New cpu Q6600 or E8400

[happydrinker]

I'm buying a new computer tomorrow. I was thinking about an i7 but decided to wait til the price drops a bit, but I still want a gaming desktop as my laptop can't handle much anymore (core duo at 2.0, geforce 7900). I'm planing on putting in a Ati 4870, antec 300 case 22" screen. I dunno if I will OC yet but I might try it out after a few weeks. So i'm stuck whether to get a Q6600 or E8400 the Q being $25 over the E which isn't a problem at all i can even get a E8500 for $30 more than the 8400 but lose a -$20 combo with the ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard i plan on getting. As said this will mostly be for gaming. I looked up stuff on this topic but could only find stuff from jan 08 mostly where they said get the E since games don't use quads yet and upgrade in 1-2 years (which would be around now to a year) So anyone suggest what I should do, I plan on keeping my laptop for school so it will be a 90 degree angle to me as i use the desktop so I can still use that for non gaming (but still might need to cad on the desktop/download still but won't as i game). I've been going nuts about it even after the whole i7 vs cheaper system. When do you think i7/X58/ddr3 will become cheaper?

 

[dragonsprayer]

dumb
get the i7 know

$280 920 blows away the 45nm qx quads

you can get a good mobo for $250 and under

6GB of great ram is $150 - ddr3 1333 777 1.5v can be ran at 1600mhz at 7-7-7 tp 8-8-8

if not get the quad but the i7 is the way to go!

the ram is the deal breaker!

 

[amdfangirl]

Nah, get the Core 2, cheaper.

Almost as fast.

Alot cheaper.

 

[beanstalk_230]

i7 is the best... best among all that you have mentioned

Get it and game in peace (for future)

 

[flyin15sec]

I doubt the OP wants i7, he already stated it is out of his budget. Give him your opinion between Q6600 and E8x00.

For single GPU, go with E8x00. Even an i7 performs like an E8x00 with single GPU.

i7 won't go down anytime soon. I'm sure it will remain at it's current pricing well into the 2nd half of next year. i7 is the high end setup, and with Intel's track record, they do not lower prices because of competition, they lower it base on their own processor roadmap.

 

[cmashwin]

ya i agree.. get the dual core.. its much muh faster for gaming.. shud last u for a year or 2..

 

[klonedesu]

If those are your choices and that's what you're using it for, get an E8400. The mhz count more for games at the moment. I have a Q6600 with a 4870 right now but the Q6600@3Ghz is definitely bottlenecking my system. Lowering my graphics settings doesn't help my fps at all so I know it's not the Vidcard. If you absolutely want the quad make sure you get a good aftermarket cooler so you can get it up to 400mhz FSB. I noticed a huge improvement in fps when I went from the stock 2.4Ghz to 3Ghz. The games I've tested it on were fallout 3, WoW, Tomb Raider Underworld, Supreme Commander and UT3.

 

[Outlander_04]

an e8200

over clock it