Q6600 to 2500K for BF3?

[tweakboy]

Yo wont notice jack of difference if your LGA 775 was OCed to 3.6 or above. My BF3 1080ps 8xCSAA 16xAF high detail, vsync on , game details Ultra tweaked, FPS is locked @ 60fps never goes down below 55fps ,,, once in a while goes to 51 percent for a split second,,,,,,,,

The CPU usage is 65 percent AVG.

The CPU usage on a Sandy would be 35 percent.

Pointless upgrade... Wait until a 8 core 16 thread desktop comes out man your fine.....gl

 

[Vic Vega]

You don't need 2500K to play BF3 maxed out with high min FPS and no lag/stuttering. My rig does it. Is the 2500K a better CPU? Sure. Can I tell playing BF3? Heck no.

It might be a worthwhile upgrade, it might not. If you could eek another 400-500 MHz out of that 6600 you're set.

 

[Smartazz]

Yo wont notice jack of difference if your LGA 775 was OCed to 3.6 or above. My BF3 1080ps 8xCSAA 16xAF high detail, vsync on , game details high, FPS is locked @ 60fps never goes down below 55fps ,,, once in a while goes to 51 percent for a split second,,,,,,,,

The CPU usage is 65 percent AVG.

The CPU usage on a Sandy would be 35 percent.

Pointless upgrade... Wait until a 8 core 16 thread desktop comes out man your fine.....gl

I have to disagree with you here. Your CPU usage may be at 65%, however single threaded speed is still important. By the way, CPU usage on my 3.6GHz 2500K is around 75%. 64 player servers used to be difficult to play on my 3.2GHz Q6600 and now I absolutely love those big conquest and rush games. I just hated having a frame rate drop amid an intense firefight that ended up killing me. The worst part about a CPU bottleneck is that changing the graphical settings doesn't help.

 

[Smartazz]

You don't need 2500K to play BF3 maxed out with high min FPS and no lag/stuttering. My rig does it. Is the 2500K a better CPU? Sure. Can I tell playing BF3? Heck no.

It might be a worthwhile upgrade, it might not. If you could eek another 400-500 MHz out of that 6600 you're set.

Your 4.1GHz Phenom II X4 is no slouch and is considerably faster than the Q6600. Keep in mind that the Q6600 is first Kentsfield/Conroe and not Yorkfield/Penryn. The Phenom II is more on par with the Yorkfield quads as opposed to the Kentsfield quads. Keep in mind that not all Q6600s will be able to get to ~3.5GHz.

 

[suklee]

I just played a couple hours of BF3, and the difference between my Q6600 @3.1 and i2500K @4.5 is pretty big. Very noticeable. The game is way smoother and my 560ti is pegged at 97-100%. Definitely very happy with the i2500K. I didn't really know wtf I was doing in the BIOS, I just changed the multiplier to 45 and voltage to 1.35v... haven't primed or anything like that, but if it's stable in BF3 it's good enough for now

 

[Puppies04]

Yo wont notice jack of difference if your LGA 775 was OCed to 3.6 or above. My BF3 1080ps 8xCSAA 16xAF high detail, vsync on , game details high, FPS is locked @ 60fps never goes down below 55fps ,,, once in a while goes to 51 percent for a split second,,,,,,,,

The CPU usage is 65 percent AVG.

The CPU usage on a Sandy would be 35 percent.

Pointless upgrade... Wait until a 8 core 16 thread desktop comes out man your fine.....gl

Just because you report your CPU at 65% useage doesn't mean you won't see the difference upgrading to a 2500k. BF3 like all games doesn't spread out evenly over all cores your q6600 @3.76ghzx might be good but a 2500k at the same speed would be an improvement and one running at 4.5ghz would chew it up and spit it out.

 

[Vic Vega]

I just played a couple hours of BF3, and the difference between my Q6600 @3.1 and i2500K @4.5 is pretty big. Very noticeable. The game is way smoother and my 560ti is pegged at 97-100%. Definitely very happy with the i2500K. I didn't really know wtf I was doing in the BIOS, I just changed the multiplier to 45 and voltage to 1.35v... haven't primed or anything like that, but if it's stable in BF3 it's good enough for now

Sounds like a winner! Your OC experience mimics my own... changed the multiplier and that's it. I've never "tested" mine for stability either but hours of gaming and over a year of use without a crash is proof for me.

Congrats! Enjoy it!

 

[Smartazz]

I just played a couple hours of BF3, and the difference between my Q6600 @3.1 and i2500K @4.5 is pretty big. Very noticeable. The game is way smoother and my 560ti is pegged at 97-100%. Definitely very happy with the i2500K. I didn't really know wtf I was doing in the BIOS, I just changed the multiplier to 45 and voltage to 1.35v... haven't primed or anything like that, but if it's stable in BF3 it's good enough for now

Glad to see your experience was similar to mine. Enjoy!

 

[suklee]

OK question for all you SSD lovers in this thread... ()

what's the smallest drive I can get away with for Windows Vista 64 + BF3? I've got everything set up now on my old 640GB Seagate drive and it's taking ~55GB or so. Is a 64GB drive enough?

 

[LoneNinja]

OK question for all you SSD lovers in this thread... ()

what's the smallest drive I can get away with for Windows Vista 64 + BF3? I've got everything set up now on my old 640GB Seagate drive and it's taking ~55GB or so. Is a 64GB drive enough?

Battlefield 3 is over 14GB to download, probably larger with the expansion out now, and I'm sure it'll grow larger with future patches/expansions.

 

[suklee]

Could it download stuff to my secondary drive (the 640GB) but install on the SSD?

80GB minimum for SSD then?

PS. By "everything" above I meant I've already set up Vista x64 + BF3 - it's taking up about 50GB with B2K.

 

[intelfan]

Yes is enough

 

[dagamer34]

Any reason you cant wait until Ivy Bridge? Die shrinks are always nice for better overclocks and cooler temps.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I was able to install BF3 and the packs install BC2 with plenty of space left over on my 64gb ssd.

 

[suklee]

Is that including windows?

 

[Smartazz]

Battlefield 3 is currently the only game on my SSD. I play it most of my games, so fast load times are only important in that game to me.

 

[suklee]

Smartazz, you have windows and bf3 installed on your ssd? How much space do you hav free?

I'm now at 1.33V (BIOS setting) with a 45X multiplier. I used Speedfan to log my temperatures and under BF3 I saw a max of 67C for my GPU and 71C for my CPU. Are these temps acceptable? It is winter though so the ambient temps are lower.

btw, Are there other BIOS settings or tips for ocing I *should* be aware of?

To replace the stock cooler, I'm keen on the Hyper 212 Plus... problem is I don't know if it will fit (159cm), and I'm not sure which CM case I have. It looks like a Cooler Master Elite 335 and from the height restriction PDF it says it will fit.

Edit: just found out the 212 Evo is a newer version, so will get this one instead.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Is that including windows?

That does include windows 7 64 bit ultimate.

 

[suklee]

That does include windows 7 64 bit ultimate.

Tempting, may pick up a 64GB SSD soon then. Not looking forward to the Windows install all over again (but at least it'll be blazing fast?)

 

[fastamdman]

Just wanted to chime in here a little bit. As far as your temps go suklee they are fine. A hyper 212 EVO would be absolutely beast. I have had both the plus and the evo and the design of the EVO is MUCH MUCH better/smarter. I was actually mad when I saw the base of the 212+ but they made up for it in price. The evo though is a much better cooler. I noticed a slight drop in cpu temps without anything else being changed. It's hard to have an apple to apple comparison living in an apartment where ambient temps change occasionally, but at 72f with a full load *running folding at home* on 1.37vcore for 4.5ghz I am at 53/62/60/56 with 63c package temps.

Those temps are a little high because I am gaming right now *play WoW* and my gpu is at 61c. If my gpu wasn't as hot the cpu would be a little lower.

Either way, the 212+ and 212 evo's are great coolers for the money and really it's all you need. I can pump over 1.5 volts through my evo and it will keep my 2600k under tjmax

 

[Smoblikat]

Current rig: q6600 @3.1ghz, ep35-ds3l, 8gb, 560ti, 640+500gb hdd, vista x64

Current use: bf3, and that's it. Will probably try installing OS X on a spare HD in the future though. I game at 1920x1200 and notice slight lag on 64p servers. I also see that my GPU usage goes as low as 75%.

Thinking of going to a 2500k with 8GB DDR3 RAM, on one of these mobos, though I am not sure of the differences:

Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3
Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3

Where I live I'll be forking out about US$430 for 2500K + mobo + 8GB RAM and I figure I can sell my Q6600 + mobo + RAM on eBay for ~ US$130. I'm okay with spending the difference on the upgrade assuming the change in performance is noticeable.

• RAM for the 2500k: what speed should I go for? I'll be shooting for a moderate overclock.
• My Corsair VX550W should be okay for the new CPU/mobo yes?
• other tips & advice, or anything else I should consider?

Instead of the gigabyte mobos why not try the ASrock Z68 extreme3, also RAM overclocking on SB is almost impossible since its max RAM voltage is the stock voltage for almost all RAM.

 

[suklee]

Just wanted to chime in here a little bit. As far as your temps go suklee they are fine. A hyper 212 EVO would be absolutely beast. I have had both the plus and the evo and the design of the EVO is MUCH MUCH better/smarter. I was actually mad when I saw the base of the 212+ but they made up for it in price. The evo though is a much better cooler. I noticed a slight drop in cpu temps without anything else being changed. It's hard to have an apple to apple comparison living in an apartment where ambient temps change occasionally, but at 72f with a full load *running folding at home* on 1.37vcore for 4.5ghz I am at 53/62/60/56 with 63c package temps.

Those temps are a little high because I am gaming right now *play WoW* and my gpu is at 61c. If my gpu wasn't as hot the cpu would be a little lower.

Either way, the 212+ and 212 evo's are great coolers for the money and really it's all you need. I can pump over 1.5 volts through my evo and it will keep my 2600k under tjmax

Thanks for chiming in :thumbsup:

Can't wait til I grab one of the 212 evo's... did you add that 2nd fan for pull?

 

[ArchAngel777]

I vote for SSD. A q6600 to 2500K isn't as much of a difference as an e8200 to 2100

I would also ask if putting that money difference in the video card (with selling your 560ti) would do more

Good catch! I read the E8200 and instinctly thought Q8200 because, well... Who has a dual core anymore? Then I thought - What? My Dad is running a Q6600 @3.2Ghz with BF3 and it is perfectly fine in multiplayer. When I stopped by his house a few days ago and fired up BF3 to see what it was like (I was testing it out to see if I should upgrade his rig for him) and I was impressed with how well the Q6600 is holding up.

While it is true that with some of these newer cards, the Q6600 isn't beefy enough to push them in some of the more recent games, the fact of the matter is that the CPU is able to push, in most cases, a constant 60fps, provided the GPU is able to handle it. So while a 2500K @ 5Ghz might get 180 FPS and the Q6600 gets 90FPS, were still over the 60 mark, which should be just fine. Thus, making the Q6600 @ 3Ghz+ a very decent gaming CPU. No reason to upgrade, IMO, unless youy have some outliar of a game that truly needs that type of power. But, I can't really think of one...

Botton line? That Q6600 is just fine. Nothing wrong with upgrading either, though.

 

[tweakboy]

Yes I understand how single threaded speed matters you guys are correct.

But Im sticking with what I said, at least for my experience. Ill never know more then 60fps since I use vsync @ 1ms ,,, so shure a 2600k like my dads will make that 60fps 80fps for example... but I dont need it.

 

[Smartazz]

Smartazz, you have windows and bf3 installed on your ssd? How much space do you hav free?

I'm now at 1.33V (BIOS setting) with a 45X multiplier. I used Speedfan to log my temperatures and under BF3 I saw a max of 67C for my GPU and 71C for my CPU. Are these temps acceptable? It is winter though so the ambient temps are lower.

btw, Are there other BIOS settings or tips for ocing I *should* be aware of?

To replace the stock cooler, I'm keen on the Hyper 212 Plus... problem is I don't know if it will fit (159cm), and I'm not sure which CM case I have. It looks like a Cooler Master Elite 335 and from the height restriction PDF it says it will fit.

Edit: just found out the 212 Evo is a newer version, so will get this one instead.

16.8GB free currently, but there's downloads and other files that I haven't moved off the SSD yet.