Q6600 vs i7 920 - Cost, power consumption, heat

Looks like my old MB/CPU has died on me I need to get a new build, I want a quad core. How does the Q6600 compare to i7 920 in these three area:

Performance per cost. Which ones gives the best performance/cost ratio? What is the non-overclocked vs full overclocked?

Power Consumption & Heat: Which one uses the most power and gives out more Heat? How its non-overclocked vs full overclocked?

One main consideration for me is having a cool and quiet CPU/Case. I had very loud setup to keep the CPU cool before but this time I would like CPU that doesn't produce much heat. Also, less power consumptions is great. I will me leaving it on 24/7, so it could save me quite bit of $$. Note, it used to cost my Computer $30 a month to keep on 24/7 according to kill-a-watt meter

Price is another important factor. I think Q6600 wins performance/cost ratio especially due the high $$$ i7 Motherboards. Any thoughts?

i am burning in 2 i7 920 systems - the heat pipe cooling is flat they are on the desk bare.

1) the chipset runs very cool with gigabyte the nb heat sink is covered and with the hp flat there is not cooling - systsm at 200 base clock and 50c

when i stand it up it drop 5-10c

2) there is no fan on the true-e (thermal right ultra 120 -e = non extereme) there is 120mm fan leaned against it cooling the mobo and heat sink

cpu is running at 35c at 4ghz ram boots at 7-7-7 ddr1600

i7 rules!


VERY IMPORTANT

i am so impressed with the i7 i pulled apart my 4.4ghz water cooled qx9650 rig and i am upgrading it - i did not plan on it - but the i7 is sweeet!


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lastly - cpu list:

e8400 for cheapy systems, use a cheap hsf cost for mobo/cpu/hsf = $300

q6600 for mid level systems, use a good hsf cost for mobo/cpu/hsf = $350 xig cooler p5q pro

i7 920 for high end systems, use the best hsf cost for mobo/cpu/hsf = $700

You have a wrong misconception there,i7 is great for gaming,it's just not much of an improvement over core 2 if you are using single GPU setup,but nonetheless,it's not worse in that case either.However if you add in 1 more 2 GPU which is doable with X58 boards,the performance will be skyrocketing compared to core 2,some people may not consider it due to the cost,but given you have the money for it it's better than you think.
P.S. I'm tired of people use this lame gaming excuse to bash on i7 as if you really know the basics of computers,that's called GPU bottlenecked with a single gpu,if you cant afford multiple GPUs it doesnt automatically make it a bad gaming choice,just stop srpeading fuds just because the price doesnt please your wallet.

Go for the i7!

I'm not so sure I see the point in getting an i7 system for gaming just yet. If your cranking up the graphics at high resolutions the GPU goes under full load and typically the CPU can only do so much.

For example, I'm running a Q6600 (3.2ghz OC) paired with 8GB RAM and a 4870.
At 1920x1200, graphics on high in crysis, I get around 30fps. The whole time I play, the GPU is always loaded around 98-100% and the CPU rarely breaks 40%, if at all. Even when I crank physics up to very high. The i7 would really only give you some extra FPS if you play at lower resolutions. You have to understand that when THG benches CPUs with games, they crank the settings way down in order to make that the bottleneck instead of the GPU.

So my advice: spend your money on a high end GPU rather than an i7 system. Assuming you are all about games. If your into video stuff, I highly recommend i7.

Heres a theory. The drivers for multi di gpus are simply run better on i7, and it shows up sometimes in games. Once the next gen gpus comes out, and the single di are faster, then we will know for sure if gpus are truly getting a bump from i7 or not. Time will tell. At this point, who knows? In previous cpu releases, certain games using a single gpu always showed increases, and now, those same games dont with i7. It could be the gpus, but it could be lack of improvements from i7. Im giving this one some time to show itself

Hmm - in numerous other threads you have already pronounced yourself as "disappointed" in the Ci7 - doesn't sound like you're giving it any "time to show itself"

BTW, why is AMD still maintaining their NDAs on P2? I thought those were to be lifted on 12/18 or maybe 12/20 so that we could see extensive comparisons to Ci7 already...