New processor Help.

[Orgato]

I'm working on building a new computer, and I'm having some problems picking a processor.

So far what I got is:

Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard
Maxtor DiamondMax 21 STM3500630A 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Rosewill RX750-S-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V TUV, FCC, UL, CE, RoHS
PLEXTOR Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache ATAPI DVD Burner With Replaceable Beige Bezel
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory



Right now for a processor, im torn between the

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 and
Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX6850

Is it really worth the extra money to get the QX6850, or will i be happy with the Q6600? I am a graphic design student, and do a decent amount of gaming. This is the first time i have upgraded my PC in a few years, so i am pretty out of the loop as far as what technology is out and new and what is good to get.

It really comes down to price vs. performance. The QX6850 is wayy more expensive, but if it really can put out more performance, it would be worth it. Opinions?

[Sparky]

If I'm not mistaken the 975XBX2 only supports 1066 MHz fsb, so the QX6850 would not be compatible as it runs a 1333 MHz fsb.

[vbironchef]

sparky is right. Why not wait til intel puts out it's 45nm processer? It will use less power and put out less heat. Should be quieter too. Not to mention they say it will be 30% faster.

[Orgato]

If I'm not mistaken the 975XBX2 only supports 1066 MHz fsb, so the QX6850 would not be compatible as it runs a 1333 MHz fsb.

I could also pick up the QX6800 which runs on the 1066 fsb, or the 6700 which i belive is also 1066.

And as far as that new processor goes, I'm getting a deal on these ones, so that one really wont be an option for me.

[Sparky]

I had the same dilemma and opted for the E6700 for its ease of OC'ing. From what I've read the Quads are more difficult to OC. Maybe I'm wrong.

[Orgato]

I had the same dilemma and opted for the E6700 for its ease of OC'ing. From what I've read the Quads are more difficult to OC. Maybe I'm wrong.

Is the difference from 8M to 4M of L2 cache really noticeable? I dont know too much about it but is it a really big difference?

[dicecca112]

Cache all depends on what your doing. gaming not really. Folding yes it helps. May I ask why the IDE drive and not Sata? Was it left over from another build? SATA will be worlds faster. Hard Drives are already the slowest part in any build, so why make it worse?

[martini161]

extremes are the biggest rip off out there . (imo) are a quad extreme is just an unlocked quad core! why would you spend that much more money, the only reason i can think of is to not void your warrenty, but as long as you dont do any thing stupid to it, you should be fine. get the q6600, with good cooling, it can be oced to 4 gigs, or if your luckey and get a good chip, 5 gigs. even if its not 45nm it will keep you up to date for a long, long time

[Zertz]

get the q6600, with good cooling, it can be oced to 4 gigs, or if your luckey and get a good chip, 5 gigs

5Ghz Q6600? I don't think so. You won't be able to run 4Ghz on air, probably not even water either for 24/7 use.

[dicecca112]

get the q6600, with good cooling, it can be oced to 4 gigs, or if your luckey and get a good chip, 5 gigs

5Ghz Q6600? I don't think so. You won't be able to run 4Ghz on air, probably not even water either for 24/7 use.

definetly not 5gigs. Took FUGGER on LN2 I beleive to get 5ghz

[Zertz]

From what I found, the world record for a quad core on air is 4.1Ghz with a QX6700.

FUGGER overclocking Yorksfield @ IDF:

4.5Ghz on stock voltage on vapo
4.5Ghz = 10s flat
5.126Ghz Pi on Vapo = 8.76s
4.950Ghz on Vapo PCMark WR (I had this one before I came to IDF)
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?pcm05=1087948
@ 5.2Ghz AM3=277k
@ 5.42Ghz AM3=294k LOD 0
@ 5.42Ghz pi = 8.406s
5.56 max frequency @ 1.7v (unmodded) P5K3
B1 stepping 3Ghz 1333FSB Yorkfield 45nm
2k6 cpu score of 8551 for image @ 5.2Ghz
2k5 cpu score of 23k @ 5.2Ghz

[Orgato]

I went with the 6600, and will probably OC it to around 3Ghz - I don't want to put too much stress on the processor, and I probably wont need much more than that for the time being. Any tips/suggestions on the best way to do this?

And as far as the HD goes, I had the IDE drive left over from a previous build, and in order to cut costs a little bit I passed on the Sata drive. If it drives me crazy down the road, I'll just pick one up sometime in the future.

[Sparky]

This link to Intel mobo forum should help you out on OCing your XBX2

http://forums.legitreviews.com/about10826.html