cpu just for gaming which one

[Lektrician]

here's my two choices: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 or Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

&

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

coupled with an evga 8800gt 512mb and

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

 

[bdollar]

both are very good choices. most games right now don't fully take advantage of the extra cores but they may in the future. one question would be if you plan on doing ocing? i think at stock the higher clock of the dual core for strictly gaming is going to get the nod. but if you are planning on ocing the quad that may be less of an issue.

are you building or do you already have the rest of your rig. meaning is that ram and gpu what you already own? if not what is your budget?

 

[bdollar]

oops one other thing that may effect quad vs dual is what kind of games do you most like to play?

 

[Zorg]

You get a prize for the 1001st thread asking this very same question.

Upgrade soon E8500 OCed, upgrade later Q6600 OCed.

 

[fleakiller]

You get a prize for the 1001st thread asking this very same question.

Upgrade soon E8500 OCed, upgrade later Q6600 OCed.

 

[rubix_1011]

^LOL...Zorg beat me to it.

There is a search feature in forums for this exact reason. Maybe Tom's should make it a front page headline, permanently...or until the next major CPU debate festers.

A sticky wouldn't do any good...newcomers don't read those...

 

[hixy]

dual core is enough for any games just now. In the future games may be able to take advantage of quad cores, but ive not heard of any so far.

good bang for your buck graphics card! make sure you have a good PCI2.0 motherboard to make use of it properly

 

[swanlee]

Get the Q6600 now, over clock to 3GHZ and call it done. It will be more future proof for games and any performance difference right now will be negligible at best when compared to the Dual Core.

The Quad will benefit from future games and you won't have to worry about tapping out the Quad Core anytime soon.

The Q6600 is cheap enough now and will have more longevity.

There the same price and the Q6600 can pretty easily hit the MHZ of the E8500 on aid cooling.

Seems like a no brainer to me, Quad core at the same price that can easily hit the same MHZ speed, but some people are still going with the dual cores for some reason.

 

[huron]

Lol Zorg.

Like it has been said, most games do not take advantage of 4 cores. The E8400/E8500 perform excellently and can be overclocked well.

I don't think this is as much a no-brainer as swanlee seems to think. I believe the E8500 can be pushed pretty far when overclocked.

I have heard of people pushing the E8500 over 4.2 ghz on air with no problems. I don't believe the Q6600 can get up to those levels so easily.

Longevity is an interesting debate in the computer world - it seems like no matter how you try to "future proof," you always end up having to upgrade in the new future because new tech makes old tech more obsolete.

I doubt the quad core debate will be as big a deal when Nehalem gets released with the features of making quad cores into single or dual cores when not all are in use.

I'd get for the E8500, since you are primarily gaming and get a good after-market cooler and push that thing up and enjoy.

 

[Lektrician]

i was thinking the same thing huron. i'm sure as soon as i buy either one a month later 775 socket will be obsolete anyways... I'm thinking of maybe just going with the e8500 for the 45nm the bigger L2 cache size and the higher clock per core. the games i'll be playing don't take advantage of 4 cores now anyways i don't think...(AoC, WAR, Crysis, Fallout 3 when it comes out, CoD4, stuff like that) Plus i was told that the stepping of the new Q6600 had it's multiplier disabled...just needed help making a good decision. thanks for the positive feedback!

P.S. adding on to an existing rig, buying the mobo, the memory, and the cpu and heatsink. everything else i have already

 

[Lektrician]

strangerstranger go try to phase change your phenom or do something useful how about a link to these other topics specifically pitting these two exact processors against each other with pros and cons with my exact rig set up....

the thing about these previously started topics is changes in environment whether it be a change up in an individuals hardware or maybe even just an updated stepping. it's very easy to say "use the search newb!" when you can't answer it yourself. i'm not on top of the current success with these two processors so i came here for advice. you got two choices: contribute to the topic, or just be a tool....up to you

 

[Zorg]

Ah, but there are plenty of threads about this and they are all the same as this one. If you would like I can link you to five of them pretty quickly.

I guess you just wanted confirmation on what you already knew, or at least that's what I thought until I saw this comment.

Plus i was told that the stepping of the new Q6600 had it's multiplier disabled...

Go find whoever told you that and slap them for giving you any advice at all. The Q6600, or any other non-extreme series CPU, never had it's multiplier unlocked in a positive direction, not that it matters anyway.

The Q6600 will OC to 3G, 9 multi @ 1333 very easily and 3.2G, 8 multi @ 1600 almost as easily. It will certainly OC as high as you would ever want to i.e., 3.6G, 9 multi @ 1600. With the right cooling and 1066 RAM the OC is not limited by the locked multiplier 4.8G 9 multi @ 2132. It might get a little hot at that frequency assuming you can keep it stable at all. :lol:

At any rate, you are correct in the assumption that you had when posting. If you are keeping it for a shorter time and want maximum OC then get the E8500, which also has a locked multiplier by the way.

 

[Zorg]

One other thing that I'm sure you aren't aware of, is that these types of questions are considered flame bait.

Similar to these questions.
AMD vs Intel
Nvidia vs ATI
MAC vs PC
XP vs Vista vs Linux
Console vs PC

So when people see so many identical threads, many that have resulted in flame wars, they get a little irritable, not to mention the volume of questions that are the same over and over again.

 

[samthegray]

go for q6600 and oc @3,00 ghz and you'll be pleased
you don't want to buy the E8500 with 2 cores only.. however you oc that CPU it will only be a 2 core
go for q6600 and you'll forget about upgrading the CPU!

 

[huron]

Samthegray - I think we can all forget about upgrading our CPUs since they are changing the socket with Nehalem in the Fall.

I think the point is not about overclock or about speed, but what is good for him and his games. I do not care either way, but currently very few games (and few applications as well) use 4 cores. My guess is that Nehalem will force this to happen with quad core being the only way, but right now most games are single or dual-threaded.

Good luck with your purchase, whichever you choose.

 

[bdollar]

and nehalem forcing multi core apps is not even set in stone. no idea if this power boost thing or whatever they call it works. but if it allows the cpu to handle single threaded apps significantly better that could enable programmers to keep the status quo.

if i was a betting man i would bet we will see more apps using multiple cores but no guarentees.

 

[Lektrician]

again thanks to all for the positive responses i think i will go with the e8500 just for the clock per core benefits vs. the fact that my games aren't going to benefit from the additional cores...plus at 3.16ghz per core with 4gb ram and my current video card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303 i think it'll play pretty much anything i throw at. i'll upgrade again when the new socket comes out i'm sure. cheers ah heck

 

[huron]

Good luck with the build. If you have more questions about components, let us know.

 

[jerseygamer]

First of all avoid the 8800GT. Its age is showing. It has nothing but problems with almost every title and the drivers still suck. If you go with any newer Intel you really need a 4000 from ati. Even teh 4850 is a better buy atm.

What resolution are you gaming at btw and what size monitor?

 

[Lektrician]

well i was actually going to try evga's step-up program and go with the 9800 gx2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338

I've got a 21.5" monitor that i game with at 1680 x 1050