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E6700 vs Q9550, worth the change?

Forum Overclocking : CPUs - E6700 vs Q9550, worth the change?

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valen--ni   05-17-2009 at 12:12:52 PM

Hello all

I have had my rig for a few years now and have changed a few things. Now I am considering a CPU change from dual core to Quad.

The Q9550 fits my budget, but I need a simple question answered.

What can I expect in terms of speed difference?

My E6700 is overclocked on good air @ 3.42GHz rock solid.

I plan to overclock the Q9550.

Peak / full load temps on my E6700 @ 51 oC / standard @ 37 oC

The Stacker case mixed with the 120mm Enermax Clusters really dropped temps for me!!

I play games (Far Cry 2 / Crysis / Riddick) and video edit / Blu Ray conversion.

Any help would be appreciated.

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kevin1212   05-17-2009 at 12:59:44 PM
- 0 +

There will be no big difference clock for clock, i.e. with a dual core application, like most games, that quad at say 3ghz will not be much better than that dual at 3ghz. On the plus side the q9550 is 45nm, meaning more lower heat and power consumption.

Far cry 2 uses 3 cores, so i suppose you'll see some difference there. I have to say though, that for gaming, there is no need to upgrade from what you currently have, not yet at least.

By the time you really need to upgrade, you will probably end up upgrading more than just the cpu; maybe the motherboard and ram as well. But what you currently have will certainly suffice.

Reply to kevin1212
PsychoSaysDie   05-17-2009 at 01:17:29 PM
- -1 +

Spend the money on an E8500 and take it to 4.5Ghz

------------------------------ Core I7 920 D0 @ 4.2Ghz
MSI X58 Pro-E
32GB SSD, WD Blacks In R0
Sapphire HD 5870's In XFire
 Reply to PsychoSaysDie
valen--ni   05-17-2009 at 01:33:53 PM
- 0 +

Mmm, Kevin you may be right.

For £550 I could get the 920 i7 with new mobo and 6gig of DDR3. Might just wait for 6 months.

The E8500 idea, IMO, is taking a step back in upgrading. (As in sticking with dual core when future apps will be applying quad core support)

Thanks for the advice guys.

Reply to valen--ni
kevin1212   05-18-2009 at 03:23:33 PM
- 0 +

Even with i7's available, i still don't think you really need to upgrade. Maybe if you were starting from scratch, then it could justify the i7 build. But an i7 920 will not give a great boost in gaming when compared to even an E6700, assuming the E6700 has a decent overclock. Certainly in other applications, especially quad core enabled applications, it would be a worthy upgrade, but for gaming, no, especially considering the price.

Perhaps if you were selling your old system, or at least the old parts you intend to replace, then at least it can take some of the load off the price for such an upgrade.

Reply to kevin1212
Helloworld_98   05-18-2009 at 05:22:22 PM
- 0 +

wait til i5 comes out, then you will probably see an i7 price drop. and It should only come out to £500 even now anyway because there's some g.skill 3x2GB 1333mhz ram for £45 on overclockers.co.uk so maybe try there but wait for the price cuts and it should take the price down to £450 after the price cuts.

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