Which cpu

[cooks]

looking to purchase a new pc which cpu is better Q6600, E8400 or e660 or which on should i go for?

[Detale]

Well what are you going to be doing with it. I personally Want the Q6600, and I don't know much about the E8400 but Im sure some of the other guys will know more

[lynx]

Fuck knows.

Why have Intel come out with such an impossible to understand name/numbering convention? It can only be a deliberate ploy to confuse. They may currently have the better processor, but their attitude towards customers still stinks.

[Broken]

The E6600 is a fine chip, it's the one I have.
But it's part of the old Core2Duo line with 1066FSB that's being phased out. So it's overpriced. In fact, the the E8400 runs at a faster factory clock speed with more level 2 cache but it's the same price and some places even cheaper than the E6600.

The Q6600 is basically two E6600 chips glued together on a single die. Currently it's priced about $270, which for a quad core chip is a good price. But, depending on the application the E8400 could be faster than the Q6600, depending if the application in question is multi-threaded. Then again, the Q6600 should easily over-clock to the stock speed of the E8400 eliminating any advantage there.

MYSELF, I would go with the Q6600.
But I could easily build a case to go with the E8400. Just don't get the E6600, fine chip, but over priced and underpowered.

[svr]

I agree with Broken. E6600 is old chip and over priced.

I would go with Q6600 or E8400 depending if I need quad-cores or not. Propably with Q6600 because I keep dreaming about supreme commander :)

[clocker]

looking to purchase a new pc which cpu is better Q6600, E8400 or e660 or which on should i go for?
As always, the most important piece of info is what you want to do with the PC.

[cooks]

really only use pc to download stuff movies etc and view hd content. also could someone recommend a decent graphics card for around £60-80? thank

[Broken]

For the light use that you seem to need any of the processors you suggested is overkill.
I would look at the Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 ($124.99 USD). It has lots of power, and is probably one of the best "bang for the buck" deals out there right now. In fact, if cash is an issue, I would even recommend something in the Intel Dual-Core line (starting around $70 USD), still plenty of power for basic task that you seem to be doing.

If you're not gaming, but doing HD video, like you said. ATI offers the Radeon HD 2600PRO, not a gamer's card, it was designed with specifically with HD video in mind (note the HD in the card's name, lol) and other general light use where on-board video solutions just won't cut it. And being in the $80 USD range, it's relatively inexpensive.