Cat 5 vs cat 6 cables

Question

I need to order some new cables to connect a new quad core xeon and an older dual core xeon to a gig switch. I am considering spending some extra money on getting cat6 cables, just wondering if is worth spending the extra money for the cat6 cables (in terms of performance/reliability), or if I am wasting money on the cat6 cables...
Thanks

Answer 1

The wire itself is usually a smaller fraction of the total cost of installation, and it's also what you're going to be "stuck with" and using for at least a few years. You're stuck with what you pull, at least until you pull something new, or until whatever finally supersedes 802.11n comes on-line.
I'd wire in expectation of 10 GbE right now; that's Cat6, Cat5e (350 MHz) or Cat6a wiring. The sites I'd wired for 100 MbE and Cat5e (350 MHz) are now all running GbE over that same cable, too.
It's often effective to pull more wire than you might immediately need. Look to pull a 25-pair Cat6+ cable in some runs, or fiber, or both, as you will then have spares should testing find cable fault(s), and you also have room to expand. While you have the walls open, consider dragging an RG6 or fiber, too.
Beware: there are at least two different "Cat5e" versions floating around in the wiring industry; there's a 100 MHz version and a 350 MHz version that's rated above some of the Cat6 versions floating around.
Again, the wire is the cheap(er) part of the effort.