need help selecting a CPU...dual core E6850 or quad core Q6600?

yes ... the quad is a bit more future proof ... sounds like you have already done a bit of reading.

Make sure you get at least a 3850 graphics card or higher - a 3870, 8800GT, GTS, GTX.

Then you can actually game at a decent res.

q6600 is more than enough for any game and should be more futureproof. E6850 may be faster in some games but it doesn't really matter much in real life.
The way I see it, only downside of q6600 would be more heat/noise, but still nothing to worry about for most people.

Dont go Dell. Build your own or find someone like me to custom build to your needs.
Link to the Dell you want And I bet I could build one and overclock it to qx6850 speeds for less money.

Q6600 FTW

Go for the quad mate. Even in games that dont have that many threads going on, you'll then have in effect a 2.4ghz core 2 duo, which is more than suficient for gaming. Plus youve got the option to overclock later if you feel its lagging behind a bit, and 3.0ghz on air should be easy peasy. Think to the future! A quad will last you for years.

Looks very nice!
The only thing I would query is, 3Gb RAM - 4DIMMs?
That should be 4Gb RAM in 2 or 4 DIMMs, I woul assume

Wow!!! $3400???? I'd love to spend that on a system, but I'd build myself the same performance for $2000 or less I'd question the 3gb w/4dimm's, I'm thinking that they are saying 3gb with 4 dimm slots with maybe 2 or 4 of the slots taken up, but that is just a guess. The only other thing that jumps out at me is the 8800gtx. I'd opt for a 8800gt if there was that option. It'll run cooler and generally quieter than a 8800gtx and be pretty much the same performance. It'll also be about 1/2 the price too With the setup that you have picked, I'd probably not get the wireless speaker system, since I'm sure it's quite spendy. If you really need it than get it, but I don't know if I'd get it. If that option isn't too much than by all means get what you want. Most of the time when I'm gaming I use a headset and don't need the use of speakers, so that's where I'm coming from, on the speaker issue. Get what you like, I'm just pointing out things to think about. As far as the CPU for gaming goes, I'd find it hard to spend $50 more for the e6850 over the q6600, IMHO. One other thing, since your getting a Raptor HD already, just get a larger 2nd HD (like 320-500gig) for your storage. I think the raptors now are just overrated and over priced for what you get for desktop applications. I don't know how well workstations do with RAID, but you would know that better than me.

Yeah, but will you support it for 1-3 years? He says that he doesn't want to build it or have someone build it for him. I just don't like to see $1k go down the drain. Most people salivate over the thought of building a system close to $1k, so you can see where I'm coming from there. Oh well, if he wants to buy a Dell, let him do it. It's his $.

Warranty? Sure no problem. My systems will last longer then 3 years so I'm not worried. Besides if you like to talk to Chinnese or Indoneise for support by all means get a DEll.

. o O (Errr Ummm... sounds like you wouldn't have much of a career, if nobody brought dells.)

be happy, u get ur salary+comissions because of dell. if i was in ur place. i would recommend dell higligy.

What do you mean Chinese or Indoneise for support ?

Actually you can get equal or better warranties through the manufacturer of each part, such as:

Some video card vendors offer free lifetime warranties. EVGA offers a lifetime warranty that protects from replacing the stock cooler AND overclocking (except over-voltage), and has the Step-Up program, so anytime within 3 months of the purchase, you can sell your card back to EVGA for the full purchase price and put that towards a better card and you pay the difference and shipping.

Most processors have a 3-year warranty.

Most RAM have a lifetime warranty.

Most HDD's have at least a 3-year warranty while some have a 5-year warranty.

Basically what I'm saying is that by having a little adventure and building your own, you will not only save a grip of cash which you can put towards better parts for an even more kickass rig, but you will have met or exceeded Dell's warranty. Customer Support? You will find better support over a forum such as this one. I've dealt with Dell for support and like others have mentioned, it's usually someone from India who spends most of their time trying to translate what you've said in to what they can understand vs. thinking about the actual issue (which they won't get). Search the forums or Google and get a better, clearer answer, and you learn something in the process. Overall it just makes more sense to learn to build and repair your own PC than to buy pre-built because not only do you save a TON of $$ on parts, but you get equal or better warranties without any additional cost.



BUT if you're still hell-bent on buying a Dell for no real reason other than you simply have zero time to build one (and if this is a gaming rig, you clearly have some time), I would suggest getting at least an overclocked 8800GT which will meet or exceeds GTX speeds with lower heat and power consumption at half the price, or get an 8800GTS 512 which is faster than the GTX but uses less power and is $200 cheaper. Today there is no reason other than pure memory capacity (768 vs. 512) to buy a GTX.

The Q6600 is a good choice vs. the other processor. IMO a dual-core is not "more than enough", it is JUST enough. Some games do use both cores, some don't, so you need at least a dual-core (which is your only option obviously). But a quad-core will allow a multi-threaded game to use 2 cores while Windows will have 2 cores to play with for background operations. Even if a game doesn't utilize all 4 cores, you will notice some performance gains just for the fact that your normal operations can be offloaded to the unused cores.

And lastly, if you do want a Dell, I would go with the cheapest possible upgradeable config and just throw in your own RAM, video, and processor. You will still save hundreds!

Good luck m8

I'm quite pleased with my E6850, I chose it do to, at the time I needed a new CPU ASAP,since I was going to sick with 32bit possessing on "this" machine I thought, well why go with a quad if I'm not gonna go 64bit. (Not that I'm saying the Q6600 is bad or anything like that)

And yes I totally agree! I quit buying pre-made machines LONG ago