OCing Q6600 vs QX6700

[qazwsx]

Originally Posted by Finrir

ok i have another question. is there any difference in the quality of the overclock between the Q6600 and the QX6700?

the QX6700 would just increase the multiplier, so it would just give you a higher clock speed, but the Q6600 you mess with the FSB which would also change the memory speed. it has been shown that a higher memory speed does result in better performance but its marginal and only if you dont loosen the timings.

[Capper]

The QX6700 has the unlocked multiplier, which lets you OC the CPU independently of the rest of your system....but honestly, thats really not any different or better than increasing the FSB, etc. My experience has taught me that most of the time, these processors all end up in the same neighborhood when all is said and done.

I've been running the Q6600 all week, and though I haven't had any time to really tweak it or even push it, I've got it running 333x9FSB @ 1.312V....with temps at 42 idle/56 load......which is about what you'll see with the new QX6850. Keep in mind that this is a really basic OC, and i'm sure with more time i could get 3.2-3.4GHz out of this processor.

As to the memory, running the same clock speed, you'll see better benchmarking scores with tighter timings, mostly the CAS latency, and Command rate (1T or 2T). However, higher clock speeds mean more bandwidth, which is a good thing........keeping it simple, just remember to get the timings as tight as possible, while getting the overall memory clock speed as high as possible.

I've never really believed in throwing money at the "Extreme" processors, I've done it, but to be honest, our community is all about value, or bang for the buck, and in all honesty, you can spend $280 on a Q66000 and see about the same performance you'll see out of the Q6850 that people are dropping $1000 on. Keep in mind also that almost all reviews are written using cherry picked engineering samples, and usually a month after a processor hits the street, theres going to be a lot of bitching about overclocking experiences not equaling what the reviewers got.

Also, looking around the web, I'm seeing a lot of talk about B3 steppings vs G0 steppings......everyone wants the G0......but if you look at the results, theres almost no real difference between the two....a few degrees temp wise, but they're both running about the same VCore (which varies from processor to processor), and as to overclocking, the results are about the same, with a few exceptions of people with golden chips...

My advice, if you are planning on overclocking, and clock speed means more than anything......grab a E6850 that might hit 4GHz......if you are planning for the future, or don't mind setting the affinity in the task manager, grab a Q6600 and modestly OC it to Q6850 levels.

[Lokie1]

The Q6600 has a 9 multiplier and a 266 fsb.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Lokie1

The Q6600 has a 9 multiplier and a 266 fsb.

He had it overclocked to 9x333FSB.

[Lokie1]

I meant what stix said. He said the Q6600 had a stock 7 multipier and a 333 fsb. Scroll back and take a look for yourself.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Lokie1

I meant what stix said. He said the Q6600 had a stock 7 multipier and a 333 fsb. Scroll back and take a look for yourself.

Ahh, OK, thanks for clarifying. Yes, I agree, what ST!X said is wrong and the default multiplier for the Q6600 is 9 and the stock FSB is 266MHz.

BTW, Welcome to HardwareLogic!

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

My vote would be to set up a PC with the Xeon X3210 Kentsfield 2.13GHZ. Will clock likely just as far as a Q6600
Higher Multiplier ... cheaper price quad ... a better chip and leaves room to grow ... when better chips come out.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Tech Geek Deluxe

My vote would be to set up a PC with the Xeon X3210 Kentsfield 2.13GHZ. Will clock likely just as far as a Q6600
Higher Multiplier ... cheaper price quad ... a better chip and leaves room to grow ... when better chips come out.

Yeah, that looks like a really interesting chip... bang-for-the-buck at it's best!

[Dread]

Here is a spreadsheet I whipped up to show the relationship between
the FSB and the frequency of the CPU.

I used a Q6600 as an example, and showed multipliers from 6 through 12
as examples. This is an Office 2007 Excel document, can be opened with
a free veiwer from MS, Office 2007 or OpenOffice.

[Lokie1]

Well here are the first results on my new setup. P5K premium,Q6600 Go. 2 Gigs crucial ballistics tracer. Running at 3.960. Temps are 36c 37c idle. Havent really had a chance to tweak it yet i still have alot of stuff to figure out with this board because it has alot more tweaks in the bios than my ds3 does.