Intel Vs. AMD

Q6600.

Although Crysis doesn't offer any performance gain from dual to quad, Q6600 is still faster in general.

I would just go with a good dual core, and then later get a Penryn when the prices drop.

Q6600 hands down. Future prove.

Go Q6600?

I love when people compare apples to oranges. Since both chipes are different by far you have to go by a price standpoint. The price difference between the two above are not even in the same ballpark. The quad 6600 is $265, and the 6400+ is $179. Compare the Intel E6320 and the 6400+ and benchmark them. AMD runs cooler, and more stable which leads to a greater O'clock %. Intel 's newest technology bats out AMD, but AMD hasn't put theirs out. Hence the price difference. Remember Apples to Apples.

Yea, I hate to agree with you, cause I love AMD as well, but Intel is a clear winner in overclockability. I just took an E6550 from 2.3 to 3.4 on 1.325 volts. I can't get my Opteron 185 from 2.6 to over 3.1 (which may be user error, but HT seems to die anything above that)

The X2 64 B.E will OC Real good on AMD's new chipset(790) with there new tweak software.The AMD 5000 B.E O.C'ed to 3.5, so yes it should OC well.Google it

Where do these people come from?

Well reading the OP's question I didn't actually read anywhere that they wanted to overclock? Why does everybody assume that every person is going to overclock their CPU lol some people might actually want to keep their warranty intact.

As to the original question.....

The Quad core has the advantage because it's fast in single core applications, but it will really shine with crysis and other upcoming games that can take advantage of the 4 cores.

AMD 6400+ X2 is fast, but the jump in price from the 6000+ for a measly 200mhz gain is not good value. That little more extra cash gets you the Intel quad!

I sure do hope so. I didn't spend 300 bucks on the Maximus Formula to OC a 6750

Damn Newegg and their price hikes!! I bought one MF for my friends build, at 279, not on sale. 2 weeks later, the price has jumped 30 bucks@!!!!!@!@ /rant off

I got this board and memory with a nice hefty Penryn Quad overclock in mind. I'll be drooling with anticipation til January I guess.

HD3870s were $220 at launch. They are now close to $270 waiting on stock. Darn the supply/demand economics.

I'm not a Intel fanboy, I often cheer on AMD to keep competing. That being said, I would definitely go with the Q6600 hands down. Quad Core will have more head room in the future. As more applications take advantage of the multiple cores the Q6600 will really start to pull away.

Ive got to be the balancing act here, too many intel bandwagon faboys on these forums. Who cares if it gives you 2 more frames per second in this game or that. Where were you fanboys when Amd was kicking the crap out of Intel P4s couple years ago. Next year Phenom 3 + Ghz quad cores will own penryn...Let the flames begin...LOL

IF quad is a must have then by all means Q6600.but if is a factor then I would say http://clubit.com/product_detail.c [...] 6837&nav=1 along with http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4854036#

Indeed! I my self own a 3800+ and couldn't be more happy. However... I was more or less referring to the people who... well I still think this quote sums it up:

cancelled

I'm pretty sure 3.2 is nearing the max for an AMD processor based on their current manufacturing technology... realistically, what sort of OC can a user expect out of that 6400+? It just seems like virtually every other Intel CPU on the planet is going to have a LOT more OC'n headroom that this particular AMD chip.

Ok i build systems for a living here are real prices

Q6600 = 250
Phenom = 310, 375

1st thing i can buy a q6600 cheaper than then phenom's
And a good motherboard for amd= same price as good motherboard for intel

Sure i can buy a $60 mb that will support the q6600 but thats not the argument here its cpu prices
and intel will beat amd on all gaming benchmarks thats what counts.

Sure suppliers will soak us because its new so will places like best buy.

To the OP:

Between the two you asked about,definitely a Q6600.

First off, the q6600 is $280 here on newegg.com. The Phenom 9500 is at $260 on newegg, so not sure where your getting the 310-375 price?
Secondly, you must always consider all of the components when doing a build. If your just asking about an AMD AM2 CPU to a AMD AM2 CPU comparison, than the other components don't matter too much. But in this case if your comparing a Intel to AMD CPU, than you need to consider all parts involved to see what your comparing to. Yes the q6600 is a solid CPU to get, but if part of the equation is that you must consider any price differences than you have to look at that. If you want to compare mobo's at the equivalent prices (AMD vs. Intel) than we can discuss that somewhere else, but you know that a $100 AMD mobo will have more options than a $100 Intel board for the most part. I'm not going to go into that here. even if you equal the cost of the mobo's, you still have a ~$70 difference, which can allow one to move up in GPU performance one way or another. That is why I stated what I stated before. I'd be willing to bet that a 8800gt w/a $180 AMD CPU would do better in games than a 8600gts on a q6600. Those 2 systems would be about the same amount of $ and that was my original point stated earlier.

Dude, you forgot to take your pills this morning....

I totally agree with you here. I have 3 AMD's and 1 Intel (3.2g prescott) here at the house. Forgot the Core Duo on my laptop that I'm currently using. So that's 3 AMD's and 2 Intel's total. The only reason I have the Prescott is because it was handed to me, so that made my build cheaper at the time (about $230 cheaper). It has been a solid and hot chip (had to replace PSU due to high temperatures). The next build/upgrade is to an Intel e6700 (got for free too), so that is why I'll have another Intel build. Currently I buy what I can get for as little as I can, so I can afford the best GPU that I can get. If I was going to buy a cheap Intel chip right now, I'd go for the the e2160 and OC it to about 3 gig's. AMD just can't touch that performance right now at that price. The only drawback to the Intel way is the cost of the mobo. In order to get an affordable mobo from Intel that could OC well would cost me about $90 or so (abit ip35-e). The flip side is the AMD's don't OC as nicely as the current C2D's, so that has to be considered. Now with Phenom out, one can make a pretty good decision on which path to go to. If I had the $ to decide between the x2 6400+ BE or the q6600, I'd have to go with the q6600 hands down. /end of rant

the intels will clock higher and perform clock for clock better as well.