E6850 3.0 Ghz vs Q6600 2.6 Ghz

[Crixx_Creww]

Guys lets get some figures up on this one

New egg has them for same price... $279 USD

So is it the former performance king the 6800 or the quad core mid range.. same price

lets get the usual sources in on this and see which is best bang for buck

[Spazosaurus]

I'll say the q6600 hands down. Despite the 6850's high stock speed, "only" 2 cores is its downfall. Even if these days multi threaded apps are sparse and even if I dont get any more frames in Crysis with a$280 Q6600 than my $115 e4300, things wont always be like that. Besides, the Q can reach 3Ghz and beyond quite easily.

For those willing to spend big on their CPU's q66 FTW. Otherwise, wait for the 45nm derivative of the q6600 when its available.

[Prowl]

dual cores are still not fully used, less so for quads but for future proofing the quad wins.

[Arcmanov]

Quad-core biatch.  With the right cooling, it can easily be OC'ed to 3 GHz.
Actually, the Q6600's stock speed is 2.4 GHz eh, not 2.6 GHz, but no biggie.