Intel Q6600 to an AMD 9950, Upgrade or Downgrade?

[ajcroteau]

Hey guys,

I'm a serious gamer first and everything else second. Currently i'm running an Intel Q6600 box OC'd to 3.0Ghz. But i'm told the AMD 9950 is a better gaming chip?

Also, i was looking at the K9N2 MSI mb because it accomodate my PCI peripherals, 2x8800GTs in SLI, SB X-Fi Titanium, and a PCI WiFi card. But i read reports that they've caught on fire. Can you recommend any other MBs that are better and support my peripherals, remember that each 8800GT takes up 2 slots.

Your thoughts and comments are appreciated...
AJ

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[techgeek]

Check this link out:

http://xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q9400.html

To paraphrase, the Q6600 is superior in every game that they tested. Of course most games run faster on higher clocked dual core CPU's. If you look at the whole picture, the Q6600 beats the 9950 in more benchmarks than it loses.

 

[zenmaster]

The AMD 9950 is definitely inferiour in every respect.
It would be a significant downgrade.

The 1st thing I would do is Sell the Pair of 8800GT cards and buy something like a 4870x2 or 9800x2

The 8800GTs are likely your performance issue.

If your CPU is a bottle neck, simply ensure you have a decent CPU cooler and bump the speed to 3.2 (B3) or 3.6 (G0)
3.0Ghz is a modest OC to say the least.

 

[sailer]

As the owner of both a computer with an overclocked Intel QX9650 and an AMD 9950 BE, I would say that while the Intel Q6600 is superior in many ways, the AMD 9950 BE, paired with a good mobo for overclocking, is a more than adequate CPU. When it comes to gaming, larger differences will be determined by the video cards used than the CPU used.

The MSI mobo, I have had worse luck with MSI than I have had with ASUS and Foxconn, thus I personally avoid MSI at this time.

 

[steffato]

techgeek, whoever told you that any AMD is superior to the Q6600 in games, either is your enemy or has no idea what's going on in the PC scene during the last 2 years. Keep your CPU and make a research on your own before buying anything.

 

[ajcroteau]

Again, thanx for the feedback.

I think it's pretty clear now that I should keep the Q6600...

AJ

 

[megamanx00]

At stock speeds the 9950 is about equal in performance to the Q6600. When you start talking about overclocking though it's a different story. The 9950 has a hard time exceeding 3.0 GHz even on a mother board with the SB750. With a good motherboard you could probably take the 9950 to somewhere around 3.1-3.4 GHz, and it would still be behind that Q6600 in most cases. If you have a motherboard based on the nvidia 600 series, such as the 680i, then I would recommend you switch instead to a motherboard based on the 700 series, for increased stability performance and upgradability, and then upgrade your CPU to a faster quad latter.

 

[roadrunner197069]

if you looking for more performance, OC your q6600.

 

[someguy7]

Only a complete idiot would tell you something like that. The person would be a complete idiot if it was the other way around as well. If you had a 9950 system it would just as dumb to switch over to the intels for the amount of performance you Would gain in games.

Do not listen to anything this person has to say ever again.

 

[zenmaster]

Only a complete idiot would tell you something like that. The person would be a complete idiot if it was the other way around as well. If you had a 9950 system it would just as dumb to switch over to the intels for the amount of performance you Would gain in games.

Do not listen to anything this person has to say ever again.

While I think the Q6600 is clearly superior, I would also agree with this.
I don't think upgrading from one to the other would likely give enough of a differnce to make you smile.

Your gaming issue likely lies someplace other the the CPU.

 

[rodney_ws]

techgeek, whoever told you that any AMD is superior to the Q6600 in games, either is your enemy or has no idea what's going on in the PC scene during the last 2 years. Keep your CPU and make a research on your own before buying anything.

Or he wants to buy a used Q6600 on the cheap from a "friend"

 

[The Hegemon]

At stock speeds the 9950 is about equal in performance to the Q6600.

I think you meant to say equal speeds, but even at equal speeds the Q6600 will likely outperform the 9950.

 

[aevm]

While I think the Q6600 is clearly superior, I would also agree with this.
I don't think upgrading from one to the other would likely give enough of a differnce to make you smile.

Your gaming issue likely lies someplace other the the CPU.

+1 to that. Those two CPUs are too close to be worth the upgrade, especially since it means paying for a new MB too.

If you don't have 4GB of RAM already add more. That's the cheapest upgrade these days and can be very effective.
If you have 4 GB but you're using a 32-bit Windows, get a 64-bit Windows. I believe the 32-bit version will see less than 3 GB with 8800GT SLI.

Normally the video card is the best place to upgrade a gaming box, but with your two 8800GT in SLI you're still doing very well IMO.

 

[B-Unit]

The AMD 9950 is definitely inferiour in every respect.
It would be a significant downgrade.

The 1st thing I would do is Sell the Pair of 8800GT cards and buy something like a 4870x2 or 9800x2

The 8800GTs are likely your performance issue.

If your CPU is a bottle neck, simply ensure you have a decent CPU cooler and bump the speed to 3.2 (B3) or 3.6 (G0)
3.0Ghz is a modest OC to say the least.

The fail in this post is strong.

"Hey, sell your 2x8800GT and get 2x9800GT for no performance increase, but hey, youll have bigger numbers in the spec."

8800GT in SLi are still a top GPU solution, providing better performance than a single 4870 or GTX280, to call them a 'likely performance issue' is ignorance at its finest.

To OP: As already said, dont waste money on a CPU upgrade at this point, you will see little to no increase regardless of the chip you get.

 

[zenmaster]

The fail in this post is strong.

"Hey, sell your 2x8800GT and get 2x9800GT for no performance increase, but hey, youll have bigger numbers in the spec."

8800GT in SLi are still a top GPU solution, providing better performance than a single 4870 or GTX280, to call them a 'likely performance issue' is ignorance at its finest.

To OP: As already said, dont waste money on a CPU upgrade at this point, you will see little to no increase regardless of the chip you get.

Depends on the version of the 8800GT cards.
The older 8800GTs are not nearly as fast.
And SLI does not help all games.

I'm presuming the system was not just built and ergo there is a very high probability they are the older cards. Also = 2x8800GT <> 9800x2.

Even if he has the G92 Version of the 8800GT, this will allow for expansion to another 9800x2 for added Horse Power if he is GPU limited.

I'm not surprised all the swapping of products with the similar name confused you.

 

[B-Unit]

Close, however its the 8800GTS that has G80 and G92 variants, the 8800GT is a G92 part only.

The same games that dont get the boost from SLi, guess what, wont get a boost from the 9800GX2.

Also, QuadSLi (2x 9800GX2) is far from consistant and often doesn't show performance gains vs a single GX2 or from 3-way SLI 9800GTX.

 

[chaohsiangchen]

Depends on the version of the 8800GT cards.
The older 8800GTs are not nearly as fast.
And SLI does not help all games.

I'm presuming the system was not just built and ergo there is a very high probability they are the older cards. Also = 2x8800GT <> 9800x2.

Even if he has the G92 Version of the 8800GT, this will allow for expansion to another 9800x2 for added Horse Power if he is GPU limited.

I'm not surprised all the swapping of products with the similar name confused you.

The fail is stronger in this post.

All 8800GT cards are with G92/112SP.

If he runs 8800GT in SLI, then there is no reason to upgrade at the moment. Better wait until DX11 cards come out. In the mean time, 8800GT SLI still beat many single card solution at 19" resolution. I would rather spend the money on water cooling to OC both Q6600 and 8800GT.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I think you meant to say equal speeds, but even at equal speeds the Q6600 will likely outperform the 9950.

No he meant equal performance. The 9950 is about equal to the Q6600 when they are stock. The Phenom at 2.4GHz performs less than the Q6600 at 2.4GHz.

So in the end OP, no don't do it. You will see little to no improvement. It wont be worth having to buy a new mobo and CPU just to see almost no improvement.

 

[doomsdaydave11]

On occasion the 9950 will beat the Q6600, but I definitely wouldn't upgrade. Why would you upgrade from a Q6600 and SLI 8800GT's??? I just recently upgraded from an AMD3500 and a 7900GS!

 

[amdfangirl]

^ Unless your hardcore for than game/app