Another Q9550 vs Q9450 Thread

[Fofo]

Hi so now that the new cards are out I have finally decided on my new build.

INTEL BOX CORE 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83G 12M------------------579.00
ASUS SKT775 NVIDIA NF780I SLI -------------------------------249
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB 7200 rp------------------75.99
G.SKILL DDR2 PC2 6400 4GBPQ---------------------------------94.99
Acer® P243WAiD 24-in. Widescreen LCD---------------------419.99
Acer® P243WAiD 24-in. Widescreen LCD---------------------419.99
Scythe "ZIPANG" 6Heat Pipes CPU Cooler (sczp-1000)------46.99
Cooler Master Cosmos 1000-------------------------------------79.99
PC Power & Cooling S75QB EPS12V 750W Power Supply--149.99
BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 OC 1GB--------------------------669

Total Before Tax-----------------------------------------------------2884.93
Total After Tax-------------------------------------------------------3288.8202

Ok so here is the question, should i go for the Q9450 and save the $180? Is it more compatible with my setup? Anyways I am buying this thing on Friday, I am sick of waiting, i will just deal with the GTX280, I actually do not mind the price or performance increase cause I am still running a 6600GT w/ a Pentium 4 2.5b CPU.....And should I make any final changes??

Thank You

Regards,
FoFo

 

[sciggy]

It all depends on if you want to overclock or not. The only difference between the two processors is clock speed and an 8.5x multiplier on the 9550 to the 9450 8.0x. To me its worth saving the money and put it towards a better harddrive. Maybe a westerndigital velociraptor or a seagate 7200.11 drive at least. I have a 9450 at 3.3ghz on stock volts running mid to high 30c temps. Thats plenty fast for me.

Only other thing I would change is the cpu cooler to a Xigmatek HDTS1283. It performs very well.

Also unless you plan on going SLI, you don't want nvidia chipset. Get a P45 mobo or x38/x48.

 

[Maziar]

I say go for the Q9450 and OC it
Even if u dont OC it, 200MHZ wont make a noticeable difference unless in some VERY CPU intensive apps

 

[halcyon]

^ +1

I had my Q9450 @ 3.51Ghz and rolled it back to 3.32Ghz and I just can not subjectively tell any performance difference. I can, however, see a difference in temperatures.

 

[Fofo]

It all depends on if you want to overclock or not. The only difference between the two processors is clock speed and an 8.5x multiplier on the 9550 to the 9450 8.0x. To me its worth saving the money and put it towards a better harddrive. Maybe a westerndigital velociraptor or a seagate 7200.11 drive at least. I have a 9450 at 3.3ghz on stock volts running mid to high 30c temps. Thats plenty fast for me.

Only other thing I would change is the cpu cooler to a Xigmatek HDTS1283. It performs very well.

Also unless you plan on going SLI, you don't want nvidia chipset. Get a P45 mobo or x38/x48.

3.3 is more then enough for me, I was just worried I would not be able to reach 3+ Ghz on the 9450. As for the motherboard, I know nvidia mobs are a bit a flaky, but I might SLI in the future with a another GTX280 that is why I am getting it.

So do hard drives make a big difference? Should i really invest in another one. I tried really hard not to break the 3000 mark, but the dual screens did it for me.

 

[Maziar]

That HDD that u have choosed is the HDD that i have (i have the 16MB one and i think thats 16mb right?) and its very good

 

[evongugg]

You would get faster access times with a Velociraptor.
It's only for high-end machines.
It's not really necessary.

 

[Fofo]

Velociraptor I will purchase in the future once the prices drop on it, they are way to expensive ATM

 

[Maziar]

Dont worry too much, 7200RPM + 16MB cache is a good HDD and also the most important thing in gaming and apps is the CPU and GPU

 

[TheKingBoar]

Don't even bother with the Velociraptor when prices come down, as by then SSD's will be more affordable, and they blow platters out of the water.