Am I choosing well? E8500

GIG EP45 UD3R mobo here
Corsair 750w PSU

gahh damn you!!! beat me to it

Q6600 is about a tenner cheaper here in the UK and it can be easily clocked to 3GHz. Will pwn the E8500 in photoshop.

Will my older software do okay w/quad-core?

At the least it will do the same as a dualcore. Maybe a little slower, but if a program only uses 1-2 cores you still have 2 others meaning that the 1-2 cores the software is using can be completely dedicated to that software and nothing else, this gives a performance boost that most don't realize. This is coming from a guy that still uses a dualcore so I'm not biased like some others are when this question pops up... The quad is better trust us. That said you could save a lot of money on an E5200 so it is all up to you. (The E5200 is the same as an E8500 just with slightly less cache which wont actually make a difference, yet it generally overclocks better too.) It is all up to you, you spend your money so you should get what you want.

E5200 vs. E8500 depends on your bravery in overclocking. The E8500 is fast at stock speeds, and a quick setting on the motherboard will get it 20% faster. Another 20% might be possible if you are brave and work at it for awhile, but before even trying this it will be really fast.

The E5200 can be overclocked up to 60% above its stock speed, if you work at it hard enough by changing settings and doing stress tests. Just depends on how hard you want to work at it and how much time you are willing to spend.

I put an E8500 in my CAD workstation at work, set it to 3.8GHz, and went on with my work. I didn't spend much time tinkering with settings or stress testing it. I'm about to build a new machine for home use, and I'm almost set on the E5200 for it. I'm running Photoshop Elements 6 at home, otherwise any modern CPU at stock speeds would probably be enough for me.

for me the choice is E8500 VS. Q6600 now. forget the E5200 for this build. currently 4 gb 1066 ram - with future upgrade to 8-16mg. RAM is very important for Photoshop. Im in transition mode and so Im thinking toward the future. I will use this machine for 3 years. I start with XP Pro 31-bit, then watch Windows 7 (or Vista 64-bit) and work into that in a year or so, then add ram probably 8 or 16 mb as I mentioned, this is my living. I like that the E8500 runs well stock, and minor tweak makes it even better.

what Im finding for prices: I can get the E8500 for less ($6) with code I have from Newegg. If there is an email special on Q6600, or if recent price cut by Intel will affect Q6600 in a few days, give me a heads up!

correction: I start with XP Pro 32-bit, then look at upgrade to 64-bit either XP, Vista, - but more at W7 if it can run lean w/o gobbling up ram.

I run the E8500 and it is LOVELY much more power then I ever expected, and plenty power to last me quite some time No need for overkill.

Q6600 if it was me cheap, effective, and got loads of overclocking potensial like most intels lol

I will start with an E8500 that runs fast stock for my photo work computer. perhaps down the road, as I learn to do OC, I will build a hot little machine and tweak a E5200 into a "monster" - sounds like fun!

This is my first build, and its my work computer,

that comment sounds like what I want. thank you all ! I learned alot - esp that down the road when I play, I will make a E5200 toasty and screaming lol

you all need to look at the recent $750 system benchmarks.

the e8500 clearly outperforms the q6600 - yes, even in photoshop

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-power-efficiency,2155.html