Q6600 vs E8500 vs Q9550 vs QX9770

Hello everyone,

I currently have the old Q6600 CPU, but was wondering if it is worth upgrading it to an E8500, Q9550, or QX9770? My EVGA 780i-SLI motherboard has been rather unstable, so I have not bothered overclocking this CPU. As it is, my BIOS does not post first try, it takes several tries for my system to boot up. I would love to overclock it, but as it is, does anyone think it's worth an upgrade?

A Q9550 is not a bad investment from a Q6600 since it alone is higher stock and will OC better too.

If you have the money I would suggect this one though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] Tpk=Q9550S

Its a Q9550 but has a 65w TDP thus it will run cooler.

Anyone else have any issues with the EVGA 780i-SLI? Would upgrading the BIOS help with the stability and overclocking, or would anyone advise against flashing the BIOS since it has trouble enough as it is with booting up?

I was thinking, could the ram cause the computer to not boot on the first try every time? It takes me several tries before the system beeps, and the BIOS loads.

I'm running this ram right here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] Tpk=996580 along with the EVGA 780i-SLI motherboard.

Also, I cannot set the ram to 800 MHz with 4-4-4-12 timing without the BIOS complaining its too high. Right now it's running at 400 MHz at 5-5-5-18 timing. Sound like I need new ram?

OP the simple answer to your problem is to run the Q6600 at 333FSB and this gives you a 3Ghz result ... more than you need to run anything on a single GPU card.

Instead of running 9 X 266 you simply need to run 9 X 333.

Any Q6600 will run the above at stock core voltage, providing it has good cooling - so ditch the stock cooler for a decent heatpipe job.

Remove and clean the RAM gold connectors with an eraser and reseat them.

You won't need to shift the ram timings as your only going to run it at 333 (667) ... not 400 (800) anyway.

The mobo will do the job easily.

As jimmy suggested the 9550S uses less power (runs cooler) and is a 45nm (12 Mb cache) product and the Q6600 is an older 65nm (8Mb cache) product but the increase in IPC for the cost is simply not good value for money ... unless it was a new build.

I suggest you crank up the Q6600 and extend the life of your system that way first.

I suggest you re-flash the bios.

That's also a possible alternative 100Iboy ... good idea.

You are ... 65nm vs 45nm ?

I'd personally suggest an E8200 or E8300 which is a bit cheaper.

Point is the E8 series have the largest cache and overclock easily really well.

The Penryn core also has a few extra extensions and a slightly higher IPC as well as a lower TDP than the ealier 65nm core, plus the larger cache.

If you can get one cheap and overclock it, it is a good alternative.

The celeron quads are not much chop in comparison.

I'd overclock the Q6600 under a better cooler myself, but my point to 100Iboy was that isn't the only answer.