kris23

hey guys... im looking to upgrade my computer and am wondering about how the Q6600 OCed to say... 3.5GHz or higher compares to an i7 920 at stock...

is the 920 THAT much better? i mean, its good, but is having 8 logical CPUs that worth it?

I need to upgrade my memory, my 4 gigs of sticks has just gone down to 1 gig over its lifetime and need to get a new set, im looking to spend a bit and getting 8GB but is it worth anything now?

for the same bit of cash i can get a decent set of DDR3 though...

i can get the stuff for my current system pretty quickly but saving for i7 wont happen till march at least...

so, what is your take on this? is a Q6600 a nice performer or is i7 such a massive step up that ill be happy with that even if i blow several times more on it?

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Lowfat

there won't be much of a difference, but why wouldn't you OC the i7? That is where they shine. And really 8 logical cores? I think it is silly. I have HT shut off as the CPU runs considerably cooler.

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kris23

yea ill probably OC it but i dunno... looking at the prices, im looking at 700 dollars alone for the transition from core 2 to i7 not even a GPU upgrade....

im thinking of just buying a GTX 295 and a set of RAM and see if i get lucky some time.... but thats unlikely..

i dont really know what to do... i have the money technically... but my mom will kill me if i spend it all at once....

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Lowfat

Well it won't be a huge upgrade I doubt.

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kris23

maybe ill just stay with what i have for now....

next gen theres always something better...

i think my system has enough performance to get me through the next couple years

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CDsDontBurn

you can run your system for much longer than that. just look at my machine! it's going on 4.5yrs. already and still going strong! though, it can't really play any of the newer games today now...

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BlueMak

Do you need the extra speed? Are you going to need it soon? Your CPU is good enough for most things. If you don't have much disposable income I would stay with it. It all depends of course on what you are going to use that computer for. Perhaps just buy a faster graphics card if it is mainly about gaming.


EDIT: I was under the impression that you already had a Q6600. If you have a dual core, then sure jump to quad, but again it depends on how long till the next upgrade will be. If it is going to be 3-4 years then go now for the more expensive solution. If you will be able to upgrade in a year or so, then go for the cheaper solution.

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Judas

the Q6600 is a very nice cpu even for todays standards and games..

the benifit of even the 920 isn't going to be warranted for awhile yet..

so if someone was looking at building a new machine today, i'd either recommend the Q6600 as the baseline cpu OR a Q9550 (give or take in that series).... the next cpu would obviously be the 920

really the i7's are extremely nice CPU's... even with HT off.. but with it on, and provided you can find applications that'll do some serious number crunching.. it does indeed show considerable improvement.

Hell just the triple channel memory is simply insane.... go from a little over 8,000MB/s to well over 18,000...... things are snappy.. VERY snappy

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