Upgrade Q6600 or Buy New i7 920?

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LOL, I'm not playing at those resolutions. We're benchmarking to see the faster CPU, right? Nice one, though. The faster GPU will win at the higher resolution, we already know that. This is about the beatdown you'll receive when it's a CPU limited resolution to test the capabilities of both CPUs. We could always go to 640x480. lol Then I'd get a headache and vomit. I'm interested to see how your 955 will perform compared to my i7 920.
 


Sorry for the delay, had some problems. I'll warn you that my system is yet not fully assembled and due to some faulty RAM I have only 3GB. Will update scores with 6GB 1600MHz tomorrow. Anyway, Far Cry 2:

LOW-DX9

Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 640x480 (60Hz), D3D9, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(None), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Optimal), Vegetation(Low), Shading(Low), Terrain(Low), Geometry(Low), Post FX(Low), Texture(Low), Shadow(Off), Ambient(Low), Hdr(No), Bloom(No), Fire(Low), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Low)

Total Frames: 5631, Total Time: 51.00s
Average Framerate: 110.41
Max. Framerate: 157.04 (Frame:1224, 9.21s)
Min. Framerate: 77.16 (Frame:4767, 41.70s)

Of course, I set the physics to very high since they are the most important thing in CPU testing.

ULTRA HIGH-DX10

Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 1680x1050 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(None), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Ultra High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Ultra High), Terrain(Ultra High), Geometry(Ultra High), Post FX(High), Texture(Ultra High), Shadow(Ultra High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

Total Frames: 2853, Total Time: 51.00s
Average Framerate: 55.94
Max. Framerate: 87.67 (Frame:410, 6.16s)
Min. Framerate: 37.33 (Frame:1034, 17.20s)
 


For now, only maximum settings. 8xAA all Very High and Custom Filter AA enabled in Catalyst Control Center delivering 24xAA. Crysis:

Running CPU benchmark 1
Results will depend on current system settings
Press any key to continue . . .
Running...
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 1500, Recorded Time: 44.62s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 62.22s, Average FPS: 24.11
Min FPS: 9.81 at frame 196, Max FPS: 35.36 at frame 99
Average Tri/Sec: -27346684, Tri/Frame: -1134349
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.63
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 59.79s, Average FPS: 25.09
Min FPS: 9.81 at frame 196, Max FPS: 35.36 at frame 99
Average Tri/Sec: -28358134, Tri/Frame: -1130329
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.64
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 59.62s, Average FPS: 25.16
Min FPS: 9.81 at frame 196, Max FPS: 35.36 at frame 99
Average Tri/Sec: -28409202, Tri/Frame: -1129194
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.64

Press any key to continue . . .
 


And, by the way, we do test to see the faster CPU, but still, you cannot disagree with the fact that no one will play on those resolutions and that the results there really do not matter. I should also indicate that I have problems with 64-bit Vista. Many games have various issues, but the most important thing is that Crysis does not want to run in 64-bit mode, so I have to run 32. Strange.
 
If I remember correctly Corsair's 750W is $20-$30 cheaper than their 850W, I'd pick that one.

And second, your system isn't really aged. Instead of getting a new platform and CPU, i'd buy an aftermarket cooler/water cooling and overclock your Q6600, the difference between 2.4GHz and ~3.2GHz on a Q6600 is probably bigger than you'd think.
 



Lol, this forum is closed. He already bought an I7. Sorry 🙁
 


You're back from the dead! I was wondering what happened to you. I got lucky with my order and didn't have any defective parts. Here is a run I did based on the first settings I mentioned. I will test again with your settings when I know what resolution you used.

This is 1024x768 on Crysis with all medium settings with no AA for a CPU limited benchmark. There is 2 CPU benches in the Crysis folder so I'll show the regular one and then the snow one.

Running CPU benchmark 1
Results will depend on current system settings
Press any key to continue . . .
Running...
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 1500, Recorded Time: 44.62s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 18.07s, Average FPS: 83.03
Min FPS: 64.70 at frame 875, Max FPS: 109.03 at frame 717
Average Tri/Sec: 55939332, Tri/Frame: 673750
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 1.07
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 15.31s, Average FPS: 98.00
Min FPS: 58.81 at frame 895, Max FPS: 122.73 at frame 354
Average Tri/Sec: 66322884, Tri/Frame: 676751
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 1.06
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 15.04s, Average FPS: 99.73
Min FPS: 58.81 at frame 895, Max FPS: 122.73 at frame 354
Average Tri/Sec: 67428232, Tri/Frame: 676118
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 1.06
!TimeDemo Run 3 Finished.
Play Time: 15.25s, Average FPS: 98.37
Min FPS: 58.81 at frame 895, Max FPS: 122.73 at frame 354
Average Tri/Sec: 66486836, Tri/Frame: 675918
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 1.06
TimeDemo Play Ended, (4 Runs Performed)
==============================================================
Press any key to continue . . .


And the snow one....

Running CPU benchmark 1
Results will depend on current system settings
Press any key to continue . . .
Running...
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 1500, Recorded Time: 127.52s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 31.87s, Average FPS: 47.06
Min FPS: 17.14 at frame 471, Max FPS: 80.21 at frame 1090
Average Tri/Sec: 59307096, Tri/Frame: 1260175
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.66
==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 1500, Recorded Time: 127.52s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 32.19s, Average FPS: 46.60
Min FPS: 18.46 at frame 427, Max FPS: 74.36 at frame 1092
Average Tri/Sec: 58758380, Tri/Frame: 1260935
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.66
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 32.58s, Average FPS: 46.04
Min FPS: 14.19 at frame 480, Max FPS: 78.49 at frame 1417
Average Tri/Sec: 57808612, Tri/Frame: 1255732
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.67
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 31.70s, Average FPS: 47.31
Min FPS: 14.19 at frame 480, Max FPS: 78.49 at frame 1417
Average Tri/Sec: 59472256, Tri/Frame: 1256985
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.66
!TimeDemo Run 3 Finished.
Play Time: 30.02s, Average FPS: 49.96
Min FPS: 14.19 at frame 480, Max FPS: 78.61 at frame 1246
Average Tri/Sec: 62764900, Tri/Frame: 1256177
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: -0.67
TimeDemo Play Ended, (4 Runs Performed)
==============================================================
Press any key to continue . . .

The snow is a little more demanding so the FPS are a bit lower.

I agree with you on the resolution. 1024x768 gives me headaches when I try to play on full screen on my 24" screen. Let me know the settings again that you ran on the Crysis bench. Also, I think if we stick with 4xAA on the menu in Crysis instead of through the GPU Utility.
I want to have as few variables as possible.

PS. I ran 3DMARK06 and I scored 18751, but If I tried a little more I'm sure I could break 19,000.
 


Hey, I'm sorry, but at a time I am unable to provide official results because they won't show up in windows 7, But I must say I'm a bit confused. In the first benchmark, the FPS goes as down as 30, while in the snow never drops below 26~28. I must also indicate that ATi is very poorly optimized in this game and that your card should run it better even at those settings. I also had Vsync and Anisotropic filtering 16x turned on, so the FPS never went above 60. I will upload the official results from the benchmark, but for now, it's either trust me or not xD
 


What is your WinRar score? I mean, when you do the benchamark? My score is 2,313MB, but it's a bit unfair because your processor uses 8 threads, and mine 4. Post your results.
 




Ok, sorry for the delay. Weird, it seems your CPU is limiting the Ice benchmark badly :))))


==============================================================
TimeDemo Play Started , (Total Frames: 2000, Recorded Time: 92.94s)
!TimeDemo Run 0 Finished.
Play Time: 28.09s, Average FPS: 71.19
Min FPS: 42.83 at frame 1017, Max FPS: 102.68 at frame 1980
Average Tri/Sec: -74300048, Tri/Frame: -1043659
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 0.10
!TimeDemo Run 1 Finished.
Play Time: 25.54s, Average FPS: 78.32
Min FPS: 42.83 at frame 1017, Max FPS: 104.71 at frame 1995
Average Tri/Sec: -82167104, Tri/Frame: -1049126
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 0.10
!TimeDemo Run 2 Finished.
Play Time: 25.55s, Average FPS: 78.27
Min FPS: 42.83 at frame 1017, Max FPS: 106.65 at frame 1900
Average Tri/Sec: -82120184, Tri/Frame: -1049141
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 0.10
!TimeDemo Run 3 Finished.
Play Time: 25.60s, Average FPS: 78.14
Min FPS: 42.83 at frame 1017, Max FPS: 106.74 at frame 1901
Average Tri/Sec: -81966576, Tri/Frame: -1049012
Recorded/Played Tris ratio: 0.10
TimeDemo Play Ended, (4 Runs Performed)

Really, the results look weird. I think we do not see the real CPU bottleneck here, because my FPS is horrible comparing to yours in the first benchmark. In the snow one, my PC massacred yours :). Donno what is happening...
 



I'd say the 4890 is a much better deal than the GTX 275, but the GTX 260 216 is a better deal than the 4870 1GB now.

Have you overclocked your 4890? I got some insane overclocks with the custom Sapphire editions and I'm curious how a reference design 4890 compares.
 
So you're still alive, great. I was wondering if you were going to respond again. I'm not sure what's with that second ice level. I re-ran it four times and posted my runs. It did very well on the first one, but the snow level didn't play too nicely. I don't think an i7 920 @ 3.7GHz is "bottlenecking" my video card. Although I would lean more towards the GPU, even at that low resolution.

EDIT: I just got 3919 for the score on WinRAR 3.8 with i7 920 @ 3.7 with 8 threads. I'm going to re run it wit 4 threads to see what that scores.

EDIT #2: I ran the same test with only 4 threads, as my temps were up to 80C. With 4 threads I scored a measely 2927. 🙁
 
I just ran 19.5 hours of Prime95 with my CPU @ 3.6GHz with HT on. My CPU temp was ~67C-68C and core temps were 72C-74C with the AC on in my main room. I saw the WinRAR bench briefly hit just over 4000 kb/s, which I think is pretty good. 4 threads just doesn't cut it.
 


Hi all 🙂
I ran the same tests and my temperature was quite higher, over 84C.
Can you help me finding the cause?
Thank you very much
A.
 

 
Check this out guys, my current set-up:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Core Socket 939
Zalman CNPS7000 Cu LED CPU Fan
MSI K8N Diamond WiFi Edition
2x1GB Geil DDRAM
Radeon X1950Pro 256MB PCIe V-Card
160GB WD Caviar SATA Drive
Coolermaster Realpower 550W PSU
Windows XP Pro SP2
Coolermaster Stacker STC T01 Tower Case
Viewsonic 19" LCD on DVI @ 1280x1024 screen resolution

The thing takes about 5minutes from hitting the power switch on and getting into Windows 😀 . It encodes a single DVD movie to MP4 in about 45minutes 😀 ...loads Crysis Warhead start missions and Call of Duty World at War in about 5 minutes but gameplay is still fine after the loads. I usually overclock from the stock 2GHZ to 2.2Ghz when playing newer games to shorten the load times. But im gettin tired of the waits and gettin the itch to upgrade my rig again after four years since i built this one 😀 😀 😀 .

Im lookin at the following upgrade paths:
A) AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Ed w/ ASUS M4A79 board and 4GB of DDR2 RAM
B) Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 w/ ASUS Maximus II Board and 4GB of DDR2 RAM
c) Intel Core i7 920 w/ ASUS P6T and 6GB of DDR3 RAM

Any comments guys?


Is it worth upgrading to an i7 920 or should I wait a few more months until my CPU fries from the overclocks?

 


What CPU cooler and fan are you using? Also, what is the temp in your room with the computer?
 


If you only overclocked your CPU 200MHz and are running at a moderate voltage, you'll be waiting a long time for it to "fry". If you don't need the extra power of an i7, I would recommend A setup, as it will be a huge improvement over your current setup. I have an overclocked C setup and it works great. I encode video and edit pictures so the extra power benefits me greatly.
 


Thanks one-shot. I think I'll be goin with the i7 set-up for a longer PC life span with max headroom to spare in todays current applications.

Does the 6GB of RAM really help or is it still overkill at the moment?
 
For $130.00 retail buy a gigabyte EP45-UD3R and tweak to level 2 in EZ Tune 6 ("set it and forget it" ) and you'll be happy! Keep all your existing components and run Windows 7 64 bit and you'll be in heaven. I performed this upgrade and saved a Dell Inspiron 530 from going into the garbage (all but the Q6600, oem memory and 8600GT graphics card). $130 upgrade breathes new live into this tired system! Easy to build and stable too. Very little diff from XFX Q9550 w/ 9800x2 8 gb Mushkin and WD Raptors. Note: I also built i7 gateway 6800-01e open box for $715 + $600 in aftermarket upgrades apples to apples very comparable but still a more expensive fruit...consider building an i7 system only because it's new and, yes, fast - but also consider the investment...try the $130 Gigabyte mainboard upgrade first - it's fun, easy, cheap and you'll be surprised at the responsiveness difference over stock. Eric :)

Mod Edit: Fixed, now read two posts down.
 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette

"Another rule is to avoid typing in all caps, which is considered to be the equivalent of shouting or yelling."
 


Toms actually did a test with an i7 and 3GB, 6GB and 12GB using software that most people would use. Look around on the articles and read through it. 3GB may be fine for most people now, but I feel 6GB is baseline for a high end system.
 
WOW. this thread just keeps on going....................


After reading this whole thread, I don't know if I should go with Intel or AMD anymore. I want to build a pc mainly for gaming.
 
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