Q6600 to i7 Lynnfield => worth the upgrade?

[wooodman]

Hi everybody,

I have a Q6600 2.4GHz Vista machine (not overclocked) I bought back in June of 2007 and I'm wondering if I will see significant performance improvements if I upgrade to a new machine with i7 860 on Windows 7? I currently have 2 gigs of RAM and a relatively weak video card that's not even worth discussing (it was shipped with the machine ) I don't do much gaming but I do do a fair amount of audio editing / composition, so low latency is key for me.

While I'm asking, are there any dangers to installing the 64-bit version of Windows 7 instead of 32-bit?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[warmon6]

Well if the audio editing / composition program can use all 8 threads then it will be well worth it.

If it cant take all 8 threads it still maybe worth it due to higher stock speeds (than what you have) and a aggressive turbo boost.

 

[leon2006]

You can save money by overclocking your Q6600 to 3.0 -> 3.6 GHZ, add memory to 8 G, and then install a good GPU.

Nvidia has tools that works with Adobe software to make use of its GPU for Math intensive application.

Going 64bit is the sensible path. It will enable you to take advantage of higher memory 8Gbyte and 64bit processing.

 

[jsc]

If you decide to keep the Core2 system and overclock it to more than 3.0 GHz, you will need better cooling. Here are two under $50 heatsinks that are pretty popular:
Sunbeam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
Xigmatec Dark Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

They both require a somewhat different approach to applying thermal compound.
Suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5

And they are pretty large, so they might not fit inside your case.

And here's a good budget cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
This one is good to about 3.2 - 3.3 GHz.

 

[wooodman]

Thanks guys, I bought my system from Future Shop (yeah I know... ) so I doubt it's overclock-friendly. Assuming I can't overclock it, how much faster would an i7 860 on Win7 be? If it's only 20-25% faster then it's probably not worth the upgrade; hope someone can advise me on that.

Re: installing 64bit Win7: what I mean is, will this automatically mean my old 32bit apps won't work? (Office 2007, Ableton...). Sorry if that's a n00b question, I have no idea how compatible 64bit Windows will be.

 

[warmon6]

Thanks guys, I bought my system from Future Shop (yeah I know... ) so I doubt it's overclock-friendly. Assuming I can't overclock it, how much faster would an i7 860 on Win7 be? If it's only 20-25% faster then it's probably not worth the upgrade; hope someone can advise me on that.

Re: installing 64bit Win7: what I mean is, will this automatically mean my old 32bit apps won't work? (Office 2007, Ableton...). Sorry if that's a n00b question, I have no idea how compatible 64bit Windows will be.

Not really. Win7 may feel snappier but it wont give magical performance boost. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-performance,2476.html

For the 64 bit issue, these links may help answer your question.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions
http://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-64-bit-vs-32-bit-t484.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10302050-1.html