Is a Core2Quad still relevant nowadays?

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deanx0r

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
274
I've had this Core2Quad rig for 5-6 years now and never felt like I needed any extra oomph. With my recent move to Mac, buying a new rig/CPU just for gaming seems a little bit irrelevant. I am just trying to push this rig as far as I can, buy I am just amazed on how far people have been pushing these Sandy Bridge CPU.

I just picked up a 6970 and am now having doubt whether I have the CPU horsepower to push this card, or if the card is even enough to push my monitor. Thoughts?

C2Q @ 3.6GHz
Asus P5B-Deluxe
4GB of Ram
GTX460 768MB to 6970 on an Apple LED display (2560x1440).
 
I'm still lingering on a Q6600 at stock speeds. I still feel it's a relevant processor. Would love to upg, but buying a house puts my hardware wishlist on hold.

I am admittedly not playing bleeding edge games. But RO2's recommended is a 2.6 Quad, so now I'm wondering.
 
I have the exact same setup, a C2Q 6700 @ 3.6 with a 6970 and was wondering the same thing because I am getting stomped by someone using a 6 core AMD @ 3.8 with a GTX295 in most benchmarks (we have turned physx off when possible and same outcome). And the Video scores are higher, not just CPU. Of course in game I don't notice a HUGE difference and we're at different resolutions (me 1680x1050 and he at 1920x1080), but his sure does seems to run a little smoother even though at my rez, it shouldn't even make the 6970 work. Always wanted to throw my 6970 in his machine and see what it would run like. I'm also buying a house so upgrading is definitely out, but just throwing in my .02

Edit: Edited to make more sense.
 
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I have 0 problems with my Q6600 @ stock....although I haven't gamed on it lately...
 
Ethereal said:
I have the exact same setup, a C2Q 6700 @ 3.6 with a 6970 and was wondering the same thing because I am getting stomped by someone using a 6 core AMD @ 3.8 with a GTX295 in most benchmarks (we have turned physx off when possible and same outcome). And the Video scores are higher, not just CPU. Of course in game I don't notice a HUGE difference and we're at different resolutions (me 1680x1050 and he at 1920x1080), but his sure does seems to run a little smoother even though at my rez, it shouldn't even make the 6970 work. Always wanted to throw my 6970 in his machine and see what it would run like. I'm also buying a house so upgrading is definitely out, but just throwing in my .02

Edit: Edited to make more sense.
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The GTX295 is no slouch and nearly evenly matched against a 6970. You seem to be expecting that it would be significantly slower.
 
Anything within 3 generations is relevant, that is a tick-tock-tick cycle. It takes a few years to fully increase the speed by an order of magnitude. 2~3 years approx.
 
I just upgraded from a Core2Duo E4500 to a Core2Quad Q6600. Literally installed it about 2 hours ago. I never even ran it at stock speeds, I immediately set the bus from 266 to 333 x 9 and hit 3.0ghz at stock voltages.

It completed Intel BurnTest on standard 5 passes, and then high at 5 passes.

I paid 65 dollars.

I think it's still relevant, because I've seen benchmarks that put a Core2Quad at my settings (333x9) even or better than a Phenom II x4 945 (same clocks).

It's not high end, but it's no slouch, especially at 3.6. I haven't begun to push this thing, I just instantly hit 3 ghz and I'm letting it chill and run some background crunching to let the arctic silver melt and get in the grooves.
 
Well, I've got the Q6600 to 3.33ghz. Just needed a slight voltage increase. However, I've hit the limit of this cooler. 81 degrees sometimes running Intel BurnTest. It passed, but I need to figure out some better cooling before I try to go higher. First thing I'm gonna do is add a second 120mm fan to my hyper 212+ for push/pull.
 
i'd say it's still relevant... my dad bought a damn qx9775 for 70 bucks on craigslist. runs paces with my i7 920 @ 4 ghz.
 
I have a Q9450 (Core2Quad). At 3.6GHz I get about 55 GFlops in IBT. :cool: With a 120mm Delta fan, Prolimatech Megahalems, and Arctic MX-4 thermal paste she never gets above 46*C on the hottest days. On cooler days she stresses to about 36*C, and idles at 24-26*C. In the server room where it is air conditioned to 68*F, she gets around 14-18*C idle and 26-28*C stress. I think the CPU overclock has the voltage set somewhere between 1.4v and 1.5v.
 
Wow, Cerulean, that temp is LOW. Mine's at 3.33 ghz right now with voltage at 1.37, and under Intel Burn Test temps reached 81 briefly! Granted, that heatsink you've got is better than mine (Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and I've only got one fan on it) but still!

How much difference would adding a second fan make? I'm hesitant to try a higher overclock with the temp already reaching 81. That's only when doing the burn test, but I'd rather it be no higher than 70 on the burn test.

I'm using Arctic Silver Ceramique compound. It's probably not the best either.

EDIT! I see yours is the 45nm version, mine's the 65nm. That pretty much explains it, heh.
 
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Well, I just ordered another matching fan for my Hyper 212+. Push/Pull ought to help some. But I still think my temps are a bit too high... I applied a very thin layer of paste, just like I always do, and when screwing the sink down, I tightened one a bit, then the opposite, in order to provide continuous even tension. Something seems off. Then again, it's a 65nm CPU at 3.33ghz on air. I guess that's kinda high?
 
I think anything from the Core 2 line is relevant. Hell, Id even say a Core 2 Duo with a healthy overclock will handle damn near any game on the market if paired with a solid video card. Those were awesome procs.
 
Mad Lion said:
Wow, Cerulean, that temp is LOW. Mine's at 3.33 ghz right now with voltage at 1.37, and under Intel Burn Test temps reached 81 briefly! Granted, that heatsink you've got is better than mine (Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and I've only got one fan on it) but still!

How much difference would adding a second fan make? I'm hesitant to try a higher overclock with the temp already reaching 81. That's only when doing the burn test, but I'd rather it be no higher than 70 on the burn test.
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C2Q is still very relevant. Mine was recently running Just Cause 2 and Mafia 2 @ 1920 X 1200 on a GTX260-216 with no problems until I did a complete reshuffle of my hardware and 'demoted' it to Server status to handle the increased streaming and file/print sharing that's been in use here. As for the usability and stability of C2Quads
I've had a Q6600 running @ 3.2 GHz / 1600 FSB since I bought it Nov 2007 with core voltage at 1.3125, PLL voltage at 1.66 rock solid folding on all 4 cores. Temps have recently been 71C on warmer days and it's been moved under the workbench right next to the OC'd X4 so the ambient air is warm already. I've been using a Zalman 9700 on it as the radial pattern helps blow air across the NB heatsink as well which gets pretty warm at 1600 MHz. The Hyper 212 is better than stock and sufficient for a dual core but I'd use something else for a quad. Zalman CNPS10X's are better and quieter than the 9700 or 212 and can be outfitted push/pull if desired. Now that I mention it the 9700 is noticeable ... I think I've got a CM Aquagate around here somewhere ...
 
Well, I'm gonna add the second fan and reseat it with the best thermal paste out there first. If I can get my Intel burn temps to 72 ish, I'll probably be fine with that.

I'm running Prime95 now and it's usually 68-71.

And that's with one fan. So I figure, with a second fan, this oughta be o.k.

I'm not going to buy a new heatsink that costs just as much as I paid for this processor, lol. I got this Q6600 G0 for 65 shipped... why would I spend another 70 dollars on a heatsink?

EDIT: The matching Coolermaster PWM fan for this heatsink is on its way, as well as a Y splitter so I can run them both from the CPU fan header.

Hopefully, this lowers the temps to reasonable levels.
 
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Mad Lion said:
Good price for a G0 which is an excellent proc and also the one I have. I only paid $39 for my Zalmans - they're the Performa version of the CNPS10X which works quite well and got great reviews on several tech sites. Cools my 1090T OC'd to 4 GHz and fully loaded folding on all six cores in a warm room to 50C. Hopefully your second fan gets your temps down enuff, if not the Performa might warrant a look ;)

P.S. I see the price on the Zalmans is now $42
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hmz said:
Your cpu has enough juice to handle any game you throw.
Click to expand...

Not really cpu limited games like COD BO, Flight Simulator X, and so on.

I would never team up a 6970 with a Core2Quad. Not enough to take full advantage of that GPU. I think as a minimum you should use a i7 or i5 quad. Nehalem and Sandy Bridge quads or better should be your target if you have the money. If you don't have the money to spare then don't worry.
 
Mad Lion said:
How much difference would adding a second fan make?
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In my scenario I concluded it would have been better not to add a second fan in that it would have been more of a blocking obstacle than a functional component. The Delta fan pushes air through the heatsink out the back. The back has some standard 120mm Yate Loons helping to push air out the exhaust, as well as two more 120mm Yate Loons above the heatsink (adjacent to each other) pushing air out the top. I considered mounting a fan on the other side of the Prolimatech M-M-M-Megahalems but thought that it might actually hinder the performance of the Delta fan.

If I get a new fan, it will be this: Delta PFB1212UHE-F00 120mm 50w 252cfm 67dba

I would rather replace all my fans with that. Anyone who gives a cuss about noise should consider investing in high quality headphones and a better physical setup to mitigate noise without dropping the fans. Cuss it with low noise fans and mediocre heatsinks; go all out for maximumumum haorse powaerrr!!!11!

Unfortunately my DDR2-1066 RAM is extremely limiting and horrible to overclock, so 3.6GHz was the highest I have gotten. My goal was to hit 4GHz stable. And 4GB of RAM isn't enough either. I need at least 8GB and preferably 16GB of RAM, plus overclocked.

What is the average GFlops you get in IBT?

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dheYccfQWo I want to order like 6 of these now.
 
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I just benched my system at 333x9= 3.0ghz, 333x3=1000mhz RAM DDR2 8GB.

I get 39.42926 GigaFLOPS average.

I saw as high as 41 while fucking around with various scenarios. My system just runs to hot to get high enough to matter.

My case sucks.

I'm gonna leave this as it is for now... almost 40 gigFLOPS at stock voltage.

My only spare fans are a couple of old loud 80mm Sunons that I can't mount anywhere in this case.
 
My system can't do 400mhz bus. It just won't work. But I've got 367x9 =3.303
and my RAM is overclocked toom at 917mhz

43.56 GigaFLOPS

Not fucking bad...
 
Saturn_V said:
I'm still lingering on a Q6600 at stock speeds. I still feel it's a relevant processor. Would love to upg, but buying a house puts my hardware wishlist on hold.

I am admittedly not playing bleeding edge games. But RO2's recommended is a 2.6 Quad, so now I'm wondering.
Click to expand...

CPUs with (at least) VT-x support are practically the only Intel CPUs that are relevant - and this is especially true in LGA775. Why?

1. Intel is not producing single-core x86 CPUs any more. (Atom isn't x86 - therefore, it doesn't count.)

2. LGA775 (as a platform) goes EOL likely around Christmas of this year.

3. LGA1155 is being pushed hard - the biggest push is coming from the direction of i3 and i5, as opposed to the recently-unveiled Pentium G. It's gotten to where you can go i3 barebone for under $300 - brick and mortar, and including tax. (And that includes a Z68 motherboard in full-size ATX and 8 GB of DDR3-1600.) It's getting darned hard to resist and NOT upgrade when it gets this cheap.

If i3 pricing sinks much further, LGA775 will have no relevance left at all - even for cheapskates.
 
PGHammer said:
If i3 pricing sinks much further, LGA775 will have no relevance left at all - even for cheapskates.
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True, I've been looking hard at the 530 and it's overclocking ability for a while. Something about the entry level chips being able to perform so far above their stock clocks...

Hence the e4300 at 3.4GHz I've run for 5+ years now. Trooper.
 
My wifes Q6600 at 3.0 with an 8800GT still plays all current games. Maybe not with all the eye candy turned up, but it still plays nice and smooth. I'd say with a vid card upgrade that machine could tackle any current game with all the candy on. Still relevant.
 
For a gaming PC, its probably the lowest processor you'd want to be using to still have good performance, but its not horrible. If you're thinking of upgrading, I'd wait until Bulldozer/high end on the AMD side is fully released, and if you are a big spender, the Sandy Bridge-E kit, just to make comparison of price/performance between AMD AM3+, SB 1155 mainstream and SB2011 enthusiast platforms. I wouldn't spend any more money on a Core2 proc at the moment, unless you get a really great deal like someone offering a Core2Extreme quad for $50 or something, just to hold you over until your next platform change.
 
I haven't found any good reason to upgrade with anything but a SSD drive for several years. Still on a Q9550 @ 3.4 Ghz, 4GB RAM and GTX260. Still runs pretty much anything decently as long as you don't go above 1920x1200.

Somehow it seems that aside from professional software like 3D rendering etc where nothing is fast enough, purely for gaming there haven't been any real improvements to warrant getting a new rig. It's a far cry from the move from single core to dual core.

Software developers don't seem to be pushing the envelope anymore. I mean even Crysis 2 actually ran better on my system than Crysis 1.
 
For gaming, the C2Q is still fairly competent. But for video editing (especially with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.x), fuhgeddaboudit. In my testing with CS5 5.0.3, the C2Q Q9450 with a 512MB GeForce GT 240 card managed to be slower than even a dual-core i3-2100 with integrated Intel HD 2000 graphics.
 
Hold off for now since you seem content. I'm personally upgrading my i7 920 when Haswell comes out.
 
Yeah... Q6600 is a legend! Pair it with HD6790 to play all games detail enough on 1920x1080
 
That's_Corporate said:
I think we need a sticky for this topic

This "is a Q6600 still good?" topic comes up once a week.
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Second this. I've been going through the same dilemma myself over the past 3 weeks. At this point it seems inevitable that I will switch to 1155, because some part of my brain has decided I really want to build a new system.
 
I think I put this rig together in 2008. A RAM upgrade and new video card was all she needed.... I'll probably bite on bulldozer or Ivy bridge once they've been out about 6 months.

I play everything 1920x1200 just no AA, which my eyes usually can't detect on a 24"
 
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