Q9550 or q9500 (changing from E6750)

[rogigor]

Hi

Since I don't wanna spend too much money for a new computer, I want to change only cpu. Now my rig is:

E6750 @3.2Ghz
3Gb Ram
Abit IP35-E
GTX260

I want to buy Q9550 or Q9500. Which one will be better for games? I mean will there be a noticable difference?

 

[divac]

Most games do not saturate 4 cores.

Also, because of the lower clock speed (unless you plan to overclock the new CPU too), you might see lower performance in some games.

 

[1haplo]

Toms just did a CPU bottle net article, In some games a quad is better and in other dual core is enough,

 

[rogigor]

Most games do not saturate 4 cores.

Also, because of the lower clock speed (unless you plan to overclock the new CPU too), you might see lower performance in some games.

Of course I'm going to overclock the new cpu. At least to 3.4Ghz.

 

[werxen]

Honestly I wouldn't spend anything. I know you want to ONLY change your CPU but if you wait until the new line of AMD and Intel processors come out not only will you have more selection but the prices of the C2Q series should drop a lot.

 

[divac]

I agree with werxen, but if you must choose: q9550 is better because it is a q9500 with double cache. You chose e6750 rather than e6700, so using the same analogy, you should choose q9550 rather than q9500.

I doubt you will notice the difference between q9500 and q9550 in games. But unless the price difference is big...

 

[rogigor]

Well I have a very good price for q9500 (about 65$) so that's why I'm considering buying it. I don't have now and won't have soon enough money to change cpu, mobo and ram for new ones.

 

[jsc]

That's a very good price.

I don't think you will Core2 retail prices drop much. What happens is that production shifts to new tech. And decreasing demands of a decreasing supply of old chips for the replacement market tends to maintain prices.

 

[ikhan209]

Although the Q9550 would be better..........you can't go wrong with the Q9500 for $65. My vote take the Q9500!

 

[rogigor]

Well... 65$ without a cooler but I was going to buy mugen 2 anyway.

Btw - would my cooler from e6750 work with q9500?

Btw 2 - and I'm wondering if my chieftec 450W will be enough for q9500?

 

[nativeson8803]

Your cooler should work fine because it is the same socket, 775. As to the psu, I know it would be fine with the cpu, but my concern would be the gpu. If it's working now I don't see how upgrading your cpu is going to change that.

 

[Tom351]

Most games do not saturate 4 cores.

Also, because of the lower clock speed (unless you plan to overclock the new CPU too), you might see lower performance in some games.

Most of the new games like Battlefield Bad Company 2, use up all 4 cores. Older games like Crysis uses up 2 cores (that's where you will see a lower performance).

 

[rogigor]

Well I won't if I overclock it to, let's say, 3.2Ghz.

 

[rogigor]

Oh, and one more thing. Do I really need to reinstall my system when I change cpu to quad?

 

[firebird]

about a 1 1/2 years ago I switched from a e6850 running @3.6 GHZ to a q9550 which I run @3.84. I found much better over clocking ability from the 45nm q9550, but my gaming performance is pretty much the same.

The only reason I switched was because at the time I was doing a lot of CPU based video encoding which was taking forever on the dual core.

 

[cadder]

You didn't say what kind of memory you have but that would come into play with overclocking the Q9500. It has a multiplier of 8.5 so to get it to 3.4GHz you will be running your ram at a minimum of 800MHz. The Q9500 will likely go above 3.4 with a good cooler, but that would push your ram beyond 800.

 

[rogigor]

Well, hah, funny thing. Turned out that this price was for PHENOM 9500 not Q9500... So now I'm back to looking for another quad, and since I don't want to spend more than 120-140$ I'm thinking about Q6600 or q8200 - what do you think ?

 

[swifty_morgan]

The beginning of the post......... if you actually were to select one of those quads ( 95's ) you'd have to make sure the MB would support them. Good call on the BIOS update but that might not have helped. You'd have to check carefully.

The second part ( low speed quads ).... for me at this point in time I wouldn't waste my money, but that's me. Either would be ok if you could get them above 3.0Ghz. Providing the prices aren't too steep.

Quads and gaming reply...... I wouldn't buy a dual at this point in time, and as a matter of fact I retired a 6850 dual core because it was holding me back. ( gaming and other tasks )

The prices on the Intel core processors are steep from what I remember. I replaced mine with an AMD MB and processor -quad- for less than I could have bought a processor at the time. ( money wise and performance wise it was a good call.

 

[cadder]

If your games will utilize multiple cores, then a Q6600 might help you. You might also be able to find a Q9400 within your price range. If your games don't utilize multiple cores then you won't see any difference.

Toms has done stories in the past and run benchmarks with different numbers of cores. You might study those articles and see if that gives you any information.

 

[nativeson8803]

Quads and gaming reply...... I wouldn't buy a dual at this point in time, and as a matter of fact I retired a 6850 dual core because it was holding me back. ( gaming and other tasks )

The prices on the Intel core processors are steep from what I remember. I replaced mine with an AMD MB and processor -quad- for less than I could have bought a processor at the time. ( money wise and performance wise it was a good call.

I think both of these points are right on the money. I play BFBC2 and GTA4 almost exclusively and they both really benefit from a quad. So don't go dual if you buy a new processor.

The second point he makes is perhaps the most important. Can you get a decent Phenom II X4 and mobo combo for a price that makes sense? Go that route if you can.