e6700 vs e6600 (for me)

[System]

hey guys,

I'm Down to the final stages on my new build and waited on the price drops for intels CPUs and they came. Now its time for me to decide which to get and after days of browsing reviews and forums I'd still like another person's opinion and perhaps confirmations on info I've read.

To start this off, I'm not going to bother listing all the specs on these CPU's as most of us know the "only" difference is 266 mhz in processing power (and if you must see the specs just follow the links I provided =D).

I've read that the e6700 achieves this by using a multiplier of 10 vs the e6600's multiplier of 9.

I'm still new on the overclocking and multiplier part but from what I've gathered is that the higher the multiplier, the higher you may clock your CPU with out increasing FSB which in turn leads to what your MOBO/RAM can handle.

The lower the multiplier however, the higher the FSB is and effects your RAM too.

My mobo supports 1066, 1333 and up FSB. My ram is pc8500, up to 1066 mhz. My cpu cooler is a Zalman 9700.

MOBO: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...681&cid=MB.157

RAM: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...79&cid=RAM.475

CPU cooling: http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...084&cid=FN.349

case (with fans included): http://www.canadacomputers.com/index...391&cid=CS.664

One last thing, the price differences of the CPU's from the store I'll be buying from:

e6700: http://www.icct.ca/index.php?main_pa...oducts_id=1501

e6600: http://www.icct.ca/index.php?main_pa...oducts_id=1429

Yes, I know its like $110 difference, but that is nothing to me if it means that I'll be happier knowing I went the extra mile to have something that'll last a bit longer down the road.

Ideally, I think I'm leaning towards the E6600. cheaper and lower multiplier and my mobo/ram should take it. Then again, I'm not going crazy on a water cooled system either. Anyways, thoughts and suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!

[cloakster]

Re: e6700 vs e6600 (for me)

I would highly suggest to spend the extra $15 and buy the E6600 from canadacomputers. I have never heard of icct.ca and i wouldn't trust them.

For the CPU heatsink, if you are into overclocking then the Zalman 9700 is not a good choice. The best reason to buy that cooler is if you want a very silent, but good cpu cooler.

For the RAM, going for PC2-8500 is not worth it. Going with PC2-6400 ram will be plenty for overclocking.

[System]

Re: e6700 vs e6600 (for me)

the only problem with canadacomputers though is that they are dry on e6600s

I called in and they said that they do not know when they will get a new batch in. icct's store isn't too far down the road from canadacomputers location either.

I made a mistake when I first started building this system, I didn't read about OC'ing the cpu. I already bought the ram over a week ago trying to save on a rebate (which turns out they lowered the price furthermore after that rebate which pissed me off).

Just out of curiousity, is the pc6400 better because it can go up to 1000+ mhz after clocking it vs the stock clock of 8500 at 1066mhz which may over heat if OC'd higher without proper cooling?

Yes, my zalman is a quiet fan but it does come with 3 speeds though you probably already know that. I'm not talking about massive crazy OC'ing, i just want to pump out a bit more power. nothing much. ie e6600 to 3ghz or maybe e6700 to 3.26 ghz?

I've heard people (well read) using the stock fan/heatsink and clocking the e6600 to 3ghz easily.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: e6700 vs e6600 (for me)

if you can find buffalo firestix @ 6400 they are super. they use the same chips in their 8500 ram, and still have a little more room for o'cing.

best price/performance cooler is the arctic cooling freezer 7 pro. best cooler period says "thermalright" on the box.

wut I did (not necessarily what you should door even thing of doing unless you're in my specific situation) was to put a very nice system together with a dirt cheap intel 915. that gets you dual core 65nm (cooler-er) processing that is o'c able to 3.5 with no sweat, and have fun tinkering with overclocking (just don't fry the ram/mobo!!!).

when the quad cores come down in price to the current price for an e6600 (~$260-$290 in Q4) THEN upgrade and get literally 2x the processing power on the same nice system.

What to do with the extra 2x cores...

...

...

...the world...she is your oyster.

oops. must be the whiskey...back on topic, the diff between a 6700 and a e6600 would be negligible and you're talking about the price of two-or-three new games for a chunk of hardware that will not provide a meaningful benefit.

get the cheaper of two top dog parts. always. my advice, your money...

...so your advice always wins, though.

[System]

Re: e6700 vs e6600 (for me)

Hahaha

Ok thanks man, I was leaning towards E6600 anyways. Thats two people agreeing to stick with the E6600 so I will do that.

I read about the quads coming down to the prices of the e6600 in Q3 around august maybe late august. I already planned it out to upgrade to a quad later too, I guess I just got overly excited about the e6700 dropping so rapidly in the last week.

That and tigerdirect, the original place I was going to buy from, is 772 bucks still! Lol.

I actually just finished returning an OEM E6600 for 300 there. I figure may as well pay cheaper for the retail box, maybe I might get a sticker to put on my tower too - who knows? ^_^ lol.