Q6600 - quick one....

Paul. W · 24 May 2010 at 16:03

Getting a second Q6600 today.....giving one to a friend, however ill be OC'ing whichever one I keep.

Is lower VID = better potential OC? Just so know which one not to give away

Blue Cypher · 24 May 2010 at 16:04

in theory yes lower VID is better, however it isnt a 100% gurantee, but it does tend to be that way

Regarding overclocking anyway

Diggsy · 24 May 2010 at 16:04

Yes, normally, but not always. Stepping can be just as important.

Someone else on here recently posted the ideal steppings.

What the lower VID will do is help with heat. Less voltage required = less heat.

Blue Cypher · 24 May 2010 at 16:05

Yeah diggsy got a point, G0 stepping is the way to go

Diggsy · 24 May 2010 at 16:08

Hmm, I seem to be talking tripe today

I meant to say batch, the batch can be quite important, but yes G0 is a must.

EDIT - knew I had read it somewhere on here recently...

Quote from Pneumonic...

90% of the 4ghz+ Q6600 have come from two batch numbers: L737B and L745A

alex24 · 24 May 2010 at 16:12

Lower VID has more overclocking headroom as you have more volts to play with, though typically as you increase volts, a lower VID chip heats up more quickly than a higher one, so you need good cooling (often water) to take it to its potential. So, if you're air cooling it's probably swings and roundabouts unless it's a particularly high VID without much voltage headroom for safe 24/7 OC. There is a general correlation with VID and OC ability, but for an average clock you're not going to have much trouble with a G0 chip, though I hear the newer ones aren't as good as the older batches of G0s. If it's a B3, get rid, in general they're not good clockers and use more power.

Paul. W · 24 May 2010 at 16:17

Both of them are GO stepping, so thats fine.

Ill be cooling mine with a H50. I just want to hit a nice 3.6ghz with as little volts as possible, as the PC is normally on 24/7.

Ill post up the numbers when I get this second one later, im sure you guys wil be able to tell me straight away which one is 'a keeper'

alex24 · 24 May 2010 at 16:35

Well, there's no guarantee that the lower VID will have lower temps at 3.6GHz. The best way to find out would be to test them both, though it's a little more work!