2500k set to become the new Q6600 as prices drop?

As the new Intel processors sweep through the publications and channel, we find ourselves in that twilight world where the new king is putting on its crown, while there's still a few heatbeats left in the old one. KitGuru does a quick scan of the on line retail offers and makes an overclocking judgement call.

While Intel pushed, shoved and otherwise bullied the market into a new world where new Core goodness awaited all those who entered, wise heads across the planet spent a little longer contemplating the options and – in many cases – decided that the Q6600 was still the OC chip of choice.

Although there were faster chips in the Kentsfield range, none resonated with overclockers like the Q6600. Even today, you can still put ‘Q6600' as a search team into Google and get around 17 million hits. Not only was the core technology amazing (no pun intended), but the various improvements to the process used over time, created even better versions. You could almost feel the swarms of OC enthusiasts across the globe being drawn to reseller sites who announced ‘D Zero stepping chips now in stock'.

Finally, however, the teat was finally pulled away and everyone went off to suck on something else. Eventually, other chips would take top spot, but the Q6600 was a special moment.

Now, we're looking at the 2500k and wondering if there is another Q6600 in the making.

While the new 3570k ships at a stock speed of 3.4GHz, there is a lot of discussion about exactly how far the early production samples will actually clock. Sure, there is an average of 7% advantage available in the tank, but if heat issues mean that you cannot push these initial Ivy Bridge chips past 4.4GHz – then would a system with a 2500k at 4.8GHz, be more appealing?

KitGuru says: The arguments for 2500k are strong – but we don't feel that they are as as strong as those for the Q6600 back in the day. Intel may well have some small process issues at the start, but the 3570k processors will no doubt start to regularly pass 4.4GHz – at which point they become the de facto choice.

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