Q9450 VS. Q6600 OCed

I wouldnt count on 3.6 with the newer Q6600 even with WC. I'd get a Q9450 and a high-end air cooler and call it a day...

So you could achieve a same level of overclocking even with Q9550 with Air cooling? (on the frequency level, that is)

with a Q9450 youre guaranteed 3.3-3.6
with a Q9550 youre guaranteed 3.4-3.8
with a NEWER Q6600 youre guaranteed 3.0-3.2
with an older Q6 youre guaranteed 3.2-3.5

all of this considering you have a good aftermarket cooler (tuniq tower, xigmatek, TRUE, vendetta2)

It all really depends on the chip & motherboard.Each on will oc different,you just never know.But with the q9450 you'll need to run your fsb at 450 to achieve 3.6,because of the multi(8x).Where as with the q66 it has a multi of 9x.Either or will do IMO,but as of right now I think I would go with the newer chip.

Holy.... the old ones' for the Q6600 OC guarantee was at 3.5Ghz, if I recall. Why did it drop so significantly all of a sudden?

for the price i'd go with a Q6600.....as long as it's a G0....look in the for sale section....

depends how bad you want water cooling if it was up to me i would rather have a good chip (Q6600) and a nice water cooling system

I'd just get a Q9550, it's virtually the same price as the Q9450 and you'll probably hit 4GHz.

Yeah with WCing you'll hit 4.0 easy.

But are you sure all the newer G0's are 1.3 VID+? I know most of them are but I'm pretty sure some people strike gold with one < 1.3 VID.

Look at the proof in my SIG..It´s on Air..It´s an 24/7 Setting..Easily could be over 4.0 Ghz..But depend on other components in the Sistem too...
I stick with the 9450, or better for the same price the 9550!!

get the Q9550 for SURE.. it's only a few dollars more. and cheaper at some places if you get a deal... if you can get an E0 stepping then great. if not then oh well. I've seen almost everyon Q9550 get to 4.0 Ghz on Air.. they are amazing chips for sure.

I'd do that for sure!

my friend just got a Q6600 from TD and it was a 1.2750 VID. I was amazed! either way a Q9xxx is better.

I'd go for the Q9450. It will probably clock higher than the newer Q6600 and has 12MB of cache. It's also 45nm and has SSE4.1 so is cooler and has a newer instruction base.