from e6600 to e 8500 ?

[eyn093]

Hey guys, i was wondering if an upgrade from a e6600 to an e8500 would be worth the cost.
I currently have : e6600 / 2GB RAM / 8800GTS 640MB / MSI Platinium P965 / X-FI Xtreme music.
This rig is about a year old , and i was thinking to get a e8500 as an upgrade (just to keep my rig 'up to date' ).
I know there are better Graphics cards in the world , but my ol' 8800GTS is stil doing its job.
I mainly use this rig for gaming on a 22" Samsung Syncmaster.
I'm not (yet) considering to buy a Quad Core CPU, coz i dont think i need it wright now. --Maybe next year .

So ,will i gain something with an 8500 ??

PS: i'm not into extreme OC, i'm running my e6600 @ 2.66 GHZ , and was thinking to run a 8500 @ 3.4 GHZ.

Cheers.

 

[galta]

From a pure cost/benefit perspective, if your current system serves you well, stay with it.
You would proably spend $210 on cpu, plus some $150 to $200 on mobo (don´t know if P965 is compatible with 45nm cpus).
My suggestion is to overclock your system to some 3Ghz and save $400 or more for Christmas or New Year, when Nehalem should be a reality.

 

[yadge]

The e8500 would be an upgrade, but not too much of an upgrade. If I were you, I would just try to overclock the e6600 more. I know you said you aren't into extreme overclocking, but 3Ghz is fairly easy and safe, and should give you a nice boost for free.

I think you should hold on to what you have as it's fairly good until quad cores are more mainstream and something that you would actually benefit from. That's when your upgrade will be worth while.

 

[Noya]

Just buy a cheap $20 cooler and overclock your 6600 to 3.2 or so.

Now, your 1650x1080 monitor would definitely benfit from a newer graphics card. A 4870 would be perfect at $295'ish or a 4850 for $145'ish. Sell your's for $99 or so.

 

[jitpublisher]

I am not a "big" overclocker either, just like to mildly squeeze a little more out of what ever I am running. But every once in a while, a CPU comes along that can run much, much better than it's binned to run, simply because of the way Intel needs to market certain CPU's at certain speeds. The q6600 is one of those CPU's. It will very, very easily go to the speed of an e8400. An e8500 match is starting to be what I would call a serious overclock, requiring aftermarket fans, and more in-depth tweaking to get it there and keep it solid.
You can go to 3.0Ghz without trouble though.

At the cost/price performance of the new 4800's.....if I was in the market for a graphic card upgrade, it would be one these. Your old GTS 640 is starting to show it's age. But then, it's up to you and how much resolution/eye candy you can get by on and still enjoy the game. A 4870 will knock your socks off with the monitor you have, and even the 4850 will be a big improvement.
I'll go for getting a new GPU, that much for certain....leave you CPU alone for now, and try a little more overclock.

 

[lameness]

As everyone else has said...the e6600 @ 3.0ghz is easily quick enough (for gaming) and will be for a few years to come...however your card isnt so hot nowadays....its far from slow, but if you are going to upgraded thats what to change.

 

[eyn093]

Hmmm ,some good advice here.
I'll probably hold on to my e6600 and maybe OC to a higher level.
And yes , i could get a 4870 for 295$
Didn't think my GPU was the weak spot

 

[kad]

I have E8500 OC'd to 3.8 as you can see in my sig
But frankly I enabled SpeedStep and C1E to save power and heat
So it is normally running at 2.4 (Multiplier 6)
But if I ran an application that needs more power then Multiplier will jump to 9.5 and extra power 3.8 will be in service
And I do not suffer under normal use, bowsing, word documents,....etc
So I believe what others recommendation to keep your processor is a good advice
I think also the next upgrade could be to Q9650 which is comming in Q3 2008

 

[camaross427]

i say if you are looking for more power overclock it if you have a system with decent cooling and you know how to overclock. If you are going to upgrade up from a e6600 i say go quad core maybe a q6600 which is more powerfull than an e8500 but also less money or another quad core. A quad core will last you longer in the future if you are going to upgrade to another dual core you may find yourself upgrading again soon.
Good luck!!!

 

[shadowthor]

yea, but the Q9650 isn't at the best price ($530)

 

[kad]

yea, but the Q9650 isn't at the best price ($530)

Of course
Wait few months after release of Nehalem and prices will drop to 300$ then get it

 

[anartik]

If your board will support an FSB of at least 400 and the 45nm CPU I think it would be worth it. The 8500 will do 3.8 ghz with just the 400 FSB and nothing else. What gets me is everyone only mentions the one side of the equation that the older CPU's will easily get to Wolfdale speeds. The 8500 will easily go into the 4ghz+ range with a little effort. For a $219 OEM 8500 I'm running a stable 4.275ghz w/ DDR2-1066, X48 and a few voltage tweaks. Better than a full ghz above its stock 3.16ghz...

 

[eyn093]

Thx for the ideas. I'm realy just looking for a short term solution.
Something that will get me going for 1 year , not more then 2 years.
I dont think that Quad core is what i'm looking for the moment.

 

[Yary]

IMO e6600 is powerful enough. I would take Ati 4870 instead. I think you would benefit much more buying the new graphic card than changing CPU into e8500. Unless you usually use your PC for other purposes than playing games (encoding i.e.). But if you are a serious gamer, go for 4870!

 

[Mousemonkey]

Why not the E8400?, cheaper than an E8500, faster and cooler running than an E6600 (just!) and at 45nm as opposed to 65nm can still be regarded as an 'upgrade'.

 

[dasickninja]

I agree with the monkey on this one. The E8400 is one of the best bang for the buck dualies out, barring the E7200.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Hiya Dude, long time no see, glad you're back.

 

[dasickninja]

Just passing thru. *Yo*

 

[abrucker235]

Alot of good advice has been given about your question on the upgrade, but if your a serious gamer you should go with a new GPU, if u have just buy and identical 8800 gt and use sli which will help your performance in the games without having to buy a different motherboard. With the sli just over clock your dual core a little bit more (you could even upgrade to more ram cheaply too) because games to don't effectively use multiple cores yet, but if your a serious multitasker like me get a quad core.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Just passing thru. *Yo*

Peace out, Bro