Q6600 to E8500 question

I have a Q6600 and was considering overclocking but after reading about it, it seams easier to just upgrade as i am also running sli (with a 680i which has no quad overclocking so i would have to get a new mobo) but i want to know how much of a performance increase would i get if i moved to a E8500 or 600. I think my CPU is my bottle neck as i have 4GB RAM 2x8800 GTS 512MB. I also think my 680i is a fairly good overclocker for dual cores. What would the performance increase be?

cant OC at all they are just not good quad overclockers but especially bad on the yorkies

well it doesnt and thats with a core temp of 20degrees and a antec extreme cooler

Sounds like your just trying to find an excuse to ditch that Q6600.

The 680i can overclock a Q6600 just fine, it will hit 3.2ghz at the very least with acceptable voltage on that board. And you say coretemp says the chip runs at 20c, thats also nothing to complain about, thats extremely low.

Are you going about your overclock in the correct way?
Are you keeping your memory speed below or at it's rated speed? That is the first thing that will kill your overclock, overclocking your memory.
Your quad, on your board, should be able to 3.0ghz without any problem with only a simple change to the FSB speed. (changing your memory multiplier to keep your memory running at it's rated speed first)

If you do end up upgrading, would you be interested in selling your Q6600?
I'm looking for one, for a ray tracing build. So it would be great if I can get it used.

Just curious, but exactly what are you doing to hit your bottle neck that requires an upgrade?

Hi dude i have a e8500 that runs at 3.8 GHZ i will do a swop with your q6600 if you want and i am in the UK just let me no kk all gd. email me at j.lancett@ntlworld.com

Wait...youre using TWO 8800GTS's at 1280 x 1024? SLi/Crossfire dosent even show any benefits until 1680 x 1050......

Go and buy yourself a new LCD screen... 24" preferably.


Seems you didnt do much research buying your rig... not only is SLI a waste of money at that res in alot of benchmarks it will actually give you lower scores.

Something like that, try turning on the sli indicators via the NV control panel and then run a game like COD 4 or 5 @ 1280x1024 and then @ 1680 x1050 to see the difference.

At stock speeds yes. But like somebody else already susgested, youre better off getting a new motherboard since you think thats the problem and overclocking the Q6600 to 3.2-3.6ghz. Or take the risk of your blame and buy a E8500 and watch it not OC either.

Still dont believe you cant OC that Q6600 on your 680i.

Hmmm..ok. Well at this point its really a toss up. If you drop the quad and go for the dual youll at least get to sell that Q6600 for $100+ and recoup some loss. If you replace that mobo with one that can OC the quad then youre stuck with that 680i, nobody wants those boards.

Q6600 to E8500? Quite simply, dont bother. The Q6600 is an EXCELLENT chip all on its own, and basically had to flip a coin when choosing that or an E8400.

While you MIGHT see something of a gain by qoing to an E8500, long term that won't be such a good choice. In a year or two, most every game out there will be designed with Quads in mind - look at the benchmarks on here for supreme commander.

What you should do - save the time, money, and headaches (!) keep your Q6600 and mobo. The Q6600 is an excellent overclocker all in its own - do your homework on that. That and look into investing in a larger PC cooler.....