Upgrade from Q6600 to i5 3350p reasonable?

[radekmm]

Hello!

Would an upgrade from an Core 2 Quad Q6600 (OC'd @2.73 GHz) to a i5 3350p be reasonable?

 

[barto]

Yes. I went from a Q9550 to a 3570k. Night and day difference. You'll need a new motherboard and possibly new RAM (some 775 motherboards supported DDR3).

 

[clutchc]

Absolutely, as long as you realize you will need a new board, RAM, and a clean installation of your OS.

 

[jimmysmitty]

That is more than reasonable. I went from a Q660 G0 to a i5 2500K and it actually boosted my FPS in most games with the same GPU. The Q6600 was a great CPU, especially the G0 stepping, but it is just a tad outdated. THe i5 3350p will be much faster than it.

 

[bambiboom]

Hello!

Would an upgrade from an Core 2 Quad Q6600 (OC'd @2.73 GHz) to a i5 3350p be reasonable?

radekmm,

Using an i5-3350 P would undoubtedly improve the performance over a Q6600:

Q6600:

http://ark.intel.com/products/29765/Intel-Core2-Quad-Processor-Q6600-8M-Cache-2_40-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB?q=q6600

From Passmark:

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Average CPU Mark: 2991
Description: Socket: LGA775, Clockspeed: 2.4 GHz, No of Cores: 4, Max TDP: 105 W
Other names: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
CPU First Seen on Charts: Q4 2008
CPUmark/$Price: 16.62 Overall Rank: 676
Last Price Change: $179.95 USD (2007-01-08)
2991

Single Thread Rating: 922
Samples: 3757


i5-3350 P:

http://ark.intel.com/products/69114/Intel-Core-i5-3350P-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_30-GHz

From Passmark:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-3350P+%40+3.10GHz

Intel Core i5-3350P @ 3.10GHz
Average CPU Mark: 6086
Description: Socket: LGA1155, Clockspeed: 3.1 GHz, Turbo Speed: 3.3 GHz, No of Cores: 4, Max TDP: 69 W
Other names: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3350P CPU @ 3.10GHz
CPU First Seen on Charts: Q4 2012
CPUmark/$Price: 32.04 Overall Rank: 257
Last Price Change: $189.99 USD (2014-06-08)
6086

Single Thread Rating: 1743
Samples: 577

The CPU is performance is substantially better, but very importantly, this would necessitate changing the Q6600 motherboard which is LGA775 for an LGA1155 board and the DDR2 RAM to DDR3.

When looking for CPU's , I've found the Intel ARK site extremely helpful as you can see the socket, chipset, power use, memory type and so for every CPU.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

 

[radekmm]

Thanks for your Answers guys

I'm just asking because i'll be going to get a i5 3350p from a friend of mine for pretty much nothing. He'll give it to me for like 65€ (=71$, 45£) Obviously it's used, but thats a helluva deal.
8gb of RAM for 35€ (=38$, 24£)
Asus P8H61-MX USB 3.0 for 20€ (=22$, 14£)

All parts are working and tested by myself

 

[jimmysmitty]

That is great. SHould be a decent boost over your Q6600.

 

[barto]

Great deals for used parts.

Only thing to check into is the OS. Depending on the version you have, you might have to transfer the key with Windows. If you have an OEM version, (dell etc) you're out of luck and will have to buy a new copy.

 

[radekmm]

Good lord Tomshardware should really invert a multi best choice answers. Damn all answers are really freaking good and I can't decide which one to take as a best one D:

 

[radekmm]

Last question guys, if the mobo was bought 5 months ago, does is come with the newest bios version or not? because 3rd gen i3/i5/i7 require the newest bios on the mobo and i'm pretty curious about it

 

[jimmysmitty]

It will come with the latest BIOS as of 5 months ago. However, Ivy Bridge is an older chip and that board has a BIOS version of 1003. Per Asus site that CPU you got is supported as of BIOS revision 403. More than likely that board will have either BIOS version 1002 or 1003. The oldest it could have is version 403 as that is the initial release BIOS and as said that is the BIOS that supports that CPU.

Still it is best to update the BIOS to the latest for stability but either way you should be fine. Just be very careful when installing the new CPU.

 

[radekmm]

It will come with the latest BIOS as of 5 months ago. However, Ivy Bridge is an older chip and that board has a BIOS version of 1003. Per Asus site that CPU you got is supported as of BIOS revision 403. More than likely that board will have either BIOS version 1002 or 1003. The oldest it could have is version 403 as that is the initial release BIOS and as said that is the BIOS that supports that CPU.

Still it is best to update the BIOS to the latest for stability but either way you should be fine. Just be very careful when installing the new CPU.

I really appreciate your support mate, thanks