Q6600/Q6700 vs Q9550

[greenpanda]

I currently have an Asus P45 board with a E2180 running at 3.2ghz.

I am thinking of upgrading to the Q6600 which I heard can get upto about 3.6ghz on air.
Other options are the 45nm Q9 series. However, I have heard these are less tolerate of high volt even thou they do run cooler.
I am hearing 4ghz for Q9550.

The Q9650 is unlikely as it is so much more expensive but then again this would be the last possible CPU upgrade on a redundant format so I am tempted to get the best. What would you guys recommend bearing in mind there is about £60 difference in price between the Q6600/Q6700 to the Q9550?

1. Is the Q9550 that much better than a Q6600 G0/Q6700?
2. Are there other Q9 series that are also good bang for bucks overclockers?
3. If the Q6600/Q6700 is only gonna do 3.6ghz, is there any point in upgrading when my E2180 is at 3.2 ghz anyway.


EDIT: forgot to mention, I will def be overclocking

[Terbinator]

I got my Q6600 to 4GHz using a Freezer 7 Pro, safe to say I didn't keep it at that speed for too long. Personally I would go for a Q9550, 4GHz should be easily attainable with these, although you would probably only have to take it to 3.2GHz. What cooler are you using as well btw?

[Iaink]

I currently have an Asus P45 board with a E2180 running at 3.2ghz.

I am thinking of upgrading to the Q6600 which I heard can get upto about 3.6ghz on air.
Other options are the 45nm Q9 series. However, I have heard these are less tolerate of high volt even thou they do run cooler.
I am hearing 4ghz for Q9550.

The Q9650 is unlikely as it is so much more expensive but then again this would be the last possible CPU upgrade on a redundant format so I am tempted to get the best. What would you guys recommend bearing in mind there is about £60 difference in price between the Q6600/Q6700 to the Q9550?

1. Is the Q9550 that much better than a Q6600 G0/Q6700?
2. Are there other Q9 series that are also good bang for bucks overclockers?
3. If the Q6600/Q6700 is only gonna do 3.6ghz, is there any point in upgrading when my E2180 is at 3.2 ghz anyway.


EDIT: forgot to mention, I will def be overclocking

exact same boat, my E2180 is at 3.8 Ghz though, decided to take the plunge and go for a second hand Q6600 (proven overclocker, will do 3.6Ghz easily) as a Q6600 at 3.6 will be much faster than an E2180 at 3.8ghz, not because of the extra cores (trhey mean F all for gaming) but bvecuase of the extra cach, E2180 doesn't gain much above 2.6Ghz because of the restricted cache

[Terbinator]

exact same boat, my E2180 is at 3.8 Ghz though, decided to take the plunge and go for a second hand Q6600 (proven overclocker, will do 3.6Ghz easily) as a Q6600 at 3.6 will be much faster than an E2180 at 3.8ghz, not because of the extra cores (trhey mean F all for gaming) but bvecuase of the extra cach, E2180 doesn't gain much above 2.6Ghz because of the restricted cache

I hope your not going to be playing Bad Company 2 then :confused: Apparently it runs like a slideshow on any Core 2 Duo. Although i haven't played it on a C2Q/PII it was making use of 6/8 threads on my i7 860 at around 80% each core and its been overclocked too 3.33GHz.

[Iaink]

lol, i'm not, don't worry :P i'm not that heavily into gaming tbh, don't have the time, I mainly play older games aswell :P

[greenpanda]

exact same boat, my E2180 is at 3.8 Ghz though, decided to take the plunge and go for a second hand Q6600 (proven overclocker, will do 3.6Ghz easily) as a Q6600 at 3.6 will be much faster than an E2180 at 3.8ghz, not because of the extra cores (trhey mean F all for gaming) but bvecuase of the extra cach, E2180 doesn't gain much above 2.6Ghz because of the restricted cache


Wow, 3.8 ghz on a E2180 is impressive.

I am using a Freezer 7 Pro too.

The thing is; I keep thinking Q9550 at 4ghz is not really gonna be that much faster than a Q6600 at 3.6ghz ...

[Iaink]

it will be quite a bit faster, but ask yourself if it's worth it? is it worth pouring £160 (or however much they are) into essentially a dead socket?

It will be faster though, clock for clock the 45nm CPUs are about 10% faster, so at 4.0Ghz it should be noticably faster


Wow, 3.8 ghz on a E2180 is impressive.

I am using a Freezer 7 Pro too.

The thing is; I keep thinking Q9550 at 4ghz is not really gonna be that much faster than a Q6600 at 3.6ghz ...

that's using a TRUE black, was going for 4.0Ghz (100% OC) but fell a bit short :(

[Terbinator]

You won't need to go above 3.2GHz to make sure there is no CPU bottleneck in your system. I recommend getting a better cooler though unless your not put off by the noise of a jet taking off next to you.

[marsey99]

q9550 only gets hot when your really up the voltage, i run mine 24/7 @3.6ghz and its under voltaged so very cool running.

the only reason i would tell someone on 775 board to get a q66/67 is if their board isnt up to clocking a 45nm quad but you have a p45 which if its an above average modle you should be great to 4.25ghz and maybe a little more.

£160 will get you marginally better stock cpu if you go with another socket but that also means new board and new ram too which takes the overall cost up and wont give you massive performance gains outside of the benchmarks for that extra cost. wether its worth it is upto you, i mafe my mind up and my box specs are the bottom link in my sig if you want my choice.

about q9550 ocing

they all seem to do 3.8ghz without any tweaking other than fsb but once you get above that it takes time and trail and error but it is doable so dont give up, links in sig for my max oc's :D

[Terbinator]

What cooler are you using? The suggestion he wont need a high end cooler also assumes he'll be lucky enough to get a cheap as tolerant as yours.

[marsey99]

What cooler are you using? The suggestion he wont need a high end cooler also assumes he'll be lucky enough to get a cheap as tolerant as yours.


i have an ifx-14 and both it and the cpu are lapped so my temps are very good, but they only got high when on more than 1.4vcore before i did that and thats enough voltage for 4.25ghz.

i assume you ment chip as tolerrant? as mine isnt from a great batch tbh as i know of others who can do the same speeds with upto 200mv less than i need :(

[Terbinator]

A decent cooler then (and lapped, nice :D) I don't know which the OP is using so he might need an upgrade - If he's talking about 3.8GHz to possibly 4GHz he's obviously going to have to start upping the Vcore in which case it will get hot with a crap cooler :)

[marsey99]

http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15015

:D

[.Alan.]

I got my Q6600 to 4GHz using a Freezer 7 Pro, safe to say I didn't keep it at that speed for too long. Personally I would go for a Q9550, 4GHz should be easily attainable with these, although you would probably only have to take it to 3.2GHz. What cooler are you using as well btw?

What motherboard was that with?

[Terbinator]

What motherboard was that with?

Gigabyte P45 UD3R, I think. Before I had the Q6600 in there it got my E6550 up to 3.38GHz absolutely top board for overclocking - not so good RAM wise though.

[greenpanda]

I have a Asus P5Q-E and a Freezer 7 Pro cooler.

Iaink is probably right about pouring £160 on a redundant format. But I have heard that Q9550 at 4ghz is pretty much par with icore7 anyway (not withstanding the i7 can also be oc) and changing mb, ram and cooler for i7 is gonna set me back another £250.

[Terbinator]

Probably best trying to pick up a second-hand C2Q rather than buying new - if i was to be sinking ~£160 into a CPU now it would be for an i5 750.

[theelusiveyoda]

i've had my q9450 at 4.5ghz on water but that was only screenshot stable

[greenpanda]

Q6600/Q6700 seems to be amazingly expensive on e-bay usually reaching £100-£115 inc P&P.

Considering Scan, e-buyer were selling Q6700 for only £125 9 months ago ...

hmm.. £115 for a second hand chip with no warranty and a good chance its been overclocked with shorten lifespan or at the very least not a very good overclocker hence the sale ...

What the hell is wrong with these e-bayers!!!

[marsey99]

its supply and demand, no more coming onto the market but people still want them, thats why i got the 9550 last year when it was £145 as it was cheap.

flea bays not as cheap as people seem to think anymore, yes you will find some right bargins but for the most part places like aria are just as cheap.

if you want to get a 2nd hand one fs threads on forums will be your best bet, yes it will most likley of been clocked but they will tell you upfront how high and on what voltage if you ask. tbh if your going for a q66/7 i wouldnt be to concerned about it being clocked as they are almost bullet proof.

[ZodiarK]

Q6600/Q6700 seems to be amazingly expensive on e-bay usually reaching £100-£115 inc P&P.

Considering Scan, e-buyer were selling Q6700 for only £125 9 months ago ...

hmm.. £115 for a second hand chip with no warranty and a good chance its been overclocked with shorten lifespan or at the very least not a very good overclocker hence the sale ...

What the hell is wrong with these e-bayers!!!

I'll be selling my G0 Q6600 soon 2 years warranty left not been overclocked.
For probs about £80

[lewees]

I have a Q6600 on an asus p5q premium, which I can easily get stable to 3.42ghz but I struggle to get to 3.6ghz without having to exceed intel's maximum suggested voltage.

But i'm using a megahalems to cool it so temps are only at 42 degrees C idiling and 75ish on IBT.

So if you're desperate for 3.6ghz I'd sugggest the q9550.