Upgrading to 2600k or stick with q9550

[ceelo45]

I currently have a q9550 sitting on stock due to my motherboard (p35ds3l only 4 pin cpu) limiting my overclocking abilities. I havn't played fps games in a bit but I do plan on getting back into bad company 2 and bf 3 when it comes out.

I play @ 1920 x 1200 resolution and prefer to max out everything.

Im currently running a gigabyte radeon 5850 + OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB DDR2 800

I can pick up an asus rampage extreme from a local seller in the area for around ~225-250 to keep my current cpu + upgrade to ddr3 ram if need be or do a new build all together.

The new build will cost me around ~700 dollars to get new ram cpu mobo once the p67 is readily available.

Is it worth upgrading to a new build or just sticking with the q9550 and upgrading my main mobo + ram?

 

[omnisome]

The i7-2600K is the very best on the market, but if you're gaming then an i5-2500K which is $100 less of cost will be more adequate for you.

 

[jerreddredd]

I guess it depends on what you want in the end and if its worth the $. Look at this chart and you will see how much improvement the i7 and i5 "K's" are over the Q9950.

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the Q9550 is on the right, for some reason the chart only displays the names of the sandy bridge CPU's


I have both the Q9550 (home Desktop) and the i5-2500K (traveling LAN Gaming Rig) and I can't tell the difference when gaming, unless I turn on all the bells and whistles, then it is very obvious.

I also agree with Omnisome, the i5-2500K is the best buy unless you are just looking for a status symbol of the i7 2600K.

 

[aznshinobi]

My suggestion. Don't upgrade at all on the build. Just wait and save up for something like the Ivy Bridge. Z68. The reason being, the Q9550 like Jerred said is already a good chip. With some minor OCing it'll run anything just fine. It matches up with the Phenoms to, plus at the time it was the best chip. Course as programs move forward of course the new arch has its benefits.

So my advice, wait for the next gen Sandy Bridge (Ivy Bridge) Then upgrade. That'll replace X58 and be released later this year.

 

[jerreddredd]

My suggestion. Don't upgrade at all on the build. Just wait and save up for something like the Ivy Bridge. Z68. The reason being, the Q9550 like Jerred said is already a good chip. With some minor OCing it'll run anything just fine. It matches up with the Phenoms to, plus at the time it was the best chip. Course as programs move forward of course the new arch has its benefits.

So my advice, wait for the next gen Sandy Bridge (Ivy Bridge) Then upgrade. That'll replace X58 and be released later this year.

Well said!

 

[batuchka]

+1 aznshinobi : if you dun render/encode a pre 2008 OCed Kentsfield, Yorkfield or AM2+ Deneb are still good to go for games and in just under 2-3 months we shall see Z68 chipsets, Zambezi AM3+ (desktop implementation of Bulldozer) and HD 6990/GTX 590 so....