E8400 vs Q6600

[crenn]

For those games, you won't notice much of a hit. Also the Q6600 will keep your options for overclocking open when you upgrade to a standard motherboard.

I know UT3 can use upto 3 cores effectivally and crysis can use 2-3 cores. Also quad core is more future proof.

[Spawn-Inc]

the thing is not alot of games support quad cores just yet but "future proof" means the future so i would say quad. while the e8400 is good, i would say a stock vs stock the quad will win. but since your buying dell (don't know why... build it yourself ) then i say quad.

[Durrthock]

Warranty mostly, I have a dell and its served me well for 3 years now. Their tech support is great when you have an xps.
Plus its cool it got a monitor on the case lol. I have to check it out but my uncle might be able to get 10% off, (he retails them)
Either way its going to be an upgrade,
P4 3.2ghz
2g of 667 ram
Nvidia 6800

[crenn]

You may need a new system. The chipset may not be compatible.

[Durrthock]

Im buying a new system,
e8400/q6600
8800gt
3g of 667
320g hd.

The processors are the same price either way so thats why I don't know which to get. Might play supreme commander, heard quad is good for that.

[crenn]

A righto. And SupCom does well with a good GPU and good CPU.

[Durrthock]

So your sticking to the q66?
What about the fsb difference?

[Spawn-Inc]

ya supreme commander is a game that uses quads i believe.

but AFAIK fsb is something you really only need to worry about with overlcocking.

[Nagoshi]

Maybe, but in your case in which you can't overclock you may want to have a ratio of FSB/RAM of at least 1:1 since you can't overclock to compensate for the lost memory speed.

IMHO Get some 800MHz or better. And since you're playing on large screens. You may want to get a better card, such as a 8800GTS or GTX, altho the GTX will be on the verge. But if you plan on upgrading soon because new technologies are coming out, I guess you could stick with a GT for some time before affording a real video card in some months

[crenn]

The 8800GT almost matches the 8800GTX in terms of performance.

I'm sticking with the Q6600.