quad or dual?!

[iceman600]

what is the best cpu for 680i chipsets? i heard that using q6600 in 680i chipsets are having trouble overclocking...
and i read somewhere that using dual core like e6600 is much better than games than q6600.
is that true? is dual core better than quads in terms of gaming?
if that is true then dual core is better for 680i chipsets...
still confused here...

[DMB2000uk]

Go dual if you want the best overclock.

The E6600 vs Q6600 in games should be near enough identical, as they are both clocked the same (2.4Ghz).

Games currently don't really make use of the extra two cores the Q6600 has to offer, so they are kind of wasted if gaming is your main use for this CPU.

Dan

[bobletman]

He is right games dont use the full potential of the dual. I got the quad because its only like 60 bucks more and you get 2 extra cores, the q6600 oc a heck of a lot without haveing to change the voltage as well. I would go with the quad.

[martini161]

Depends on how often you plan to upgrade, if you upgrade often, get a dual now and wait for 45nm quads. if you dont upgrade often and want to be future proof now, get a quad. i overclocked my q6600 to 3 ghz on stock voltage, so there is a lot of headroom with a quad if you want to overclock

[DaddyRabbit]

I was faced with the same choice when doing my Xmas build (but the 45nm chips were farther out). I could have upgraded my E6600 to a Q6600 but by all accounts would not have seen any performance increase in games. For the same price as the Q6600 I picked up an E6850 which did give me an increase in performance and more overclocking headroom IMHO. I upgrade every year or two and I think even stretching it to the two year mark that my dual core will handle any games released in the next couple of years.

[J0lle]

I was faced with the same choice when doing my Xmas build (but the 45nm chips were farther out). I could have upgraded my E6600 to a Q6600 but by all accounts would not have seen any performance increase in games. For the same price as the Q6600 I picked up an E6850 which did give me an increase in performance and more overclocking headroom IMHO. I upgrade every year or two and I think even stretching it to the two year mark that my dual core will handle any games released in the next couple of years.

If you plan on encoding, editing etc i would get the quad. Otherwise get the dual.. very few applications that can really utilize the quad yet

[werty316]

Screw the 680i and go with a nice P35 like Abit's IP35-Pro along with the ever so sweet E8400. You won't be disappointed with that combo.

EDIT: Gigabyte also have some seriously good P35 boards like the GA-P35-DS4 or GA-P35-DQ6.

[DaddyRabbit]

Screw the 680i and go with a nice P35 like Abit's IP35-Pro along with the ever so sweet E8400. You won't be disappointed with that combo.

Must admit I agree on both counts I've only recently been looking at the 8400 and kinda' wish I'd waited a bit, no justification for upgrading now though

[werty316]

I wouldn't go get an E8400 since you already have an E6850 unless you have money to burn. You are better off making a big leap with a quadcore instead of just a small hop with another dualcore; thats how I would do it.

[DaddyRabbit]

I wouldn't go get an E8400 since you already have an E6850 unless you have money to burn. You are better off making a big leap with a quadcore instead of just a small hop with another dualcore; thats how I would do it.

Thats why the "no justification to upgrade now" comment came from. Had I waited a couple of months the 8400 would've been in but patience has never been one of my strongest virtues . My next upgrade will be the summer earliest but probably Xmas so I'm sure there will be many more choices by then. Still not sorry for pulling the trigger though, if I waited for the "next best thing" I'd still be playing with my Commodore Vic-20, oops, showing my age

[Bio-Hazard]

I'm beating around the idea of getting a 8400 and letting the wife have my old XFX 680i LT board, Corsair PC6400C4D, E6750 and 7900GT.............. . That should keep her happy for some time to come.

[werty316]

Luck for me my will power is quite good and I will wait until I upgrade again..., unless there is a really good deal

[CoolZone]

I guess the best cpu on the market,that has unlocked multiplier remains the QX9650,no matter what.The quads that will be released will have a very low multi and will not be able to reach even 4ghz,even if they are cool enough

[werty316]

Why do you say that? You'd be surprised how far some of those chips with lower multipliers can go as far as overclocking goes, I guess you don't remember the E63xx. The Q9450 and Q9550 use a 8x and 8.5x multiplier which isn't bad. Q9300 isn't bad but I don't really like the 7.5x multiplier.

[SlipSand]

Ive been told that the Quads are seen as a dual by the games anyway because it doesnt use all 4. So I would stick with Dual...besides it OC's better and usually is a better performance / price ratio.

But Ive been out of the loop for 6 months...

[PCFlip]

personally I say quad, its more future proof as not to many applications take full advantage of it yet and man if your a multitasker you will love using a quad makes having a ton of apps going at once nice and smooth.

[MakubeX]

Ive been told that the Quads are seen as a dual by the games anyway because it doesnt use all 4. So I would stick with Dual...besides it OC's better and usually is a better performance / price ratio.

But Ive been out of the loop for 6 months...

I really depends on the game. There are a few (very very few) games out there that actually benefit from Quad cores, but they do exist.

Iceman, if you don't upgrade often I suggest getting a Quad (waiting for the Q9xxx quads would be ideal). With quads ocing almost as high as dual cores, unless you are in a very tight budget, a quad is the way to go.

[CoolZone]

Why do you say that? You'd be surprised how far some of those chips with lower multipliers can go as far as overclocking goes, I guess you don't remember the E63xx. The Q9450 and Q9550 use a 8x and 8.5x multiplier which isn't bad. Q9300 isn't bad but I don't really like the 7.5x multiplier.

The story aint the same like it is for 45nm Core 2 Duos.The new quads overclock much lower than their duo counterparts.