Printable View
I am giving my old Q6600 system to a family member. I am looking for a new setup wasn't sure whether to go Dual core or quad. To be honest all i used the pc for is net surfing and gaming. So was thinking a highly overclockerable dual core may be the way to go. But I've no idea what is a good i3 i5? Or is it better to get an i7 quad core? Perhaps AMD phenom x2 or x4 black edition?
Budget for CPU & Motherboard £250-300
Thanks
The q6600 is still a good chip. You're not limiting your GPU anmd OCing may be an option.
Whats the rest of your gear?
looking at your given specs upgrading the graphics card is all you really need to do, swap you 8800gts for a 5850 all you'd really need to do, esp on a 24" monitor.
I'm giving my old q6600 away I have a gtx280 & psu and case covered I'm just not sure about cpu and motherboard to get.
If you are getting rid of it then either AM3 or new intel mobo would need DDR3 RAM too. If your spend the £250ish on a Phenom II X6 1055T or i5 750 plus respective mobo then £87 on 4Gb of DDR3 ram(http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179278) your looking around £340.
Or
Cheapish AMD dual core at £235 of,
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition at £80
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166518
Thats EOL so may have to spend the extra fiver to get a AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition. Only difference is the 555 is 100Mhz faster stock clocked.
Mobo somthing like the Gigabyte GA-MA770T-ES3 at £58. Should let u try unlocking the 550 or 555 but I have a feeling it will tell u to use extra cooling on the VRM area if u do.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/194682
then the crucial RAM from before
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179278
As Cheapy said.
The only real problem with the phenom II x2 550 is it's more of a sideways step from a q6600 @ 3.2ghz maybe even a down grade.
It's a major problem with the old q6600 it is was such a good chip, esp when overclocked.
*Why* are you giving away the Q6600? What does this family member do that means they need your old Q6600 leaving you to consider a sideways move or even downgrade (particularly given the current cost of RAM)?
It may be a better option to slap your GTX280 in your current build and put together something more midrange for the other person using your old 8800 GTS as their graphics card...