DL.TV

episode 183 (1x183)

Air date: Jul 17, 2007

STUFF • Alex had a question about the Intel Q6600 and E6850 processors. Specifically he wanted to know which would be a better choice for a multi-tasking/gaming PC since both processors would be priced equivalently in the coming week. The Q6600 is a quad-core part running with a 1066MHz FSB and clocking in at 2.4GHz. The E6850 runs at an even 3.0GHz on the new 1333Mhz FSB. The question ultimately depends on software really. More heavily multi-threaded apps will be better taken advantage of using a quad-core processor like video encoding. The E6850 has a faster clock speed and front side bus than the Q6600 so it will be faster with CURRENT crop of games. Down the line however as games become more multi-threaded that could change and the Q6600 could be better. On over clocking front there's much more head room on the Q6600 than the E6850 which is already near the limit. Go with the E6850 if you want faster performance with current games and non-multi threaded apps or pick the Q6600 if you want potentially better performance down the road and chip more flexible when it comes to overclocking. • Dell power supplies from machines built between 1996 and 2000 can kill non-Dell motherboards. Thanks to Mark, Joe and "The Amigo" for giving us the specifics on this. It's a pin out issue on the 20 pin connector... it looks like standard ATX, but it isn't! • Oh... "The Verticle Thingy On The Keyboard" ... it's called a Pipe. Thanks to David, Michael, Kirby, Bill, Brian and Greg for writing to inform Roger and Patrick • E3 was downsized this year so the expectations weren't big as the 1UP crew made their way through this year's event. While Sony made some big announcements regarding a revised PSP that's slimmer, lighter, color and coordinated along with a $100 drop in PS3 pricing all turned out to be non-news stories as attention focused on the upcoming games his fall and early next year including up and coming PC shooter Crysis in all of its DirectX 10 glory. • Rya