P35 - Replace Q6600@3.2 Or Wait For X38/i7?

[scott967 62]

Edit: X58 obviously !I'm assuming I could run a little cooler and maybe get in tn the 3.6GHz range on my Abit board, though I only have 1x2 3200 RAMs so might also need to switch to a 2x2 config. I would probably wait several months before doing an x58 build.scott s..

[TechguyMaxC 516]

Edit: X58 obviously !I'm assuming I could run a little cooler and maybe get in tn the 3.6GHz range on my Abit board, though I only have 1x2 3200 RAMs so might also need to switch to a 2x2 config. I would probably wait several months before doing an x58 build.scott s..

Scott, it's a little hard to follow what you're saying so I'll try my best. Swapping CPUs on the same platform generally isn't a good investment if you already have a relatively high-end CPU, as you do. Swapping to a newer Q9 CPU might buy you 4GHz, assuming the rest of your components are up to the task. About your RAM - are you sure you're running PC2-3200? That's the slowest DDR2 in existance. I find PC2-6400 much more likely. Also, what do you mean by "1x2"? Are you running 1 stick of 2GB or 2 sticks of 1GB? The accepted notation is quantity of sticks x size so your post suggest the former, which is certainly not ideal for your platform if true.

[kiwimail 1]

I swapped my E6600 2.4 to the E8600 on a P35 and it's hummiing away at 4ghz. Can't say it did much for FSX but everything else runs flawlessly although it could be the 8800GTX holding it back. My present rig should keep me going for a while but those icore systems does look nice... :(

[scott967 62]

Sorry for confusion. I've been away for about 6 weeks and going by memory. My Q6600 runs pretty hot @3.2 partly because my ambient room temps are often over 30 C (can't be helped). So reducing power demand is one consideration. Or perhaps if I could reach 4.0 with the same power dissipation as I have now. I'm air cooling with the thermalright ultra-90 and a 120 fan strapped on.My 2 sticks of DDR2 1Gb RAMs are running at a slight overclock (Corsair XMS-2 6400s). I could change the clock ratio I guess but I think it might be worthwhile to go to a 2x2Gb configuration, and boost the RAM speed to maybe 8500s (I'm running 4-4-4-12 2T but I guess I could drop down to 5-5-5-15 on a faster RAM). So I'm thinking maybe an E8600 or Q9550 plus 2x2Gb of DDR2-8500 would run me about $350 or so: about the current cost of an X58 board. Even if $150 boards are out in a couple of months there's still significant cost in putting together a system. scott s..

[Guest D17S]

Your current Q66 at 3.2 will run noticeably better than an i7/920 and only a smidgen behind an i7 940 at 2.9Ghz. Unless you are going to run (or O/C) an i7 beyond 3.0, there's no reason to bother with - any - i7. Again, the Q9550 is a step down. It has an 8.5 multi will take a faster FSB to even match the Q66. The E8800 is a dual core, and will run a bit faster than the Q66, but with only 1/2 the horsepower. Your most affordable performance boost might be to get the Thermalright Ultra 120 cooler and run your current Q to 3.6. My summertime 30c room runs that Q at 3.6 without issue. Increasing ram speed will provide no benefit, however an extra 1 or 2Gs will help considerably. $75, total, will do it.

[Guest Alphahawk3]

Your current Q66 at 3.2 will run noticeably better than an i7/920 and only a smidgen behind an i7 940 at 2.9Ghz. Unless you are going to run (or O/C) an i7 beyond 3.0, there's no reason to bother with - any - i7. Again, the Q9550 is a step down. It has an 8.5 multi will take a faster FSB to even match the Q66. The E8800 is a dual core, and will run a bit faster than the Q66, but with only 1/2 the horsepower. Your most affordable performance boost might be to get the Thermalright Ultra 120 cooler and run your current Q to 3.6. My summertime 30c room runs that Q at 3.6 without issue. Increasing ram speed will provide no benefit, however an extra 1 or 2Gs will help considerably. $75, total, will do it.

All one can go on is benchmarks of these chips, and no one uses FSX for that...so we are stuck with what we see. If I had an Q6600 I would not have botherd building an i7 920 rig. But to say that an Q6600 clocked to 3.2 is noticably better is not quite so. Both chips stock....the i7 beats out the Q6600 each time. Clocked it beats it out as well...quite a lot. Read the many reviews out there that have already been done....and there are many. Here is just one http://www.legitreviews.com/article/824/1/ . As I said had I already owned an decent quality rig an i7 would have never crossed my mind. If you look at the QX97... series which is still a 1000 dollar chip yet even the 920 beats it in most cases. I know nothing about clocking...at least in todays world. Ten years ago was my last build. Working in Saudi for 20 years I had a disposable income and would do a buld every 7 or 8 months...no more....the money dried up. Back then cloking burnt chips left and right. We would just go down and buy another. But working with this P6T Deluxe m/b it is almost idiot proof. I had mine up to 3.2ghz in a matter of 3 minutes and it was stable for 24 hours with max 61 c. The new bios in that board also will alow me to take full use of my DDR3 1600 memroy...or I should say very close to it....even if I don't clock the CPU. Many guys are taking that thing to 4ghz on air! I would not do that but I can see it going up to 3.5...3.7...on air. Just some info. Regards

[Guest D17S]

Yea, I'm seein' these too. So far though, it appears to be a clock-for-clock battle. The question is: "How much did they manage to improve the i7s clock-for-clock performance over the Core2." Bringing the memory controller on board did nothing, latency didn't improve (to matter) and the Quickpath didn't relieve any component bottlenecks . . . cuz none existed in the first place with the old FSB arrangement. Maybe that will all matter someday, but not yet. I think we're gonna see a 20% improvement a generous assessment. So, if an i7 = 3.0 x 20% = 3.6, then i7@3.0=Q66@3.6. Da no. We'll see. But I expect it'll be something like that.

[scott967 62]

Thanks all. I guess what I am getting is pretty much sit tight for now. don't expect any great things from the expense of either a new CPU or whole-hog i7 based system for fsx. Maybe I will consider upgrading my GTS8800 320Mb instead.scott s..

[Mace 1,902]

Thanks all. I guess what I am getting is pretty much sit tight for now. don't expect any great things from the expense of either a new CPU or whole-hog i7 based system for fsx. Maybe I will consider upgrading my GTS8800 320Mb instead.scott s..

What gfx card do you run right now? I don't think I'd be very inclined to go to a GTS8800 320mb card...Unless you have something quite dated (like an nVidia 6-series card)...or something very baseline (like a 7300).