Help Choosing A Processor For Oc

[bg1987]

Hey guys, Im buying a new PC now, and I'm not sure which Processor should I pick

I am planning to OC them (not over doing it, but something stable enough so i can hold the pc OCed at all times)

My Options are E8400 or the Q6600.

 

 

 

The pc itself if for games and some video.

here are its current specs

 

 

mobo: ASUS P5Q PRO

HD: Westren Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB

G.Card: Club3D ATI Radeon HD4870

PSU: Enermax Pro82+ 525W

DVDR: LG GSA-GH20L

Case: Antec P182

Extra Fans:2 Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm

CPU Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme

Memory: Crusial Balistix 2gb (1024x2) 800mhz

 

So what do you think is the better processor for me?

quick edit: I dont think the shop im buying from can get a G0 q6600, but still out of the 3, what is my best, and second best choise.

Edited June 27, 2008 by bg1987

[Crazy_Nate]

Hey guys, Im buying a new PC now, and I'm not sure which Processor should I pick

I am planning to OC them (not over doing it, but something stable enough so i can hold the pc OCed at all times)

My Options are E8400 or the Q6600.

 

 

 

The pc itself if for games and some video.

here are its current specs

 

 

mobo: ASUS P5Q PRO

HD: Westren Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB

G.Card: Club3D ATI Radeon HD4870

PSU: Enermax Pro82+ 525W

DVDR: LG GSA-GH20L

Case: Antec P182 Black

Extra Fans:2 Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm

CPU Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme

Memory: Crusial Balistix 1gb (512x2) 800mhz

 

So what do you think is the better processor for me?

 

I would say go with the quad. They're awfully cheap right now (for a lot of processing power). I would also recommend a minimum of 2 gigs of memory (memory is *dirt* cheap - I would get 4 gigs of DDR2 if I was building).

 

Verify if the Ultra 120 will fit in the case. Other than that, it looks pretty good. I've got an older Enermax chugging along, however, nowadays, I'll only recommend PCP&C, Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic or FSP.

[bg1987]

I would say go with the quad. They're awfully cheap right now (for a lot of processing power). I would also recommend a minimum of 2 gigs of memory (memory is *dirt* cheap - I would get 4 gigs of DDR2 if I was building).

 

Verify if the Ultra 120 will fit in the case. Other than that, it looks pretty good. I've got an older Enermax chugging along, however, nowadays, I'll only recommend PCP&C, Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic or FSP.

 

I do have 2gb of memory, and i plan on buying 2 more soon enough.

 

btw, how high can I clock the Q6600 and keep the system stable?

[Queenz]

Hey guys, Im buying a new PC now, and I'm not sure which Processor should I pick

I am planning to OC them (not over doing it, but something stable enough so i can hold the pc OCed at all times)

My Options are E8400 or the Q6600.

 

 

 

The pc itself if for games and some video.

here are its current specs

 

 

mobo: ASUS P5Q PRO

HD: Westren Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB

G.Card: Club3D ATI Radeon HD4870

PSU: Enermax Pro82+ 525W

DVDR: LG GSA-GH20L

Case: Antec P182

Extra Fans:2 Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm

CPU Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme

Memory: Crusial Balistix 2gb (1024x2) 800mhz

 

So what do you think is the better processor for me?

quick edit: I dont think the shop im buying from can get a G0 q6600, but still out of the 3, what is my best, and second best choise.

 

 

get a Q6600 it oc's better. Besides E8400's don't seem to like voltage too much. In other words they suck when it comes to ocing.

[hardnrg]

look on the side of the Q6600 for "SLACR"... this tells you it's a G0

 

 

 

I wouldn't really say the E8400s suck for OCing... percentage-wise they seem about the same Q6600 vs E8400, so it's just up to you whether ~3.6GHz quad or ~4.5GHz dual is better for you...

[Compxpert]

Sadly 4.5 would be pushing the voltage too high for my liking. Probably would need 1.60-1.65v to achieve it. Could do for a bench tho.

[bg1987]

look on the side of the Q6600 for "SLACR"... this tells you it's a G0

 

 

 

I wouldn't really say the E8400s suck for OCing... percentage-wise they seem about the same Q6600 vs E8400, so it's just up to you whether ~3.6GHz quad or ~4.5GHz dual is better for you...

 

well, I'm buying the cpu online. and I checked other stores and they mark clearly when its a G0 processor (and up the price a bit). don't think ill a G0 one,

but you said 3.6quad or 4.5duo, I know that atm, its better to have 4.5 for games (because they don't take full advantage of the 4 cores) but i guess it will change in the future.

Btw, these speeds are possible with my system right? no need for water cooling or sorts?

Also, OCing the Q6600 to 3.6 will result in a stable system right? I don't want to "turn off" the OC and then "turn on" again when i need more performance.

 

 

(This is the first time I plan on OCing my cpu, so I'm a bit worried)

[wevsspot]

I'm not sure why an Intel dual core clocked at 4.0ghz 24/7 "sucks", but that may be a little off topic.

 

Pricing on the Q6600 is really good right now and you will get excellent performance running the Quad at 3.2 - 3.6ghz 24/7

 

Either way you go, heat is going to be your primary concern. My E8400 runs at 4.0ghz during the cool months at 1.30vcore. It will run stable at 4.4ghz with 1.46vcore (again during the cool months).

 

My processor is water cooled, so your MMV if you plan on using air cooling. During the warm months I clock it back to 3.8ghz at 1.30vcore for 24/7 operation because I fold with this particular rig.

 

The E8400 or Xeon 3110 would be excellent choices if you plan on significant overclocking and the primary use of your rig is gaming and normal everyday use in most applications. The Q6600 would be an excellent choice if you plan on moderate overclocking and you do alot of multi-tasking.

 

Honestly speaking, depending on your usage patterns I believe you would find either of those processors outstanding.

[Branjo]

Honestly during a game with either of those CPU's your not going to notice a thing, they will handle anything with ease at stock speed. For the Q6600 3.6Ghz isn't just a set it and go OC, takes a bit of tinkering to get right as they eat power when you take them over 3Ghz and the more power you pump into it the less its going to last. Even if you get a G0 it still might have a high default Vcore (VID) and that will affect the possible overclock. I love the Q6600 but I would really like to mess around with a nice E8400 setup I think given the pros and cons of both CPU's they are very closely matched for price/performance/overclockability.

 

If I were you I would add more HDD's to the mix, 500Gb is a great size but things can be slowed down reading everything from one disk. If you have the means to get a small drive for your OS it would help you out a great deal, or even at least to hold your pagefile on. Or if you want "tip top" performance you could go with a RAID 0 setup which you will notice during games that read from the hard disk, or load maps or levels. A RAID 0 setup of 2 x 250Gb and a storage or backup drive of 500Gb would be a fast and safe way to go.

 

Also the P182 is a great case, I love mine but the airflow isn't really all that, and cable management can be a PITA. I actually removed the three covers for the CD ROM's and cut a piece of perspex to fit and mounted a 120 mm fan in it under my single DVD drive which blows air across the mobo right into the heatsink and this gave me almost a 5C drop. Im not sure I would choose it again based on what I know. The Antec 900 is one of those designs that just hits the nail on the head, the whole front of the case is an intake, so it has great airflow.

 

You have a nice list put together there but don't carve it in stone just yet, Just take your time and don't buy anything on impulse. I find the newegg customer review section invaluable for choosing a build.

 

Just for curiosity what is your old rig?

[bg1987]

thanks for branjo, to your questions, I am taking my old WD250KS from my old rig along to to the new one, so i have 2 HDs both with plenty of space.

 

as for the p182, I know its not the best case for OC, but its one of the quietest cases and that matters a lot to me (my pc is in my room and its on almost 24/7).

 

my current rig is about 2 years old, it has

CPU: AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+

Mobo: GA-M51GM-S2G

Mem: Crucial Balistix 2gb 800mhz

G. Card: Leadtek Winfast 7600GT

HD1: WD1600JS

HD2: WD2500KS

DVD:LG -GSA-H66N

Edited June 29, 2008 by bg1987

[r3d c0m3t]

Honestly during a game with either of those CPU's your not going to notice a thing, they will handle anything with ease at stock speed. For the Q6600 3.6Ghz isn't just a set it and go OC, takes a bit of tinkering to get right as they eat power when you take them over 3Ghz and the more power you pump into it the less its going to last. Even if you get a G0 it still might have a high default Vcore (VID) and that will affect the possible overclock. I love the Q6600 but I would really like to mess around with a nice E8400 setup I think given the pros and cons of both CPU's they are very closely matched for price/performance/overclockability.

 

If I were you I would add more HDD's to the mix, 500Gb is a great size but things can be slowed down reading everything from one disk. If you have the means to get a small drive for your OS it would help you out a great deal, or even at least to hold your pagefile on. Or if you want "tip top" performance you could go with a RAID 0 setup which you will notice during games that read from the hard disk, or load maps or levels. A RAID 0 setup of 2 x 250Gb and a storage or backup drive of 500Gb would be a fast and safe way to go.

 

Also the P182 is a great case, I love mine but the airflow isn't really all that, and cable management can be a PITA. I actually removed the three covers for the CD ROM's and cut a piece of perspex to fit and mounted a 120 mm fan in it under my single DVD drive which blows air across the mobo right into the heatsink and this gave me almost a 5C drop. Im not sure I would choose it again based on what I know. The Antec 900 is one of those designs that just hits the nail on the head, the whole front of the case is an intake, so it has great airflow.

 

You have a nice list put together there but don't carve it in stone just yet, Just take your time and don't buy anything on impulse. I find the newegg customer review section invaluable for choosing a build.

 

Agreed and agreed. As for the HDD, I would suggest something along the lines of what I did and that's to pick up two extremely cheap 74GB Raptors and line them up in a RAID 0 setup with an additional drive specifically for your Windows installation and whatnot. I own an Antec P180 and while it is indeed an awesome case (and quite sexy as well) wire management can, as Branjo pointed out, be an absolute pain simply because the PSU bay is on the bottom of the case and it's then sectioned off by the upper level where the rest of your innards would go, but if you set aside some time specifically for wire management you'll be able to do some amazing you wouldn't think to be possible. Again as Branjo pointed out, airflow isn't going to be tip-top because of all the wires impeding the airflow, but you'll still get a good amount of air to keep everything from spontaneously igniting in a gulf of flames.

 

While I could definitely vouch for the Q6600 and it's overclocking, let alone it's stock speed prowess it will indeed take some tinkering to get it where you'd want it to be, stably. I found I was able to get my Q6600 up to 3.87 for 24/7 usage using an enormous, yet safe for my method of cooling 1.5125 volts. With the Summer months here I'd suggest going with either 3.4 or 3.6GHz with an extremely good HSF, such as what you've chosen. :thumbs-up:

[bg1987]

well, I need the large storage amount, because I Download almost all the time. so 2 74gb raptors wont cut it, and I am getting a bit tight on budget.

As for OCing, you reminded me of the summer months, which brought me to a point I forgot to mention, and that's the fact I live in Israel, Meaning VERY HOT summer =]

 

As for the Q6600, I watched some reviews and saw that It usually out performed by the dual cores (In Games) so I'm not sure I need the extra processing power the Q provides for other applications (because I don't use any other "heavy load" software on my pc).