E8500 or q6600

i had a q6600 that died, so i need a new cpu desperately, i was thinking about maybe trying something new in the similair price range (under $200 no money, no job) so which would be a better buy? i just want some opinions

A retail Q6600 is under warranty for 3 years and an OEM for 1 year. Is it under warranty? Why did it die?

oh god, i hate debates, i hope this doesnt turn out to one...i just cant decide which one lol

E8500.

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(trying some different ways of responding)

+1 @ Blade

but then again, i really like the higher clock speed on the E8500, tough choice.....

Considering how long Q6600s have been sold, I don't think anyone would argue that it was an absolutely game-changing CPU since we're still talking about it being used in gaming builds. I wouldn't want one NOW... but good lord at the mileage the early adopters got out of that CPU.

1. Make sure your cpu is actually dead
2. Find out if it's covered under warrantee
3. Both the Q6600 and E8500 are awesome chips. Either way, you should overclock. Remember that you will need a higher FSB with the E8500 (for OC'ing). Make sure your mobo will support the higher FSB (1600mhz +).

With all that said, if you're still undecided: IMO the E8500 is the better chip for right now and for probably the next year maybe more. If you're planning on upgrading again within ~1 year, I'd get the E8500. If you don't want to buy another chip for 2+ years, the Q6600 is probably better. But you can't go wrong with either chip.

FYI your applications matter too. My brother plays MMO's and exp/gold farms or something (I dunno)...anyway he has 7 or 8 versions of the game running at once. He has a E8400 (which I recommended for games) but he should have got a quad for what he's doing (I didn't know he was going to try to run 8 games at once).

Well if money is really that tight..

The q6600 does cost 7 dollars more...



I have seen far more motherboards that have have failed than cpu's. Even motherboards that have been struck by lightning I was able to pull the chip out and throw it in a new board. Video cards burnout more frequently than CPU's.

It's certainly possible for it to happen. Especially if you are trying to do a major over clock and get the voltages way off.
I don't know if newer board will let you do that anymore.

The only dead cpu's I have ever encountered were ones that were intentionally fried. The fried a chip every semester in college for a demonstration of what not to do.

Take the cover off and look for ash. It will be black and get all over your fingers. It smells like chemicals. It will stick to stuff near the burn point like PCI slots or form a ring around capacitors. Use a flashlight.

Look especially around the capacitors near the cpu socket. The tops should be flat. If you see any that are blown the inside will be visible.. Sometimes they will just be bulging and not blow. All the tops should be flat. If you find any of those your chip is probably fine and the board is dead.

blade brought up an interesting point:

if you plan to overclock the Q6600 will be good but you need an aftermarket heatsink
if you plan to keep it stock then E8500

Whats your complete system specification?
power supply?
Video card?

If your q6600 was serving you well, i'd stick with it, especially if you're overclocking it and you already have a good aftermarket cooler. I mention the cooler because if money is tight, that may be the deciding factor in my opinion as that will push the price up.

If you dont have a good cooler and cant afford one, it just depends with whether you were seeing a good FPS in any games on your stock q6600. Either way the quad will probably last longer before another upgrade.

Good luck!

and go the quad - dual core days are over and done for.

you are an idiot.

no im saying that because most programs only use dual cores still. by the time programs are multithreaded both dual and quads will be obsolete with the introduction of 6-8 core processors. why not take advantage of the situation now and just get a dual for cheap? oh yeah... cuz quad core sounds cooler! I GOTZ TEH QUAD CORES oops all my programs use just 2... oh wait i can convert videoz and play crysis at the same time!!! YEAA!

no.