Quad or not to Quad

**HeavyG** · 12-30-07, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by MaKe_OuT_33

HEAVYG, are you running 3.8GHz on 1.24V? or is your voltage higher? what load temp do you get?

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At full load, I run at 1.51v at 32c. That screenshot was from an older version of CPU-Z, so my voltage wasnt showing accurately.

My ABIT IP35-Pro motherboard has a vdroop of about .4v, so I have it set to 1.55. At a full load it goes down to about 1.51-1.52. I also have my memory timings set to 1:1.25. Here is a screenshot of my current setup with a newer CPU-Z:

**sacredsarcasm** · 01-02-08, 07:57 PM

my new mark scores are in. they improved by 1000, and the chip scores were doubled.

**MaKe_OuT_33** · 01-03-08, 03:16 PM

i went ahead and exchanged the C2Q for the C2D 6850. hopefully this makes a difference. i havent OC'd (so i am t 3.0GHz) it yet and ran 3dmark06 with a score of 11138...about the same as my q6600 at 2.4GHz. I assume that the quad benchmarks nice because its a quad, hopefully ill notice a difference in gaming.

**MasterBlaster** · 01-03-08, 03:25 PM

I just started to overclock my e6420, got it at 2.8ghz right now. Not at my comp or i would post a SS of the CPU-Z. pretty stable and i have gotten a little bump in FPS on CSS. But these cpus aren't really monster overclockers. my original score with 3dmark06 was around 9700 with a 8800GTX on stock settings. I have only overclocked the CPU and my score went up to 11444. Not bad for a small overclock on this chip. looking into how i want to OC my GTX right now. Here is my latest run at 2.8Ghz http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=4452400

**MaKe_OuT_33** · 01-03-08, 08:16 PM

what are you using to OC your GPU? I just started reading into how to do this to my 8800GT last night using rivatuner. It appears to be pretty easy as long as you get an aftermarket cooler...How is the stock cooler on the GTX? sufficient?

**SapiensErus** · 01-03-08, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by MaKe_OuT_33

i went ahead and exchanged the C2Q for the C2D 6850. hopefully this makes a difference. i havent OC'd (so i am t 3.0GHz) it yet and ran 3dmark06 with a score of 11138...about the same as my q6600 at 2.4GHz. I assume that the quad benchmarks nice because its a quad, hopefully ill notice a difference in gaming.

Thats exactly why it gives those benchmarks. But when it comes to running the games, the only one that performed better with the Q6600 on Tom's tests was UT 2004. Every other game performed better with the E6850. Even Supreme commander which is one the premier multi-threaded games.

**RhysJD3** · 01-06-08, 08:38 PM

I believe a quad core will also prove to be more challenging to overclock than a dual core. My understanding is that each core has to be able to run at the overclocked speed.

**MaKe_OuT_33** · 01-06-08, 09:02 PM

on my asus p5n-e board i couldnt get past 2.9GHz on the quad...i think that is the limit for me and not just a "hole" because my dual core runs at 333MHz fsb and i couldnt post at that fsb with the quad.

**Devost8r** · 01-07-08, 01:19 AM

I would go with the Q6600. It will be somewhat future proof as software becomes more geared toward quad cores and it's a good overclocker. 1333 FSB tend not to OC as well ans 1066 FSB. Get the q6600 and a good cooler and OC it to 6850 speeds. I currently have an E6550 running at 3.0 @ 34 degrees under full load.