Overclocking Q6600 + some other questions (noob)

Hi,

This is my first post here, and im quite noob at overclocking. So my story is going like this...

My little brothers PC was taken to a better place by a lightning strike. Everything in a house was left untouched, only PC burned totally.
So got my self a problem, i need to build him a PC for as little money as possible, because he is trying to finance it by him self. (he is 13 years old). Got allmost everything except CPU. Now i can get one of these two cpu's for a very similar price, so which one is better and would last longer? E8500 or Q6600.

If ill take a Q6600, how high can i overclock it with this configuration, and is it possible?

Processor: Q6600 G0
Motherboard: Intel DX38BT (extreme series)
RAM: Corsair DDR3 4GB 1333mhz 9-9-9-24 (CMV4GX3M1A1333C9)
GPU: Gigabyte HD6850 OC
PSU: Inter-tech NitroX 750W
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNP9700NT
And few case coolers.

It depends on the stepping, batch# and VID of the chip, including what overclocking related options the BoneTrail board has. Figure between 3.4 and 4.0GHz given those parameters.

redduc900 said:

It depends on the stepping, batch# and VID of the chip, including what overclocking related options the BoneTrail board has. Figure between 3.4 and 4.0GHz given those parameters.

Click to expand...

Ok, got the photo of the processor from the seller, so it is G0.

Check the stepping and batch# against the Q6600 OC database over at XS...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?157690-Quad-Core-OC-Database

... but without knowing the VID, you can only get an idea of its OCability.

redduc900 said:

Check the stepping and batch# against the Q6600 OC database over at XS...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?157690-Quad-Core-OC-Database

... but without knowing the VID, you can only get an idea of its OCability.

Click to expand...

Well got the Q6600, works like a charm, oc'd to 3Ghz with stock voltage, max temps. got in Prime is 60C. But the ViD is crappy, in bios it shows 1.325.

You should be able to hit at least 3.2GHz w/ decent Vcore.

Should be able to do at the very least 3.2ghz, my Q6600 can get to 3.6ghz with good cooling.

However, that E8400 can get to 3.6ghz maybe 3.8 or 4ghz easy and run much cooler. Depending on how long it will be before he will be able to afford a whole new comp, you might want to go with the E8400. It will probably run lighter/older games like TF2 or league of legends much better.

on a go cpu with a intel chipset you should be able to hit anywhere from 3.6 to 3.8 with decent a decent air cooler like Thermalright Silver Arrow SB, Noctua NH D14 or Phantex

depending on batch you might even get more out of it.

Not all G0 stepping Q6600s can hit 3.6-3.8GHz or higher. Mine could only do 3.4GHz w/ the same 1.325V VID as the OP's.