Q6600. Go Ivy or wait on Haswell

[ukxenon]

i am in the same boat as you and i cannot see the point in upgrading as of yet the only games i play are wow--everquest--starwars and a few single player games

 

[BrianB]

I can't see any point in upgrading my CPU at the moment, kills all my games with the 7970. My next upgrade is the SSD, because opening programs etc is frustrating as hell.

 

[NirK]

Yes an SSD is the biggest upgrade you can do for general windows use and loading times etc. Mechanical drives seem gross after getting used to SSD.

 

[diamount]

I'd wait until next generation of consoles are out before upgrading, then get whatever is the equivalent of the 2500k/3570k at the time. It's a given that games will take advantage of hyper-threading and utilize more cores. So maybe wait and upgrade to the next version of that.

 

[jimhaumman]

i've read about next gen consoles that there might not be such a big jump in graphic.

 

[malachi]

i've read about next gen consoles that there might not be such a big jump in graphic.

That's true, their wasn't much of a big jump between the Xbox and Xbox 360. Apart from games looking abit more shiny, halo is a good example of this.

But whatever next gen consoles bring, will still be abit 'meh' as we have it all on PC for years.

 

[Nutty_Death]

There's not going to be a sudden change in how games run. For the first year atleast it'll probably just be 1080p 60hz versions of previous generation games.

My comment re which cpu to get was based on me not having a PC at all at the moment, so jumping onto Ivybridge seems like the logical choice for me and should serve me for several years, whilst cpu requirements in games change and mature.

 

[NirK]

That's true, their wasn't much of a big jump between the Xbox and Xbox 360. Apart from games looking abit more shiny, halo is a good example of this.

But whatever next gen consoles bring, will still be abit 'meh' as we have it all on PC for years.

Are you serious? Have you actually compared an XBOX game to an XBOX360 game?! XBOX360 looks dated in 2012 but it is still a massive jump from XBOX1

 

[FutileBreadMachine]

Heh, every few months one of these Q6600 threads pop up and I end up saying the same thing . None of the games I play are having a problem with my Q6600@3GHz + GTX470, so there is really no need for me to upgrade. For example, I just started playing Skyrim, with all on high 4xAA and 4xAF and I get 38-42FPS which is more than enough for me. I can also play Assassin's Creed Revelations on full and it's nice and smooth (haven't checked FPS yet though). These games are going to take me ages to finish, so there is no point for me to upgrade. The biggest improvement, like many have said, is to just get an SSD (or 2).

I don't see any must have games coming up which will push PCs like Crysis did either. The only one I am really looking forward to is Bioshock:Infinite anyway, and I believe that is on some version of the UE3 engine (looks like it), so should run fine on my PC.

 

[Energizer Bunny]

That is my spec also, apart from I am not overclocked because I am a noob.

 

[nomadd]

Heh, every few months one of these Q6600 threads pop up and I end up saying the same thing . None of the games I play are having a problem with my Q6600@3GHz + GTX470, so there is really no need for me to upgrade. For example, I just started playing Skyrim, with all on high 4xAA and 4xAF and I get 38-42FPS which is more than enough for me. I can also play Assassin's Creed Revelations on full and it's nice and smooth (haven't checked FPS yet though). These games are going to take me ages to finish, so there is no point for me to upgrade. The biggest improvement, like many have said, is to just get an SSD (or 2).

I don't see any must have games coming up which will push PCs like Crysis did either. The only one I am really looking forward to is Bioshock:Infinite anyway, and I believe that is on some version of the UE3 engine (looks like it), so should run fine on my PC.

This^

 

[Swordfish125]

I Have a q6600 with a gtx 480, handles BF3 on high with no probs, even on 64 man servers.
I want to upgrade though. want new stuff.

 

[crinkleshoes]

Just because you're happy with dips below 30 fps... doesn't mean others are.

"fine" is extremely subjective & unique to the individual.

 

[NirK]

I agree that BF3 needs something better than a core2quad... Definately on anything more than 32 player MP it needs a new CPU...

The thing is though that this is pretty much the only game that actually needs a more powerfull CPU... The other games that actually NEED something better than a core2quad @ 3.3Ghz are every few / some badly programmed.

 

[fdxd]

I just upgraded to a 3770k from an overclocked Q6600 B3 at 3.3ghz. It has made a large difference. Depends on the game and what you do, but i never knew my 560ti was being capped. In games like WOW where you raid 25 man it can make a large difference where my fps would drop to less than 1 fps at times when everyone would blast a boss. 32+ player BF3 is smoother now with no pauses, big framerate changes or stutters. multitasking etc. on desktop is much nicer. I could go on.

The Q6600 is a great chip and its more than done its job for me. Its still useable but a little slow now. I feel the difference in just doing day to day office stuff and am happy with all the new connectivity on z77 For me Ivybridge has been a good move but I think Q6600 has been my smartest buy since its given me 5 full years of good usage.

 

[Ollie1132]

If you wait till haswell you'll just go "go haswell or wait for broadwell?/skylake" etc etc etc.

 

[ubersonic]

If you wait till haswell you'll just go "go haswell or wait for broadwell?/skylake" etc etc etc.

This is very true, especially when you think that Intel are not shouting about the speed of Haswell but its extra features and improved GPU, its unlikely that IB-Haswell is going to be all that greater than SB-IB was (roughly speaking SB+200mhz=IB performance) wheras something previous to SB/IB is a big jump.

 

[mayebaza]

Remember AMD? That why Intel isn't really pushing the boat out with Haswell.

Even upgrading to Sandybridge will show the hidden potential within your current graphics card. I am quite shocked at the increase in performance I am getting from a pair of 5850s with the help from Lucid.

 

[NirK]

If you wait till haswell you'll just go "go haswell or wait for broadwell?/skylake" etc etc etc.

Or you could just constantly upgrade and waste all your money instead.

 

[crinkleshoes]

Or you could just constantly upgrade and waste all your money instead.

For some of us... these upgrades don't use "all" our money