q6600 vs q9550

jondas · 27 Mar 2009 at 09:38

i'm sure this has alreadly been covered elsewhere but i just want to ask:-
is their any advantage to the newer quad core over the older one?
thinking of upgrading from q6600 - is it worth while? i play games a lot and do a little video and photo stuff as well but nothing major.

Trunks9486 · 27 Mar 2009 at 09:59

its about 5-10% better clock for clock.

Mostly depends on how far each one can overclock.

Not worth it IMO.

valdai · 27 Mar 2009 at 11:59

Also newer 45nm technology so lower temps => a bit more overclockable. Though still not worth the extra money at the moment in my opinion. Particularly not for games or photo editing.

FaceplantSi · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:07

Not worth it, you wouldn't see much of a performance increase for the money.

BeeP · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:17

Most games don't even really stretch the Q6600 yet, I say most games....there are a few that do.

cje · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:20

Q6600 is old hat by now.

BeeP · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:23

Still does the trick tho, it will continue to do the trick untill i7 becomes standard spec imho.

linktoinsanity · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:48

Q9550 is faster clock for clock and is a higher clock speed.

Work it out

!TIMMY! · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:54

Q9550 is faster @ same clock speed, but has a lower multi. So keep that in mind if u oc.

Banny · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:01

But if you compare to Q9650 which has same multi and outclocks it quite easily, 4ghz is a given really, 4.2ghz+ obtainable with abit of effort, especially on newer chipsets P45, X48 etc.

Ben M · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:06

It's better, but there isn't a large enough difference to make it worth the money. If you need more performance, go i7, don't swap old tech for slightly better old tech.

linktoinsanity · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:16

Ben M said:
It's better, but there isn't a large enough difference to make it worth the money. If you need more performance, go i7, don't swap old tech for slightly better old tech.

If you can afford i7 I totally agree, if not however....

ConnectionFX · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:17

the 12mb cache gives the Q9550 processor the edge and with an added 400mhz additional clock. depends what your doing to take full advantage. the Q9550 is the obvious winner but at what cost? an extra £100 is abit of a whack to the pocket

JonJ678 · 27 Mar 2009 at 19:04

Colder. Faster clock for clock. Reaches higher clocks. More cache.

Do you want to overclock a new chip? Its good for a couple of days entertainment at least. If you haven't overclocked the q6600, do that instead. If it goes terribly wrong and you manage to kill one (I think you might be the first), you were thinking of upgrading anyway

setter · 28 Mar 2009 at 03:19

if buying an intel quad nowadays, look at the q9550/9650, more modern s775 chips, the q6600 is an old chip, most dont clock that well now , i got very lucky with mine, 3.8ghz on air cooling with a vcore of just over 1.5.

zeppelin` · 28 Mar 2009 at 03:21

yes the q9550 is a better chip, but with a q6600 it isnt worth the upgrade

Greebo · 30 Mar 2009 at 13:50

Same question but what if it only cost me £50 to upgrade 2nd hand? Worth it then?

How much would it need to be to be worth it?

linktoinsanity · 30 Mar 2009 at 15:02

Greebo said:
Same question but what if it only cost me £50 to upgrade 2nd hand? Worth it then?

How much would it need to be to be worth it?

I'd say "yeah," but then I like my new toys, hence having a brand new ATI 4870 gfx arriving tomorrow. Depends what you are going to use it for really. My Q9650 is very fast and games well (Q6600 should still be a good gaming cpu though tbh). There is an apparent 10% performance increase clock for clock so for £50 you'll get more speed out of the rest of your system. Depends if you can really afford that £50 really.

MoRT489 · 30 Mar 2009 at 15:19

LinktoInsanity said:
I'd say "yeah," but then I like my new toys, hence having a brand new ATI 4870 gfx arriving tomorrow. Depends what you are going to use it for really. My Q9650 is very fast and games well (Q6600 should still be a good gaming cpu though tbh). There is an apparent 10% performance increase clock for clock so for £50 you'll get more speed out of the rest of your system. Depends if you can really afford that £50 really.

Yea but if games dont stress the Q6600 why would he need the extra computing power of the 9550 clock for clock?

To OP: If i hadnt gotten a great Q6600 on MM a few months ago I would have gone Q9550 or E8400/8500 but as it is the improvement isnt noticeable enough to warrant an upgrade from my Q6600 so I'll wait til i7 becomes more affordable or new stepping is released.

setter · 30 Mar 2009 at 18:26

Greebo said:
Same question but what if it only cost me £50 to upgrade 2nd hand? Worth it then?

Id probably go for it at that price myself, i already have a 3.8ghz q6600, but the idea of a cooler running, more overclockable chip and new toy to play with factor would convince me, id say it's a good switch along with £50.00.