Would like advice on Core 2 Duo E8600

[Alaric101]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone has experience with this processor, eg if it's worth what it is, if cheaper models aren't much slower, etc.

I don't feel comfortable with overclocking it as this then means I'll have to buy better cooling and I just don't like the risk of damaging the processor.

As a side note I'm also wondering if it's as simple as just taking the old processor out of a motherboard and putting the new one in?

Thanks for your time,
Alaric

 

[captaincranky]

I can't imagine not being able to clock an E8400 or E8500 to the stock speed of the E8600. I might spring the extra 20 bucks for an E8500.

By all means though, wait for a second opinion.

BTW, if you happen to live near a "Microcenter", they're offering the E8400 for $149.95! *At least for the time being* *walk in only*

 

[javeous]

I would go cheap and get the E8400. It's easily overclocked to 3.33 like the E8600 without having to go crazy on cooling. I've heard that you can get it up to 4.0 if you did decide to overclock. What do you mean by, "Taking the old one out, and putting the new one it?" Depending on your board (If it's compatible of course), I would guess so.

p.s. A better cooling setup isn't really that expensive.

 

[captaincranky]

javeous has a point, in what board do you plan on putting this CPU? If your board is much more than a couple years old, you may not even be able to use a 45nm processor.

 

[Alaric101]

I'm planning on putting the processor onto the XFX Nforce 680i LT.

What I mean is by just putting the new one in, is that there's nothing else I'll need except the new processor and fan, right? No thermal paste or anything like that (it came on the fan already on my current one.

Assuming that this processor's compatible (if not I'll look at 65nm versions of this series) how much does cooling cost if you want to overclock? I'm still not very comfortable with the idea.

 

[javeous]

Well, I would by an aftermarket compound no matter what. The only heatsink and fans I've ever seen to come with compound would be stock cooling units. And you don't use them for OC. (Not good idea)

I had that same board. I bought this HS&F.

In regards to over clocking in a general sense. It either works or it doesn't. Check your temperature once you have a stable overclocked CPU. If it is near 60 Celsius at all, you should probably drop it down.

This board is great for overclocking. I bought a 2.6 Intel Dual Core and had it comfortably overclocked to 3.4. In your instance. I would go with the E8400 like I suggested. You will get the performance you'd expect from the E8600 after minor overclocking. The process of overclocking for that board is simple. If you need any help, just ask. Just remember to disable speed linking of the RAM and CPU on that board.

 

[Alaric101]

In your opinions, would you bother upgrading to this when you had an E6700 @ 2.66GHz with a stock fan? I'm currently debating if I should just wait until quad-core comes down in price.

 

[Alaric101]

sorry, had a computer glitch and accidentally double posted.

 

[javeous]

If I had a 2.6 with a stock fan, I would overclock it to 3.0 and buy the cooling unit I posted. I wouldn't bother getting the quad. I can honestly say that your performance gain would not be substantial to constitute the cost. By the time you would have waited for the quad to come down, you could have ordered two equivalent AMD system builds for the price of one Intel quad system.

 

[captaincranky]

Assuming that this processor's compatible (if not I'll look at 65nm versions of this series) how much does cooling cost if you want to overclock? I'm still not very comfortable with the idea.

At stock speeds, you can use the stock HSF, AND the thermal compound that comes with it.

At some tasks, mostly photo and video editing, your quad is the better CPU anyway. But it's not better for gaming.

CPUs should be run at their stock speed for maximun stability and longevity. But, the overclock from say, the speed of an E8400 to the speed of an E6500 is mostly insignificant, and not worth agonizing over.

So, the question is, why do you want to change the CPU anyway?

BTW with your chipset, you can probably find a BIOS update to render it compatible with 45nm CPUs. Hmm, BIOS updates, not that's something I'm not really comfortable with.

 

[Alaric101]

Well my CPU is the one part of my computer I feel isn't really going to be able to keep up with the games industry, I play games atleast once a day for about an hour or so, and they're usually fairly high specification ones too.

 

[captaincranky]

Well my CPU is the one part of my computer I feel isn't really going to be able to keep up with the games industry,

You did state that in the future tense, did you not?

Your video card will limit you before the CPU does. Which is not to say that a CPU can't. You current CPU should be up to the task of most, if not all games released ATM.

If Intel has their way in the not too distant future, we will all have to buy the 5 or 7 (possibly more) "i" type multi core boards and CPU.

If you feel you CPU is limiting you, perhaps you could try a mild overclock on that. But, from what I've read, the quads don't have the overclocking potential that the dual cores do.

I think every gamer should be objective about his or her abilities. If the games are stuttering, or the FPS is too low, then by all means upgrade. If you're just not winning, more practice is likely the better approach.

 

[Alaric101]

Oh yeah I totally agree with you, it's not that I'm upgrading because I'm losing (not more than usual anyway )

I feel that it's best to keep up to date, haven't touched my computer's hardware in about 2 years so I thought it might be an idea to look into upgrading, but if you recommend waiting then I'm fine with that.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The E6700 is still a fantastic CPU for anything today. The only major advantage to getting a 45nm Core 2 is lower heat dissipation and power consumption, which translates to a cooler-running PC and better overclocks in general. But since you have your CPU at stock speeds, it's already pretty cool IMO.
IMO, you should look at spending cash on a new video card if your are primarily going to game on your PC. As cap said, the GPU is the major limiting factor in a gaming PC, not the CPU.

 

[Alaric101]

Alright, thanks for the help guys.

Yeah my CPU's currently running at about 37 degrees, not worried about cooling with my antec 900

 

[captaincranky]

Ya know, I swear you could almost cool your car's radiator with the fans of an Antec 900. Plus, those cases are beautifully "machiney", but without a trace of vulgarity.

I love mine to death!