reanor

I used to have this:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

Then I bought this:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

E840 is built on more advanced nm technology and is faster but has has 2 cores instead of 4, Vista finds both cores just fine. My windows score for the CPU, however, went down from 5.6 to 5.4 with this new CPU.

I understand that I shouldn't be really worried cause E840 is a better processor, but what gives?

Ladiesman101

well
dont worry bout that
the e8400 is better for gaming
the q6600 for like videorenderin and stuff

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E8400@ 3.962 stockvolts W Noctua
http://www.overclock.net/gallery/dat...creenshot5.jpg

meticadpa

Vista score means nothing. It just rates the Q6600 higher because it has more cores.

The Q6600 is far less superior than the E8400 for most things, except encoding and rendering, where the extra cores really start to count.

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r31ncarnat3d

I am not certain, but I'd venture a guess that the 4 cores of the q6600 would make a difference, IF a program can support it.

Basically, my guess is that four cores are better than two, because those two extra cores can relieve some of the work that the e8400's two cores have to do all by itself, making it a bit faster than the Q6600. The Windows diagnostic program was probably coded to be able to use up all four cores and not be limited to two.

However, not many programs even today are threaded for quad-core operation; most are dual-core at most, which means that in the real world, you're more likely to run into a program that can only take advantage of two cores. This being the case, more likely than not the e8400 will be faster than the q6600.

I could be wrong, however, and someone feel free to correct me if I am

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Bazmecc

OC the 8400 and it'll get to 5.9

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3DMark's 01 62438 | 03 57405 | 05 23830 | 06 18879 | Vantage P11491

zelix

It's because the q6600 is better and you downgraded, I find every knew is becoming more and more optimized for quads

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reanor

Windows 7 actually gave this CPU 6.5. No idea what it would give to quad.

Hey Bazmecc, good suggestion. I don't use watercooling but would appreciate some advice on how to OC it to at least 3.6. My full load temps right now are around 47-50. I expect it to heat to around 60 at full load if OCed.

Can you give me some BIOS settings examples to get it to 3.6?

TwoCables

Interesting. My friend and I built his rig using an abit IP35 Pro, the Q6600 G0, and everything else was the same as my rig (at least at the time). The differences between my rig and his were that I had the E8400, and I had the EVGA 680i SLI motherboard that I have now. I'll be honest with you: his rig felt quite a bit slower than mine. Mine is even faster than his at stock when his is overclocked to 3.4 GHz. So, I concluded from that experience that the E8400 is just faster than the Q6600 in general. But at least he has 4 cores if he needs them.

Also, with the retail version of Windows 7, my E8400 received a Windows Experience Index subscore of 7.0 (even at stock). But with the official Release Candidate build 7100, it got 6.5.

But regarding receiving tips on overclocking, it would be best to make a new thread about it. After all, this thread is comparing the E8400 to the Q6600. But feel free to update this thread with the link to the new thread.

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reanor

To be honest I'm not sure I really want to overclock. I mean Dragon Age origins runs on max with all the AAs with no problem. Game plays well. I even have 9600GT running for PhysX, but I didn't notice any much difference in DAO though. I've heard that they use PhysX to calculate the arrows pathing and thats about it. Well, just have it there just in case.

I may redo my windows later and have a fresh version of Windows 7 installed. I've been running Vista for at least a year before I upgraded and it seems clean installation would make things even better. But that would take time which I don't want to waste. The game is too damn fun .

I think both CPU's are fine. But I really do use my PC mostly for gaming. I do some work remotely when I work from home but the most load my PC receives definitely from playing games, as many other peoples' I bet hehehe. So I'll probably stick to my dual core, its faster and more potential to OC it later on if I'll decide to poke around. Q6600 wil probably go to Ebay .

awaizy

If you don't want to overclock, go for the E8400. A non-OC'd Q6600 would probably feel sluggish in many applications when compared to the E8400.