Good gaming CPU?

[mammothmoth]

I want to make a hardcore gaming rig under 2000 dollars. I am thinking of 8gb ram and this processor.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

It costs $224.99 or a

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

I DO NOT plan to overclock as soon as I get it because I am only 15 and little expirence with these new CPU's. But I can tell you this, I want to play Crysis with no mercy. Whats good to play high end games that will last many years as I do not want to upgrade a cpu anytime soon. So as a reminder I will most likely overclock not untill I really read indept of how the process is carried out and understand all the risk factors.

I hope you can suplly me with the information that I need to create a very good gaming machine.

Thank you very much.
Bryce

 

[0mg_1ts_m3]

well if you want a pc for the future, get the quad core and overclock it to 3ghz+ later on. however, if you're gonna do gaming, you probably won't need to get the quad.

 

[bigpympin]

I had the very same question about a week ago. After a few post here I went with the e8500. Still waiting for it to come in though. By the way the peeps around here seem to know there s%^T

 

[englandr753]

Since you dont want to OC then get the E8500. Its faster out of the box and you have to do nothing.

Personally I have the Q6600 but I OCd it to 3ghz 1st thing and am very pleased with it for gaming and anything else I want to do.

If you are positive you will never OC then get the E8500...

 

[zenmaster]

Definitely Dual Core for gaming.
I think it will be a while before most games are quad core optimized.

My last CPU was a quad-core, but it was not for a gaming system.

 

[JDocs]

To get a Q6600 to 3.2ghz(400x8) is dead simple. Only thing to worry about is cooling but with a budget like yours that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[mammothmoth]

I might get the Q6600 mainly because I will most likely OC but also because I don't want to upgrade this PC for a few years so I think quad will benefit me in the long run. Any other suggestions would be apprichiated.

 

[englandr753]

IF you are going to use it for years, then I would agree. Eventually you can OC it and get a 30-35% boost in performance and be able to handle multithreaded apps better than a dual core, IMO...

 

[mammothmoth]

Thank you so very much, I will definitly be buying the Q6600 and in furture terms, be overclocking it. I really value the time it took you to answer my question.

 

[snarfies1]

If you don't plan to overclock, why not invest in a Q9400 or a Q9550? Its 10% faster clock-for-clock against the older Q6xxx series. It might not overclock as well, but will be faster and slightly more future-proof.