Help on upgrading please

RoyalMarine · 10-12-2010 12:49am

definatly be careful on the price. i sold a qx6700 (extreme edition) about 6 months ago on adverts for 170 i think.

id pay no more than 70 for a q6600 / q6700

Solitaire · 10-12-2010 12:49am

Does the QX6x00 seires have an unlocked multi? That would explain why its so popular...

RoyalMarine · 10-12-2010 1:43am

yeah it was unlocked. amazing to overclock really. loved it. but gave it up for a core i3.

ibFoxer · 10-12-2010 1:52am

Solitaire wrote: »

Keep an eye out on Adverts!

Usually I wouldn't urge you to upgrade this minute but the supply of second-hand Q6x00s is starting to slow down and you can't exactly OC either of your C2Ds on those machines - a Q6700's stock speed of 2.67GHz trumps both of them even at single-threaded apps!

Hmmm, if by any chance you happen to come across one and I'm not available (sometimes it can be days before I get a chance to log in) would you consider putting a bid on? Naturally I wouldnt usually ask but I'm going to be slammed on the run up to Xmas cos iv been out sick the past week.... If you'd rather not I understand but hey, no harm in askin right??

ibFoxer · 10-12-2010 1:57am

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

definatly be careful on the price. i sold a qx6700 (extreme edition) about 6 months ago on adverts for 170 i think.

id pay no more than 70 for a q6600 / q6700

Cheers for the heads up, I was kinda thinkin in or around the ton. If I could get away with 70 I'd be laughing cos I'm definitely gona have to outsource the fitting if it, not a task I'd have much self confidence in!!

Solitaire · 10-12-2010 2:00am

Normally I'd be saying you're silly and you could easily do it but its one of those 9200s with the stupid snapping shroud clips on the BTX cooler isn't it?

ibFoxer · 10-12-2010 2:12am

Solitaire wrote: »

Normally I'd be saying you're silly and you could easily do it but its one of those 9200s with the stupid snapping shroud clips on the BTX cooler isn't it?

I'll warrant that I havent got a clue......

It could have tiny hamsters in a glass wheel powering it for all I know about the insides :P

Ah no, I joke. But ya, all jokin aside, iv never seen the insides of one of these and all google seems to do is throw laptops at me for a 9200 so it will be a learning curve. I SUPPOSE if push came to shove I could attempt it but if I mess up first time I'm probably rock/hard place. What I might do is throw a few snaps up tomorrow and see what you guys say then. More importantly than any CPU change I will have to get it up and running with the HDD and Ram swap, ntm the gfx. I would be inclined to assume that it has sufficient space for the 5570 with a full profile instead of the way it is in the 360 with the lp adaptor? Looks to be a bigger case? Would also think I might have space for a second HDD? Unless I'm way off the Mark....

Solitaire · 10-12-2010 2:19am

Oh, I know all too well what's lurking under the hood; I just cant remember the exact procedure to take off the shroud without breaking stuff

Here's the Service Manual's take on things anyway

ibFoxer · 10-12-2010 2:33am

Solitaire wrote: »

Oh, I know all too well what's lurking under the hood; I just cant remember the exact procedure to take off the shroud without breaking stuff

Here's the Service Manual's take on things anyway

Hmmm, looks relatively straightforward. I might need to cast a more awake eye over it though. Some interesting support options though.....not too sure the rents will be getting a new pc just yet.....

Solitaire · 10-12-2010 2:56am

Even if you suddenly turned into a huge gamer (and on a Full HD screen too!) a Q6700+HD6850 combo should keep you going for a long time and not stress the PSU too much either (most 9200s and XPS410s shipped with decent Delta 375W PSUs IIRC - something like 350-360W of that on the 12V rails

)

For the moment, an E6600+HD5570 should be more than enough for DoW2

ibFoxer · 12-12-2010 2:33pm

Solitaire wrote: »

Even if you suddenly turned into a huge gamer (and on a Full HD screen too!) a Q6700+HD6850 combo should keep you going for a long time and not stress the PSU too much either (most 9200s and XPS410s shipped with decent Delta 375W PSUs IIRC - something like 350-360W of that on the 12V rails )

For the moment, an E6600+HD5570 should be more than enough for DoW2

Not only does it play DOW2 on the highest settings, plays L4D 2 & Crysis (as if id want to)

Next thing is 2 more gigs of RAM and i think i'll be set (until i get that CPU)

Thanks again Solitaire, think im goin to have to start paying you at this stage!! But seriously, i would be nowhere without your help, and everyone else's help to boot. Thanks Lads!!

ibFoxer · 13-12-2010 9:56pm

@ Solitaire: Do you think i have enough power for a blu-ray drive?

Solitaire · 13-12-2010 10:36pm

On which machine? Theoretically both, they add close to zero under most conditions and peak at just over 20W when running flat-out on a dual-layer disc

ibFoxer · 13-12-2010 10:42pm

Solitaire wrote: »

On which machine? Theoretically both, they add close to zero under most conditions and peak at just over 20W when running flat-out on a dual-layer disc

New machine, im thinking of adding one in time for xmas and hooking it up to the 32" wia dvi to hdmi adaptor

Solitaire · 13-12-2010 11:57pm

On the new Dimension it would be a drop in the ocean, that thing comes with a Delta N375P00

ibFoxer · 14-12-2010 12:06am

Solitaire wrote: »

On the new Dimension it would be a drop in the ocean, that thing comes with a Delta N375P00

I see........ thats the PSU? Is it a good un then?

Solitaire · 14-12-2010 1:02am

375W overall, 350W+ of that as raw 12V power. And Delta is a good OEM to boot. Dell didn't cheap out on the PSU at least :P Its not going to be able to run a supercomputer but its enough to run a medium-power quad CPU and a medium-power graphics card with a nice big safety margin

ibFoxer · 14-12-2010 1:06am

Solitaire wrote: »

375W overall, 350W+ of that as raw 12V power. And Delta is a good OEM to boot. Dell didn't cheap out on the PSU at least :P Its not going to be able to run a supercomputer but its enough to run a medium-power quad CPU and a medium-power graphics card with a nice big safety margin

Happy out so. I have to ask, how do you know so much about this stuff?

Solitaire · 14-12-2010 2:03am

Seen/encountered/researched it before at some point

Lots of Dim9200s and XPS410s floating around out there!

ibFoxer · 19-12-2010 2:53am

Solitaire wrote: »

Seen/encountered/researched it before at some point Lots of Dim9200s and XPS410s floating around out there!

I guess over time i will learn too

Have been offered a 40gb ssd for 70 lids, its an intel one i think, should i grab it?

Solitaire · 19-12-2010 10:56pm

What type is it? I wouldn't worry too much, your system probably wouldn't get that huge a benefit from one, you'd need Windows 7 to get full use out of a good model and a decent 60GB model can be had for under €100 new if you keep your eyes open.

ibFoxer · 19-12-2010 11:20pm

Solitaire wrote: »

What type is it? I wouldn't worry too much, your system probably wouldn't get that huge a benefit from one, you'd need Windows 7 to get full use out of a good model and a decent 60GB model can be had for under €100 new if you keep your eyes open.

Windows 7 is under the hood as we speak, although its only 32bit ultimate

But ya, i think its the intel x25 40gb, was thinking of putting the OS on that as my main drive and using the other for everything else.

Solitaire · 19-12-2010 11:35pm

IMHO you should focus on CPU and GPU upgrades over a SSD. It only really affects loading and boot times, it gives little improvement in performance to programs once they're already loaded into the RAM

ibFoxer · 19-12-2010 11:41pm

Solitaire wrote: »

IMHO you should focus on CPU and GPU upgrades over a SSD. It only really affects loading and boot times, it gives little improvement in performance to programs once they're already loaded into the RAM

Cool cool, any GPU recomendations?

ibFoxer · 09-01-2011 11:15pm

Hi guys,

couple of quick questions in relation to the CPU:

Would it have to be a Q6700 or would a Q6600 be a good enough step up? & would i need to get the appropriate fan for the CPU too or should the one i have be ok?

Cheers

Monotype · 10-01-2011 9:13pm

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=29765
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=30790

The main difference is 2.4GHz vs 2.66GHz. The Q6700 was released later and would be a newer revision. The Q6600 comes in two flavours - the B3 stepping and G0. The G0 would be better. I believe that the Q6700s were all G0. If you see a good deal on the Q6600, it would be still reasonably good performance, but you'd want it to be considerably cheaper again to accept a B3.

ibFoxer · 10-01-2011 10:08pm

Monotype wrote: »

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=29765
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=30790

The main difference is 2.4GHz vs 2.66GHz. The Q6700 was released later and would be a newer revision. The Q6600 comes in two flavours - the B3 stepping and G0. The G0 would be better. I believe that the Q6700s were all G0. If you see a good deal on the Q6600, it would be still reasonably good performance, but you'd want it to be considerably cheaper again to accept a B3.

Here is one i was thinking of bidding on http://cgi.ebay.ie/2-4GHz-INTEL-CORE-2-QUAD-Q6600-CPU-SOCKET-775-PROCESSOR-/250754507209?pt=CPUs&hash=item3a622221c9

Not too sure if thats a good one or not so good one though :P

Monotype · 10-01-2011 10:20pm

Are you living in the US? You could get charged import VAT and duties on that.

ibFoxer · 10-01-2011 10:25pm

Monotype wrote: »

Are you living in the US? You could get charged import VAT and duties on that.

I can get them sent to my Cousin and my Aunt will be out there at the end of Feb so she can bring it home. Simples.

But i'd naturally sooner get one quicker than that........

ibFoxer · 12-01-2011 1:28am

Monotype wrote: »

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=29765
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=30790

The main difference is 2.4GHz vs 2.66GHz. The Q6700 was released later and would be a newer revision. The Q6600 comes in two flavours - the B3 stepping and G0. The G0 would be better. I believe that the Q6700s were all G0. If you see a good deal on the Q6600, it would be still reasonably good performance, but you'd want it to be considerably cheaper again to accept a B3.

Just to update, Q6600 G0 on the way, will see how that goes before deciding what next....

Help on upgrading please

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