Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 or Q9450 for a Gaming machine? & Overclocking

[sirrell]

Building a new Gaming machine, is there much noticeable difference between these Speed wise?


Q9450 CORE 2 QUAD 2.66GHz / 12MB CACHE/1333MHzFSB/ 775 $399

Q9300 Core 2 Quad 2.5GHz, 6MB cache,1333FSB, 775 $285

I realize one has twice the cache, and slightly faster but how much would it increase Frame rates on a game?
and Loading times?

And anyone Overclocked these CPU successfully and stable without water cooling?
If so what are the temps and clock speeds produced?
Cooling mods used?


Or Would you recommend something else around the same price thats better and a socket 775?
I like many others can't afford an extreme chip


I plan on getting the IFX-14 made by Thermalright which will run 3 x 80mm fans off the CPU and a Northbridge Serpent Heatsink + 60mm fan, copper Heatspreader on ram, and Thermaltake Cyclo Ram Cooler.
Using a Nvidia 9800Gtx or 8800gts for GFX card, decisions decisions decisions.....
And a Arctic Twin Turbo Cooler on it.
Plus the case also has 4 Fans 120mm,
Plus UV Lights, in a M9 Thermaltake case. (Can't wait till i can afford to get all the parts.)

Please Help With Advice

Mr-E
AKA Sirrell

 

[aznguy0028]

geezus, where the heck do you check the prices for your CPU's?

Q9450 = 399$???????????!!!

newegg is only 329$ and microcenter has them for around that price too, and sometimes even cheaper!

these CPU's are overclockable to a good margin. i have my Q9450 at 3.2ghz (400x8) on air cooling using a Zalman 9700. temps are around 42-45 idle only because the area where i go to school is like 100F+ constantly during the day for the summer.

im sure if you use a diff. cooler such as the Xigmatek S1283 or TRUE, you would get a few degrees cooler than i would.

the Q9450 has a locked multiplier of 8x though, so if you wanna take it high, you would have to OC it through the FSB, people online have gotten it to 3.6ghz-ish area, but i feel that is too much, so 3.2ghz is a comfortable place for me.

 

[kawininjazx]

The Q9450 is worth the extra money. It runs 3.2ghz (400x8) all day long without issue, but I cant seem to get it higher. I havent messed around with it too much. The extra cache is worth it, think about a few years ago when mainstream CPUs had 1mb L2.

 

[twattle]

You are probably even better off with an E8400.

 

[Lupiron]

Q6700 at 3.95, FTW!!

Or a Q9450. Not only does it over clock well, Dependant on VID. (A 1.2500 will still get you 3.4-3.6, a low one like 1.1500 or under is nearing that 4.0 mark.)

The Q9300 is the cripple of the family. Small Cache, and a LOCKED low multiplier, which would make it more mother board Dependant.

And the second one doesnt matter because it has such a small amount of cache!

--Lupi

 

[sirrell]

Thanks for ur help guys, i'll get a probably get a Q9450, Overclocking isn't as important to me as winrar and antivirus scaning anyway.. lol

I run a small pc repairs company part time from home, mainly repairing older pcs, haven't even used a quad core yet, just core 2 duo's, etc.

I'm old pc is scanning atm its been going for 36hrs so far, over a TB on such a piece of crap (AMD 3200+) (with AGP)
My prices where just a quick look online and in australia dollars postage inc.
By the time i get the processor (Last piece to my pc) it will probably be even cheaper again anyways.

The Gaming side is just a hobbie when the wife and kids let me.

And the Overclocking is just for fun, else i'd use some sort of liquid nitrogen or air cond, or water cooling etc, if i wanted to get serious about it.

 

[Maziar]

Go for Q9450 and OC it. even if u dont OC,200mhz wont make a noticeable difference