be a bit longer. Basically im weighing up the e6750 (£120) and the q6600 (£170). I did think about the e6850 but thought its the just the same as the e6750 with a higher clock speed, which can be resolved with over clocking if necessary.

Could people please tell me a bit more about penryn / nehalem. When they are roughly being released, compared to each other which is best to get, and are they worth getting when they are released.

All this in my i would be grateful if people could advise me on what cpu to upgrade to now. Do i get penryn or skip to nehalem? If i should get penryn which cpu is best to get now, if i get nehalem which cpu is best to get now.

I use my computer mianly to play games, listen to music, do some work, watch films, browse the net and download. I will run quite a few programs at the same time. I do not do video editing, encoding.

Thanks, your help would be greatly appreciated.
Tom

 

[aevm]

You're right, that PC looks unbalanced - everything is great but the CPU should have been a Q6600 or better.

Option 1 is to get a Q6600 now. It's better long-term than a dual core, and every other quad core (Q6700, QX????) is overpriced.

Option 2: wait until December and get a QX6950 or whatever they'll call it. It's supposed to be a $999 quad Penryn at 3.33 GHz. This is all rumours, so don't make any decisions based on this alone. I considered this for myself and decided to go with the Q6600 in July rather than wait. But, in my case, I needed a PC urgently. You certainly don't.

Option 3: wait for the mainstream quad Penryns to arrive, probably in February 2008. Your E6400 is pretty good and besides the 8800 GTX is the part that matters most in games.

I think they're all good options in your case. I'm curious what other people will recommend.

Don't worry about Nehalem, you'll want a new motherboard for that.

 

[asdftt123]

Honestly, your current system and CPU is great and definitely not worth of it to upgrade. If I had your system, I could live with it for at least another 2-3 years. Unfortunately for me, it's time to upgrade from my current laptop (1.6ghz Pentium M, 768MB DDR 333, Geforce FX5200) in a few weeks to Quad-core. Best thing you could do now is to wait for Penryn before even considering another upgrade. I would NOT suggest getting the QX6950 because $999 is TOO much for any computer part. Best to wait for mainstream Penryn or even some nice price drops if you want to get the most out of your money. Unless you're really unhappy with your current system (which you shouldn't be) then don't worry about it.

 

[Abrahm]

This may sound stupid, but have you tried overclocking your e6400? I would try that first, since your system looks great to me.

 

[Jake_Barnes]

I'm not going to try to answer your question (only you can make that decision) - but I have a good article that discusses the Intel CPU options now and those coming, eg. Penryn and Nehalem: Intel Reveals More Penryn, Nehalem Details - hope this helps a bit.

 

[YO_KID37]

Overclocking??

 

[Rolly1988]

Thanks for your input.

I haven't oc'd it no, for two reasons, a) ive never done it before and although im sure i could do it with instructions would like to keep the warranty intact, especially because of my second reason b) im probably going to give it to my brother at some point soon as he wants it and i feel bad because i gave him my older parts and now his computer doesn't seem to work properly for some reason.

Its likely that i will get a new cpu in the next month or so now after talking to my brother. So its basically now a choice of what processor to get, e6750, e6850 or q6600. Is there much difference between the e6750 and e6850, is the q6600 worth it (much performance increase etc)? I know nothing is really ever future proof, but i would like to leave my system as it is for a good 2 years, give or take 6 months. With this in mind which one would you recommend.

Thanks

 

[xela]

Thanks for your input.

I haven't oc'd it no, for two reasons, a) ive never done it before and although im sure i could do it with instructions would like to keep the warranty intact, especially because of my second reason b) im probably going to give it to my brother at some point soon as he wants it and i feel bad because i gave him my older parts and now his computer doesn't seem to work properly for some reason.

Its likely that i will get a new cpu in the next month or so now after talking to my brother. So its basically now a choice of what processor to get, e6750, e6850 or q6600. Is there much difference between the e6750 and e6850, is the q6600 worth it (much performance increase etc)? I know nothing is really ever future proof, but i would like to leave my system as it is for a good 2 years, give or take 6 months. With this in mind which one would you recommend.

Thanks

Don't wait for anything... None of the upcoming CPU's is expected to be revolutionary *nothing like a step from Pentium to Core 2 was.

- Q6600 will allow you to run loads and loads of software at the same time *Multitasking. All game developers promise to use all 4 cores in future games (recent future) like Crysis, UT3, Alan Wake but your guess to what extend the extra 2 cores are gonna be used is as good as anyone's.

- E6750 and faster E6850 are both solid CPU's offering a very good performance in all today's games and software. They both outperform Q6600 in all games you can play today but the difference is not something you will be able to notice as todays games are not very demanding and Q6600 is certainly more future safe.

- Q6600 is my choice. I will get one very soon myself.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

Just replace the case and you'll see at least a 10% increase in performance. And you wasted a lot of money getting a 680i MB without any intentions of doing OC'ing.

 

[Twinsen]

the mhz to mhz rating of the new cpu's from what I've read are nothing spectacular, and with the current price of the q6600..its a no brainer imo.

 

[Rolly1988]

Well i would like to do some overclocking, just not with my current cpu as im giving it to my bro. I will OC my new cpu at some point. And i also got the board as i had heard that it was fast and would be good for a couple of years.

Anyway. So it seems its between the q6600 (£160 - £170) and e6850 (£160 - £170), unless the people believe the e6750 (£120) is worth getting over the e6850. What do people think then all things considered?

Thanks

 

[aevm]

If it's a short-term thing (as in, you will get a new CPU in a year or so), get the cheaper E6750. If it's a longer term thing get the Q6600. For example I just got a Q6600 and intend to keep it for about 3 years.

 

[vylo]

I agree the QX is super overpriced. The only reason I have one is because it was the only quad available at the time of purchase.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

didn't your mother ever tell you "nothing under e6600 with your gtx or else the gtx gets a tummy ache!"

 

[enewmen]

The Nehalem won't be out for more than a year. It will also have a different socket and you will need new everything.
Early next year the Yorkfield (non extreme) will be out and will be much improved over the Kentfield. Check if your mobo can handle the Yorkfield. (if you can wait that long)

 

[Rolly1988]

So the general consensus is that currently the e6850 is the best to get. However, if im planning on keeping it for a good couple of years and wait for nehalem to come out and be reasonably priced then its best to get the q6600

 

[vincio_filiarum]

The Nehalem won't be out for more than a year. It will also have a different socket and you will need new everything.

Call me misinformed (I've come to the party late, so-to-speak) but is an E6400 not good enough for pretty much anything we can throw at it now??

 

[perzy]

Overclocking a cpu is almost bulletproof theese days. You just can't overheat it even if you run it without the cooler!

 

[Hatman]

No.. I think you'll find it will overheat very quickly with no cooler.

 

[apache_lives]

If your over clocking then thats a fine system, if your not, then yeah get a better cpu.

 

[Rolly1988]

Well im now choosing between the e6750 and the e6850. I thought id email BFG just to confirm that the board would support them and the 1333Mhz FSB, sounds silly but didn't want to get one and then for some reason for them not to work to their full potential. Anyway this is a copy of what i asked,

'Hi, I have a BFG nvidia nforce 680i motherboard and was just wondering does it support 1333MHZ FSB on the new core 2 duo's Intel has just released. Also, will it support the new 45nm Penryn's when they are released. Thanks, Tom'

and this was their reply....

'The board does not support the newest processors that Nvidia has released. It does not currently support the 45nm processors either. The board does support 1333MHz FSB.'

Now this has really confused me. Could anyone help me try and make some sense of it and also help with the choice between e6750 (£120) and the e6850(£170). Im leaning towards the former as i could easily overclock it if i wanted to or felt like i needed to.

Thanks

 

[zenmaster]

The e6750 would be a complete waste of money and likely not give you any more performance that your current CPU. The e6850 is the only option between that is likely to show vast improvements.

The reason is that the E6400 should easily hit 3.0Ghz with an OC and perhaps 3.2 if you are lucky.

With only DDR2-800, the E6750 will only hit 3.19ghz and anything beyond that involved OCing your RAM>

The E6850 Will his almost 3.6Ghz before needing to OC your RAM.

Before laying out wads of cash for a new CPU, OC your current one.
Most likely you will be pouring alot of money down the drain for no reason.

Go buy some awesome games, go lavish some lady with roses, go do any number of other things, but I see no reason to spend all that money for little difference in your current system once it's optimized.

Gaming is the only thing that would stretch you system.
Gaming is not CPU bound so upgarding your CPU is silly.

Maximize your current CPU, save your money, and when the NVIDIA 9800 series comes out sell your current GPU and buy a new one.

 

[Rolly1988]

Well ive just been hit badly and am pretty annoyed.

After getting a good deal on the e6750 i went ahead on bought it. However, BFG, my motherboard manufacturer, eventually got back to me regarding my query, but by this time i had bought the cpu. This was my question.....

'Does the nvidia nforce 680i motherboard support the new core 2 duo's, e.g. e6750 and e6850, and are can it support the 1333Mhz FSB? Are there any plans for this motherboard to support the 45nm processors when they are released, e.g . through a bios update?'

BFG replied.....

'From what I have been told, the motherboard does not support the 45nm processors. It's possible that a firmware update will be released to allow this to work. The motherboard does support the 133MHZ FSB. We have not heard about the e6750 or e6850 processors yet on if they will work. Most of our customers cannot get them to work.'

Now i know i probably shouldn't of jumped ship and bought the cpu before i had the reply. However, was it that naive of me to think that such a state of the art leading motherboard design would not fully support the newer core 2 duo's? I mean surely, they would just slot in and go, or at most just require a bios update. But no, apprently not? Also when asking technical support questions i would expect them to know whether something works with their products, especially if they are mainstream and have been out awhile, but apparently they aren't sure.

So now im stuck. I want to upgrade my cpu, however to do that i need a new mobo. So i have a few questions and ideas and would be very very grateful for input. Ok...

My first question is how much would i get for my BFG nforce 680i mobo and e6400 w/ arctic freezer pro 7, both are just under 4months old. I live in the UK so components are more expensive than the US. Nothing has been overclocked.

Secondly, which motherboard should i get, another 680i, if so which manufacturer and model, i was thinking either EVGA, Asus or MSI. Or are the intel boards worth getting, and if so which one? Is the new X38 worth waiting for?

Any other suggestions are happily welcome.

Thanks
Tom