Asus P5E3 with a 90% increased fsb speed( thats 190% normal fps speed if u dont understand) it owns. trust me best mobo u will every buy for a Q6600.
BUT you can’t come anywhere close to 4 Ghz homie. That’s the catch.
I’m getting the P5Q-EM. I’m going to buy it the same time I buy the CPU. It’s the best Micro ATX board out. Should be really nice, with G45 & ICH10R, and better onboard audio and ethernet than the P5E-VM HDMI. It fits my needs perfectly, since I don’t even need a full size ATX board with Crossfire and whatnot.
I’m wondering if I should get the E8500 though. Only $20 more for plus 160 Mhz stock. Should be worth it, maybe I’ll get that.
I might just get that Q9550 though! Spend all my money and be like fuck it. Would you guys personally get that chip if you DID have the money over the dual core though? I really wanna get unbiased feedback on that question for a moment. Taking the money factor out of the equation. Is it better because it has four cores, even though it will never be as fast clock for clock as the dual core? With gaming being the primary use of course. Forget the price for a moment.
Id pick neither. With Nehalem (Core i7) so close, Id wait for it. Its a whole new platform and most, if any, of the current heatsinks will NOT fit the new board design.
Yes, it will be all quad cores but most games are GPU bottle-necked than CPU when you get to 3.0ghz+ and if there is a difference, I cant till 120fps vs 140 fps. Also, quads are more versatile as more programs are being written for multithreads, including games.
Lastly, most programmers wont optimize and resort to relying on the increasing number of cores and processing power i.e. bloatware Vista.
I would only pick up the dual core if A) youre trying to obtain maximum FSB+clock B) you upgrade very often so when programs do move to multiple cores you will upgrade too.
Here is a review of very similar processors in mind:
http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q6600_8.html
Yea, Nehalem may be the way to go. I just didn’t know when you wanted to get your chip.
From what I’ve read the e8500 doesn’t OC as well as the e8400 which is the reason I stuck with the e8400. But, a little while ago the price was about 80+ more so it was an easier choice. 
If you don’t mind going without a chip for a few months than wait for the newer ones. If not stick with the e8400 or go nuts and get the e8600. :lol:
E8600? Yeah, no. Waste of money. lol
I don’t see how the E8500 could possibly overclock WORSE than the E8400. I’m pretty sure that’s the chip I’m going to get though, after reading that it has a 9.5x multiplier, whereas the E8400 has a 9x. I’m shooting for an even 400 Mhz FSB to give me an even 1:1 ratio with the RAM I have, without having to do shit to it. With the E8400, I’m looking at 3.6 Ghz, with the E8500, I’ll get 3.8 Ghz. Probably worth the extra $20 the way I figure it.
Someone may have just encountered an E8500 chip that didn’t like to OC very well. Remember, it comes down to the individual chip in the end.
I’m not waiting for Nehalem. Plus you know how expensive that shit will be when it’s first released. Let me explain what’s going on, right now I’ve got an X2 4200+ @ 2.2 Ghz on a mobo that has ZERO OC options. So yeah, that shit has to go like NOW. ASAP.
As I said in my last post, I’m really thinking now that it’s just more WORTH it to pay LESS for a higher clocked dual core. As opposed to a lower clocked quad. Especially when you consider that games will ALWAYS benefit from higher clock speeds. But will they ALWAYS benefit from four cores? No. That’s game specific. I think in the end, I’d rather invest in something that ISN’T game specific, ie higher clocks. A wolfdale will ALWAYS have higher clocks than a York/Kentsfield either at stock or after OC’ing, it doesn’t even matter.
It would be nice to have a quad for future games that really take advantage of it, but currently I just don’t think I can bring myself to take that route, not when a 3.16 Ghz stock 45nm dual core for $190 is an option.
Cool, let me know how that e8500 works out. I would suggest trying to shoot for 4 GHz if you’re getting that instead. But, make sure to run a 24hr BLEND test; I thought I was stable till I tried that and kept getting a pc crash where the normal cpu test didn’t.
When are you planning on getting everything? And from where, Newegg?
Yeah, I may end up pushing it to 4 Ghz or maybe even 4.2 Ghz. But that will depend on how stable my RAM and everything else runs.
I’m pretty much dead set on getting the Tuniq Tower 120 w/ blue LED fan assist. :lovin:
I’ll probably get that next month though.
I’m getting the board and CPU by the first week of September at the latest. And not from Newegg, from ZipZoomfly actually. Slightly cheaper prices and better shipping rates.
In October I’m getting a Sunbeam UV reactive clear acrylic case, a Logitech G15 keyboard, the Tuniq Tower 120, some AS5, and probably the Microsoft Habu mouse.
Until I get those, it will be going in a crummy Gateway case with standard Gateway keyboard.
For the first month I have the chip, I probly won’t OC. Not with stock cooler and whatnot.
Also, I’ve only heard about “MX2.” How much better is that than AS5?
Even though I’m running a Q6600 @ 3.4ghz, I think the e8400 sounds like the best option for you. (especially when overclocking, shoot for 4ghz)
True that celcius. When I first thought about what CPU to get, it was the Q6600 I wanted. For the price I thought I couldn’t do better. But that has changed now.
Polls seem to overwhelmingly favor the dual core, lol.
“Hope this answers your question, and keep your questions coming.” /3DGameman.com
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