How long do you intend to keep your Q6600 until??

[Zhaoman]

it wouldn't make a huge difference to game performance so i'm unswerved. bring on 16 core is what i say!

[handscombmp]

I'm becoming more tempted but i think first i need to upgrade my GPU.

I'm think of the Nvidia GTx 275.

Was going to get one of the cheap mobo today but flight was delayed so i was flying at 2

[Syllopsium]

I've got a Q6700, but basically until it's too slow - I'm hoping to get another 3+ years out of it. 2.6GHz and 8GB ECC RAM (maxed out) should keep me going for quite a while.

It's worth waiting at least for the die shrink of Core i3/i5/i7, in my opinion. The only things Nehalem is good for are 1) media transcoding/other specialist SSE uses 2) Hyperthreading 3) The boost feature and 4) enhanced virtualisation (they've improved VT-d a bit). Worth it for workstations, not for general apps or games.

My next upgrades will be 1) DX11. Currently got two 7600GTs (3 monitors - not SLI) - I'd like a fairly low power consumption, quiet GPU with 1GB+ memory capable of maxing out Fallout 3 and 2) SSD

The only other thing I'm pursuing is a VT-d capable motherboard (I may have located a cheap Q35). I want to see just how viable dedicating PCI or PCI-e resources (this includes graphics cards) to specific virtual machines under Xen or VMWare ESX-i is. Apparently it does work, but currently it's absolutely leading edge (only in Xen-unstable rather than the main product).

I'll be sticking some existing kit in that though : locating a second hand motherboard and sticking in a ****ty case, E6300, 2GB DDR2, 500GB SATA and an Enermax PSU.

PK

[cheesemp]

I've got a Q6700 - but voted anyway! Its a very similar chip. I haven't even had to overclock mine yet so plenty of head room left (Its max temp is 45 under maximum load so plenty of room to OC). Imagine I'll replace the GPU/bit more ram next year but otherwise my PC still meets all my needs and probably will do to 2011.

[sammorris]

In my view, Core i5s are rather like 'gaming grade' i7s. They seem better optimised for games rather than arithmetic operations - as demonstrated by the i5 750 beating the i7 920 in games like Crysis, while falling behind in things like WMV encoding. The lower CPU prices (i5 750s are just below £150), much lower motherboard prices (a good few decent P55 boards for less than £110) and lack of necessity for triple channel RAM all makes the bang for buck factor much higher, and I think i5 is a worthy upgrade for the majority of current users. High end Core 2 Quad users like myself may not see huge benefits, but enough to notice at least, and users of older CPUs like E6750s and X2 6000+/7750BE like chips would certainly be wise to have a look. Adding it up, a Core i5 Quad core system backbone (CPU, Mobo, RAM) can be built for as little as £305 with 4GB of good RAM. The cheapest serious i7 option is really £420, and that's only with 3GB of RAM. Compare this to the fact that even an X4 940 with a similar spec board is at least £275, you're getting a hell of a lot more performance for not much more cost. The AMD is only based on using the cheaper 790X chipset too, use a 790GX and the cost is essentially the same.

Zhaoman: So a 16 core would improve gaming performance? A lot of people still don't think a quad core is worth it for games... :S
Handscomb: I wouldn't if I were you, DX11 generation stuff will own the GTX275. Either get something better value like the HD4890, or wait for the new stuff

[Zhaoman]

Zhaoman: So a 16 core would improve gaming performance? A lot of people still don't think a quad core is worth it for games... :S

I think you've slightly missed my point there. i5 is a quad core and performs the same in games as my current quad core the q6600. now i only really use my pc for games so upgrading would make absolutely no difference to my pc experience. that's a good 300 quid down the drain swapping a quad for a quad... It would only make sense for me to upgrade a couple of years down the line when (eg) 16 core becomes the norm because it would be a much more capable processor (hopefully) and games would be more multi-threaded (hopefully). of course if a 16 core processor came out now and performed the same as a q6600 in games then i wouldn't be upgrading either. read "16 core" as "several years down the line when the current processors vastly outperform my q6600"

[sammorris]

I think you've slightly missed my point there. i5 is a quad core and performs the same in games as my current quad core the q6600

Other than, you know, the fact that it doesn't.... o_o
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...d-cpu-review/7

Obviously it's all a bit relative, but even so, the focus for now really needs to be on faster cores, not more of them. The core i5 is neither of those things, but what it does do is take the faster architecture of the i7, apply it better to regular usage, and make it affordable, which is a step in the right direction. A 16 core CPU would only be worth it by the time games become either optimised for 16 cores, or are fully multi-threaded, neither of which are coming any time soon. There is no vast improvement from switching to an i5, but there is an improvement there.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Now that the Core i5 is out has anyone changed their opinion yet about upgrading from a Q6600??

[Terbinator]

Now that the Core i5 is out has anyone changed their opinion yet about upgrading from a Q6600??

See specs <<< However going to i5 wasn't that beneficial IMO (from C2Q) so thats why i want for the 8 thread loving

[scaryjim]

Naah, Q6600 is still good enough for me. Might get a better cooler & case and overclock it some though... perhaps even go under water and OC the 8800GTX too. All depends on finance though and I'm in no hurry - still very few games coming up for release that I really want to buy, and I'm already DX10 capable so that shouldn't be an issue: plus I can't see me changing my monitor until it actually refuses to work anymore, so I'll be gaming at 1280x1024 for the forseeable future and my current rig can eat that for breakfast

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With the new Core i3 processors are any of you going to ditch your Q6600 for one of them??

[sammorris]

For a Core i3? Ditching a quad core for a dual core? Seems rather unlikely... :S

[piggeh]

My Q6600 (and PC generally) is still up for the majority of tasks I throw it's way. Can't see any reason to get rid of it until 2011. Will probably make a few upgrades to RAM, gfx card etc in the meanwhile though.

[[GSV]Trig]

Same as above really, its not oc'd and both the ram and board will go further than the stock for this chip so no need to upgrade yet, not the CPU area at least, if anything my next upgrade might be a mATX board and smaller case, maybe some liquid cooling..

[Indieboi918]

i plan on keeping it for a while, my plan for upgrading is HSF + OC then HDD then MOBO obviously over a 1-2 year period when ive got the cash and not all at once

[scaryjim]

Core i3. Upgrade?!? Erm... no.

I'm more likely to downgrade to a Core 2 Duo, since I really don't do anything to tax the 3rd and 4th cores of my Q6600, but obviously I could sell the Q6600 and make enough to get a new C2D. Otherwise I'll almost certainly just stick where I am...