Personally I'm just looking for a chip that's a bit future proof. Biggest cache, Quad and latest instruction sets. I'm upgrading from a Northwood 2.66 that served me for 4 years and I intend to keep my new build the same length of time. OC potential is not that important to me since I'm only shooting for 8X400. Anything above is just a bonus. Given that the 9450 is the exact chip I'm looking for.