Intel Q6600 - does FSX really benefit much from it?

[Guest cbuchner1]

Is the Intel Q6600 worth its money for simming with FSX? Is the performance increase of FSX really that significant with a Quad core?I am looking into getting a new rig for simming and Tileproxy development and I wonder if the 250 Euros (~320 dollars) are a well spent investment for a Q6600 Quad Core CPU.Complete PCs with Quad Core CPUs are available starting at about 600 Euros in Germany, not including the Operating System license. That is about 800 dollars, give or take.Christian

[Guest baksteen33]

Hi Christian, I doubt you'll see more cores translate into more FPS. The fastest core continues to determine FSX's basic framerates. Further cores help on scenery load etc. Quads will also decrease loadtimes. Technically, Intel's quads are 'only' 2 twin-cores. From a personal perspective, it was kind of awkward to return to a system with a mainboard chipset (& onboard memory controller) after years on AMD64s. IMHO, you sometimes still notice the C2D's Pentium3 legacy. It's going to be interesting to see AMD's 4-core implementation. And of course, Intel's first CPUs with CPU-inbuilt memory controllers. Case you don't overclock, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between AMD64s and C2Ds. C2Ds do overclock with relative ease. ;-) On a general note: I would recommend mainboards with ICHxR chipsets if you go Intel mainboard. Otherwise no AHCI or Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Nvidia implements this in a different manner. I would also recommend staying away from mainboards with ADI soundchips if you're going to use onboard sound --> poor drivers (IMO) and/or no regular updates. Hope this adds to thoughts, kind regards Jaap

[Guest cbuchner1]

I started with a really low-end approach to get a Q6600.I got this el-cheapo mainboard.http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Mode...reDual-SATA2&s=It has an AGP port (yikes!) and it supports both DDR1 and DDR2 memory. Talk about a sweet upgrade path. I also ordered the "low end" Core Duo chip E2140 (1.6 GHz) to go with it. Overall a 100 Euro investment. I am going to outfit my low-end PC with it. This is a Dell Dimension 1100 Basic.Once I know this system works (equipped with 2 GB of DDR RAM), I will replace the CPU with an Intel Quad Q6600.And then I am going to make that Tileproxy app really smoke with the quad.... That's the plan... and it hopefull won't cost me an arm and a leg.

[Guest baksteen33]

Hi Christian, you might have to replace the PSU as well? Did you check whether the connector fits or whether it has enough connectors in the first place? Out of curiosity, what are you upgrading from? Cheers and kind regards Jaap

[Guest cbuchner1]

The Dell Dimension 1100 Basic currently sports a Pentium IV at 2.8 GHz - before it used to have a Celeron @ about 2.4 GHz which I swapped out. This is not my main system for development and flying, it's just a backup. But with the Quad Q6600 it may be replacing my main system for a while ;-)Yes, I will be watching the power consumption closely. But from what I remember the 2.8 GHz Pentium IV is already quite a power hungry beast and the low end E2140 should consume significantly less power. About the quad core Q6600, I don't know. I will have to look up the Thermal Design Power values and compare them against the Pentium IV.I'll have to be careful with graphics cards, they also pull a lot of power.Christian

[Guest baksteen33]

Hi Christian, glad to hear it isn't your main machine. :-) My worry about the PSU is more connector related than anything else. As you probably know, Dell and other OEMs often use home-brew specs for these components. Kind regards Jaap

[Guest cbuchner1]

Well new 450 Watt ATX 2.0 PSUs aren't that expensive. 40 to 50 euros a piece... I will keep you posted how this upgrade will pan out.