Buying a second hand CPU, Q6600 or Q9450?

[Pseudopod]

Hello

I'm thinking of buying a new CPU for the old mainboard I've got here. I've found these two CPUs for what I consider to be a pretty decent price, but I'm not sure which of them I should go for.

I do intend to OC them a little bit, but I have heard conflicting information about how well they OC. For examle, some have said the Q9450 is pretty bad for OCing, and the Q6600 will outperform it simply because it'll clock higher, while other people have said that the Q9450 clocks pretty well.

Sadly, I do not know the revision or steppings of these two CPUs. The sellers didn't put that in their sales ads, and so far, I haven't gotten replies from them.

So, I hope this limited information is enough to get me a somewhat useful tip of which I should go for.

 

[MattNo5ss]

to OCForums!

What motherboard will you be using?

 

[Pseudopod]

Thanks for the welcome

It's not a very high end card. I didn't buy it with OCing in mind, but I think it's "all right" to OC with anyway. Currently using a E6400 @2.8GHz.

I don't remember exactly what model it is, but CPU-Z gives me the following information:
manufacturer: MSI
Model: MS-7519
Chipset: P45/P43/G45/G43 (But I know for sure it is a P45)

-edit-
I also know it supports 1600MHz FSB, if that matters.

I am not very experienced at OCing.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Well, if it's P45 then it's a MSI P45 Neo. The P45 chipset is one of the two best chipsets for LGA775, the other being X48. So, you should be able to OC a quad pretty well on it. Have you tried OCing the E6400 to find a roughly max FSB for the motherboard?

 

[Pseudopod]

I had this CPU at 3 GHz at one point, which put me at an FSB of 1447 or so. I haven't tried taking it higher than that.

And now that you mention it, yes, it is definitely a P45 Neo. And yes, I chose a P45 for the reason you said.

-edit-
I stopped the OC at 3 GHz because I didn't have a CPU cooler good enough to keep the temperatures in check. SInce then I have gotten my hands on a Noctua NH U12P, which cools pretty well.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Most Q6600's can do roughly 3.4-3.6GHz, which would be 375-400MHz FSB. To get the same clocks on a Q9450 you would need 425-450MHz FSB. So, if your board can't do the FSB need to get the Q9450 close to the same clocks as a Q6600, then you may be better off with the Q6600. The only other notable difference in the two CPUs is the cache difference. The Q9450 has 12MB, whereas the Q6600 has 8MB.

Basically, if you can get the Q9450 close to the same clocks as you could a Q6600, then go for the Q9450.

I'm guessing your board shows the FSB with the "Quad Pump", so just multiply the FSB numbers above by 4 to get what your motherboard reads.

 

[Pseudopod]

Yeah I know about quad pumping . I was just recalling the CPU-Z numbers i was getting.

Also, a new seller has appeared, with a QX9650, but it might turn out to be a bit too expensive for me now. We haven't agreed on a price yet. It might end up around twice as expensive as the Q6600 i'm looking at, would that be worth it?

 

[MattNo5ss]

You'll definitely get a better OC out of that chip with its unlocked multiplier, but I don't know if I'd spend so much cash on LGA775 at this point.

 

[Pseudopod]

You're right, turns out he wanted over 4 times as much as I could get the Q6600 for, and if I was gonna use that much, I'd just go for a newer architecture.

The main reason i'm doing this is because I saw a chance to increase the performance of my PC without spending a lot of money.

 

[MattNo5ss]

The Yorkfield chips are a little faster than Kentsfield clock-for-clock. I would say if you can get ~425MHz or more FSB, then get the Q9450. These two chips are tough to compare and decide which is better. Really, both are good CPUs, and you won't be disappointed in either. Just don't put too much money into LGA775.

(Time for me to pass out...it's 2AM and I have work )

 

[Falkentyne]

You're right, turns out he wanted over 4 times as much as I could get the Q6600 for, and if I was gonna use that much, I'd just go for a newer architecture.

The main reason i'm doing this is because I saw a chance to increase the performance of my PC without spending a lot of money.

How much did he want?
There were new qx9650's going for $260 on ebay, from a trusted seller (he used to have a large batch of them).

 

[Badussy]

Lots of good advice, I think what it comes down to is which one is cheaper. Both are good chips and can be clocked around 3.6ghz on air pending your motherboard.

I have had both processors and see a noticeable increase in performance (10-15%) running my x3350 over the q6600 both at @ 3.6ghz. It is not worth $100 more for the q9450 in my opinion though. I would pay probably $50 more for the q9450 over the q6660.

My current system is running a x3350 (q9450) @ 3.2-3.6ghz on a x38 board. Only issues I have run into is running games at 1920*1200 with my 8800gts 512 so I upgraded to a 6850 and have had no issues.

I am not planning to upgrade until the end of this year or early next.