Best Intel Quad For The Price?

[TJS]

Once again I'm going to do a new build from the ground up, but haven't been paying much attention to the pc world lately. I jumped on Newegg to see what they offered but couldn't really form much of an opinion.

I'm looking for a good budget cpu in the $200-$300 range, quad core, with overclocking potential, up to at least 3.4GHz. My C2D can do 3.6GHz, keep it at 3.5GHz for a little slack, so I want something that does at least as good.

As an aside, I'm doing an m-ATX build, small case, and found a DFI mobo thats coming out, P45 based... anyone know of any better m-ATX mobos out there?

Thanks,

TJS

 

[Mr. Smith]

Bang for buck quad is the q9450, should rock 3.6-4ghz (4 if you're lucky) but the new architecture makes it faster (obviously).

I really like the look of the dual core e8600, you are looking at 4.5ghz easy!

GPU - 4870/260 for mid-high, 4870x2 for high end...

p45 look sweet...

 

[soroosh]

Here is mr recommended gaming PC :

- Q9550 (3.6 GHz will be nothing for this MONSTER) - 310$

- Asus P5Q Deluxe - 180$

- 4 x 1GB Gail PC2 6400(4-4-4-12) : the best for overclocking - 140$

- 2 x Asus HD4870 TOP - 650$

total : 1280

other parts is up to you.

 

[lamboman]

Best bang for buck quad is going to be the Q6600, not the Q9450. That will be good for the 3.6GHz you want to get. The Q9450 is unlikely to get 4GHz, but you'll probably find it topping out around 3.6-3.8GHz. The main problem with those is that you will want to keep the voltage below 1.4V, meaning that the overclock you can get will vary. The Q6600 can handle higher temperatures and higher voltages.

soroosh clearly hasn't read your post at all...

 

[TJS]

The Q6600 looks good, but is it outdated compared to the newer Q9XXX series processors? Don't the Q9XXX series have more L2 cache? The price is about $100-$150 difference, but thats small if the price is still about $300 tops.

As is, I just found out about Nehalem/Core i7, so will probably look to Jan/Feb before ordering the components for a new rig. I'll center it around the new cpu architecture. That said, the P45 will be maturing but will it be replaced soon, and does Intel have anything coming out after the X48 (keeping options open)? I heard the P45 was like the P965 northbridge, very good overclocking and performance for less $$$, which is why I initially wanted to give it the go for a mobo.

(Not a big fan of nVidia chipsets, have had better success with Intel.)

TJS

PS: Thanks for the replies.

 

[Rastalovich]

I`d go Q6x00 myself until they go eol.

 

[ace8uk]

The Q6600 is still a good processor for it's price, even though it lacks the ammount of cache that some of the newer Q9XXX's have. I have heard that the newer Q6600's aren't overclocking as well as the older batches, so if you're willing to spend more on the cpu, I'd go for the Q9450 or the Q9550

 

[Rastalovich]

Even if they only went to stable to 3ghz on air, like alot of the B3s, I`d still get them for the price.

 

[GavX]

I have a Q9450 and got them at lauch, had good luck overclocking getting up to 3.8Ghz (FSB 480!) but beyond that is seeming impossible, but then it generates little heat and has a larger cache compared to the Q6600, which is old hat now anyway, get the Q9 series!

 

[coffeejunky]

The latest batches of Q6600s don't overclock quite so well. So either get a Q6700 or a Q9450. If you can affort it I would go withh the Q9450 its 45nm so should be a bit better suited to a SFF. Both quads overclock very well so you're in a win-win situation.