Upgrading my PC Q6600 --->i7

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SYNERGY

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Hey guys

Current Machine:

Q6600 ---> For sale
Gigabyte X48 DQ6 ---> For sale
4GB Ram ---> For sale
ATi 5850
V8 - Cooler Master
128GB Crucial SSD
2 x 2TB
2 x 1TB
2 x 500GB
Thermaltake Shark Case

Will be upgrading the processor,motherboard,ram.

Looking at the i7 2600k,GA-Z68XP-UD4-B3,2x4GB Ram.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Will be overclocking.

Thanks :)
 
looks a nice setup , will be a nice boost!!

could save money and go for asus mb like asus z68 series, if you want to.
 
First and foremost - main purpose of the machine? 2600k is overkill for gaming, and you could easily save R1000 by going for the 2500k
However, if you do a LOT of renders the 2600k will be worthwhile. Thats basically the only area where the close to 50% higher cost of the 2600k is worthwhile. I've done extensive research in the past days as I have the exact same choice to make: 2600k or 2500k. I'll be going for the 2500k since I spend less than 5% of my time doing renders, or other highly threaded taskss

That board is fine, pretty much any board nowadays is fine. Perhaps on the OC front, consider a mobo with 8+2 or more power phases, this helps ensure a stable voltage is delivered to the CPU, which increases chances of a stable OC. But only the real cheap boards have less than that so it should be an issue.

Also remember when looking for RAM, 1.5V is key!! Sandy Bridge has a limit of 1.58V on its memory controller, so 1.65V RAM could actually kill your chip.
 
Last edited:
Silverlight said:
If 1.65 is as dangerous as you say than mine would've died/degraded months ago.
Click to expand...

1.58 (or, more accurately, 1.575, i.e. 1.5 + 5%) is Intel's max recommended voltage.

I don't know the perils of going over (whether it will reduce lifetime like 1.4v+ Vcore), but I have RAM that runs below that, so I ain't worrying.
 
So lets see... the OP has the opportunity to buy 1.5V RAM (at basically the same price as higher voltage RAM) which will definately not damage the IMC within CPU, and people are saying he should rather take a chance and go for higher voltage RAM that could damage the CPU? Do people think Intel posts random maximum voltages just for the fun of it? I find this illogical...
Yes sure, the chances are small, and quite likely the IMC can handle the higher voltages, especially for short periods. But what if the OP happens to get a slightly less robust chip?
 
Last edited:
Archer said:
First and foremost - main purpose of the machine? 2600k is overkill for gaming, and you could easily save R1000 by going for the 2500k
However, if you do a LOT of renders the 2600k will be worthwhile. Thats basically the only area where the close to 50% higher cost of the 2600k is worthwhile. I've done extensive research in the past days as I have the exact same choice to make: 2600k or 2500k. I'll be going for the 2500k since I spend less than 5% of my time doing renders, or other highly threaded tasks

Will look into that.

That board is fine, pretty much any board nowadays is fine. Perhaps on the OC front, consider a mobo with 8+2 or more power phases, this helps ensure a stable voltage is delivered to the CPU, which increases chances of a stable OC. But only the real cheap boards have less than that so it should be an issue.

Z68 UD4 has 16 Phases

Also remember when looking for RAM, 1.5V is key!! Sandy Bridge has a limit of 1.58V on its memory controller, so 1.65V RAM could actually kill your chip.
Click to expand...

Thanks- will look into the RAM. I know the motherboard does support Intel's XMP profile:)
 
Dont look into it, I'm telling you right here, right now :p
But hey, if you can afford the extra R1000 for a 2600k, then why not I guess :D I know I would really really really like to have one!
 
SYNERGY said:
Hey guys

Current Machine:

Q6600 ---> For sale
Gigabyte X48 DQ6 ---> For sale
4GB Ram ---> For sale
ATi 5850
V8 - Cooler Master
128GB Crucial SSD
2 x 2TB
2 x 1TB
2 x 500GB
Thermaltake Shark Case

Will be upgrading the processor,motherboard,ram.

Looking at the i7 2600k,GA-Z68XP-UD4-B3,2x4GB Ram.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Will be overclocking.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I thought about upping my Q6600 to an i5 for my home PC. My solution was to OC the pants off my Q6600. Running nicely at 3.6. If it dies then it dies. :).
 
Going for the i2600k. Will make use of it :)

Motherboard has been changed to the Asus Maximus Gene Z due to stock constraints :/

Total R4500 incl vat
 
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