Intel Core i5 6600K unboxing, and some overclocking discussion

Although I originally set the bar high in terms of getting a CPU for Redshift by aiming for a 6700K, I finally managed to secure a 6600K for the build. The good news, though, is that it wasn't sponsored! In fact, it was a combination of donations from people like you, and some of my own money.

Nevertheless, let's get right into the unboxing.

Ordering

I ordered the 6600K using Amazon Smile just a few days ago. In hindsight, I probably could have considered buying the 6600K from another retailer such as Newegg due to the taxes that Amazon now charges. I don't know why Amazon has started charging sales tax for my account, but that's another question for another day. Newegg doesn't, so they'll probably get more business from me in the future.

However, Amazon's redeeming factor is the excellent customer service that they have. I was able to get the 6600K rushed to my house via 1 day shipping, at no additional charge! Something that was easily worth $30+ USD.

Other than sales tax, Amazon is great.

Packaging

The packaging for the 6600K is surprisingly...small. It might just be me on this one, but I feel that the product images on various websites make the box look much larger than anticipated. The box is small, and rightfully so. The box' actual construction is similar to other Intel packaging, but the outside design has been updated.

Thoughts

I don't really have many thoughts on the physical chip itself, though. Well, I guess I could say that dropping $250 on something so small is interesting in a way. However, size-to-cost ratios aren't exactly "normal" compared to other types of products. Such is the life of someone who does technology by hobby, and trade.

Overclocking Results

My overclocking results are really, really average, from what I've found. I've been able to reach a maximum of 4.5 GHz maximum, so far with 1.325 volts. I haven't tried lowering the voltage yet to see if I can achieve an even more efficient overclock, but I have established that my CPU isn't going to achieve 4.6 GHz with any reasonable amount of voltage. Settling for 4.5 is still a great boost compared to the stock speed of 3.5, though!

I've been running this overclock for a few hours now, with mixed benchmark testing and normal computer use and it's held up so far. For now, I'd deem this as pretty stable. My CPU-Z validation results are available here.

I might not have won any silicon "lottery" by any means, but I'm happy to get a great overclock. If you're looking for a retailer that sells CPUs that have been tested up to a certain clock speed with a respective voltage, the site I just linked would be something worthy of looking at.