Q6600 Still Worth It?

gibb · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:48

I have come across a cheap used Q6600 with low VID that can get to 3.6ghz. I have had some problems with my 5300 so I think I might take this path. However I was interested in what your opinion of the Q6600 is now. The chip would cost about £40 in total, I know it used to be amazing but is it still a good chip?

Is it going to be much better at 3.4ghz than a E5300 at 3.2ghz? This is especially important in new games like GTAIV and BFBC2.

I don't and will not have the money for a new socket setup in the foreseeable future so if I do not take this Q6600 I am unlikely to upgrade my CPU for 2-3 years. People say games are going to become more multi threaded, but will the old Q6600 architecture be able to take advantage of this?

paradisiac · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:52

they are still pretty good, the problem is its an old socket, which is what puts people off. personally at £40 i would snap it up, it will make you pc snappier, and if you are having issues with the current cpu then its a good value for money upgrade.
i dont think the way the quad core works on the 775/i5/i7 chips works any different in essence, so if more game become multicore optimized then the benifits would be shared.
unless you have a need to upgrade everything they i would say go for it.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:53

A Q6600 for £40 is excellent value for money and if you sell you E5300 the upgrade would cost even less.

The Q6600 has 2MB of L2 cache per core unlike the E5300 which only has 1MB and this makes up for any architectural improvements the newer E5000 chips have.

At stock settings the Q6600 is much faster than an E5300 for gaming:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=53&p2=98

However the Q6600 does run hotter and consume more power than an E5300 so I would make sure you have a decent CPU cooler if you are overclocking it!

Uther · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:55

I think an overclocked Q6600 will hold its own for a couple of years yet.

gibb · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:56

Wow, those gaming performance increases are impressive, particularly in Left 4 Dead.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:59

I went from an E4500 at around 3GHZ to a Q6600 at around 3GHZ and it was a fantastic upgrade TBH!! I like the fact that after selling my E4500 it only cost me something like £30!!

PeterTheGreat · 26 Jan 2010 at 21:20

Q6600 is really worth it. Overclock it - and you will get good fps

setter · 26 Jan 2010 at 21:20

At 40 quid its a steal, with some newer games supporting quads id snap it up. Used to run one of theese at 3.8ghz, best clocking cpu ive ever owned.

!TIMMY! · 26 Jan 2010 at 21:30

£40 is quality for a Q6600 that can reach 3.6, they are getting harder to find. Ive had mine for a while now, and I don't see myself upgrading it any time soon, love this chip!

Knubje · 27 Jan 2010 at 11:46

Out of interest, on a G0 SLACR low vid Q6600 what is the best you can be looking at in terms of overclocking on air? I've heard 3.0ghz is pretty easy so just wondering...

I appreciate will be limited on many things mainly a good motherboard and HSF but if you had very good quality on both of these, what are you looking at?

(I am upgrading this weekend from 6400 Core 2 Duo (@2.4ghz OC'd) to the Q6600 and have new motherboard & case to boot, looking forward to seeing the difference).

buttkinz · 27 Jan 2010 at 12:45

id guess around 3.6 with a good cooler for rock solid 24/7 operation, i used to run a g0 one at 4ghz under water, best clocking cpu iv ever owned for the cash i paid for it at the time.

setter · 27 Jan 2010 at 13:17

Ran mine at 3.8ghz for quite a while, air cooled, 1.51 vcore. Motherboard was an asus p5q deluxe, cooler was a TRUE black with 2 x 2000 rpm fans, both cpu and cooler lapped.

Hoodlum · 27 Jan 2010 at 14:07

For that price - go for it, no question. It is starting to show it's age compared to i7s/phenom II's/newer c2's with better cache though but not enough that it would be an issue for most uses.

icedbullet · 27 Jan 2010 at 14:25

The q6600 is a great cpu. I run all games on max settings with my setup with no issues at all. I cant see myself changing cpu for at least another year or so, maybe longer.

Alex R · 27 Jan 2010 at 14:50

At that price a Q6600 is a steal! Go for it. Like others I run all my games no problems whatsoever on their highest settings.

raralis · 27 Jan 2010 at 16:04

Go for it, it's a no brainer.

Knubje · 27 Jan 2010 at 16:22

setter said:
Ran mine at 3.8ghz for quite a while, air cooled, 1.51 vcore. Motherboard was an asus p5q deluxe, cooler was a TRUE black with 2 x 2000 rpm fans, both cpu and cooler lapped.

Well, as of the weekend I'm going to be using this Gigabyte Mobo.

I am going to run it at stock for a little while with a stock cooler but soon order a thermalright ultra 120 and start seeing what it will OC too on Air. I'll be happy to get 3/3.2 stable tbh.

I just hope the Q6600 I bought (2nd hand online) works ok as it doesn't run on my current system but my current mobo is absolutely pants.

Artic7 · 27 Jan 2010 at 17:56

Knubje said:
Well, as of the weekend I'm going to be using this Gigabyte Mobo.

I am going to run it at stock for a little while with a stock cooler but soon order a thermalright ultra 120 and start seeing what it will OC too on Air. I'll be happy to get 3/3.2 stable tbh.

I just hope the Q6600 I bought (2nd hand online) works ok as it doesn't run on my current system but my current mobo is absolutely pants.

I'm using a Q6600 with the same board @3.2 stable

PhoenixUK · 27 Jan 2010 at 18:01

Is it 40 for the CPU or selling ur current one + adding 40 on top ?
First option go for it, 2nd don't bother or sell and swap the whole thing tbh.

PGdude · 27 Jan 2010 at 18:05

I just overclocked to 3GHz on this.... mediocre motherboard, to be honest. It was fine enough at stock. The Q6600 was a great upgrade choice for me nearly two years ago. Don't see any need to upgrade this platform for a while yet. Needed minimal voltage increase for 3GHz, will push it further at the weekend. At load at this speed is was only up to 42 degrees under the Tuniq Tower.