Q9650 is it worth the upgrade

[venjhammet]

I was thinking of upgrading my pc to Corei7 950 but considering that I'm gonna need a new motherboard and ram, thus having this move would be a bit expensive for me. On the other option, I'm considering this Q9650 as an alternative. Since I will be only spending for the cpu, I was wondering if it's worth the upgrade? Since I'm into gaming and optimal performance is a big issue for me. I hope anyone can help me decide if it's worth purchasing the Q9650. As of now my Pc is a E4600 2.4ghz core2duo, Asus P5Q SE Plus motherboard, 4gb 800mhz ram, GTS 250 1gb and Gigabyte 550W PSU

 

[Wisecracker]

A Q9400 would save yah a bunch of moolah, and with your RAMs you can run 1:1 at 3.2GHz.

 

[rwpritchett]

It depends on how long you plan to hold on to your current system. I upgraded to a Q9650 from an E6300 C2D last year and it was worth it for me for three reasons:

#1 I really needed a quad to speed up video encoding
#2 it was a good deal at the time ~$250
#3 I plan to get another 2-3 years from this computer.

If you don't make use of multi-threaded apps, can't find a cheap Q9650, or plan to get a new system in less than two years, I would say it isn't worth it. I suggest you purchase a nice aftermarket heatsink that has a good chance of carrying over into a future build, and overclock your E4600 to improve it's performance. Then you can hold out until Sandy Bridge or some other next-best-thing comes out.

Your E4600 has a 12x multiplier... that should make overclocking really easy.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

You can get a Q9550 for $180 at Microcenter. How much can you get a Q9650 for?

Remember that an i5-750 for $200 @ newegg would outperform a Q9650. So don't pay too much over $200 to keep a 775 system alive.

 

[someguy7]

Best best is the best deal you can get on a quad core 775 cpu. I would lean towards the q9550 myself. But I also live near a microcenter.

Bluescreen. Remeber that the i5 that cost 200 will require a new board and ram. There for the 200 dollar price tag is irrelevant. By that logic he could also get a Phenom II 955 as well for 150 dollars.....

 

[nativeson8803]

I upgraded from a core2duo 2.2ghz to a q9550 which i overclocked to 3.5ghz. The upgrade was amazing so I say go for it if you can get it for no more than 200 dollars. Otherwise you'll have to spend far more but then you'd have an even better system. I had basically that same system that you are contemplating before I upgraded my card to a 460. I had the 9800gtx+ 1gb and it was good, but if you go with a newer mobo/processor setup you're going to want to upgrade that card to because it is starting to show its age.

 

[venjhammet]

Thank you all for the kind reply, it really help me decide. Now I'm gonna get that Q9650. Thanks again