Quote: Originally Posted by
fieseler 
may as well go for a q9550 then. My only concern now is what the temps would be like. I live in the uk and have a well ventilated case, my e6700 (65nm btw) idles around 36c during the summer, Load is around 55c.
Id guess they would be about the same as clock speed is equal, 2 cores extra but the shrink to 45nm would see lower temps i suppose.
There are only two temperature ranges where processors are concerned: "good enough" and "over the design limit". As long as the level of cooling in your machine always ensures that the processors always remain in the first category, there's no need to worry.
My visits to the UK lead me to believe that ambient heat is rarely an issue (!), so as long as the case is not covered in a black plastic shroud even the stock cooler should be perfectly adequate on any of these processors. That's what they're designed for
