Best core2quad processor for digital photography

[vdr369]

Hi, My uncle is upgrading his pc from a pentium d to core2quad. His mobo is Asus p5q vm. Use of this upgrade is mainly for coral draw and Adobe master suite particularly Photoshop,premier and flash. He is not a gamer. but loves to play. I am suggested him a q9650 cpu. any better ideas please fire it.
his rig specs are

P5Q-VM board socket 775
Ram Kingston 800mhz 8gb(4x2) ddr2
Seagate 1tb hdd
zalman inps x10
22 inch led based monitor
Processor = ????

and choices are

1) Must be quad core processor
2) Price between $150 to $300
3) A good overclocker
4) Processor must be Socket 775
5) dont suggest a sandy bridge because he bought that mobo yesterday. his old mobo is asrock g41m-vs2

 

[Guest]

If you are gonna be paying 300, you can get a new motherboard and a 2500k as well for 300... 360 with 16gb ddr3.

See if he can return the motherboard he just got (even with a restocking fee). Its best to just move on instead of paying hundreds on slower older cpu.

 

[13thmonkey]

unless he's paid by the minute, any of the c2Q's will be ok, the biggest one you can go for, or the one that most affordable.

 

[jaguarskx]

If your uncle just bought the motherboard yesterday, then he should return it for a refund.

At this point in time you can build a system around the older Core 2 Quad CPU and a current Core i5 CPU for about the same price. The difference is that a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge Core i5 CPU has about 20% more processing power than a Core 2 Quad.

I propose the following components:

Core i5 2500k = $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

MSI P67S-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 motherboard = $77 (after rebate) + $8 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130576

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) RAM = $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095


Total cost = $342 (after rebate)

At stock speed the i5-2500k should be equivalent to a Q9650 clocked at 3.9GHz - 4.0GHz on average (excluding Turbo Boost). The i5-2500k can be easily overclocked with a P67 chipset motherboard, however OC'ing is not recommended with the stock heatsink.

 

[Guest]

If your uncle just bought the motherboard yesterday, then he should return it for a refund.

At this point in time you can build a system around the older Core 2 Quad CPU and a current Core i5 CPU for about the same price. The difference is that a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge Core i5 CPU has about 20% more processing power than a Core 2 Quad.

I propose the following components:

Core i5 2500k = $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

MSI P67S-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 motherboard = $77 (after rebate) + $8 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130576

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) RAM = $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095


Total cost = $342 (after rebate)

At stock speed the i5-2500k should be equivalent to a Q9650 clocked at 3.9GHz - 4.0GHz on average (excluding Turbo Boost). The i5-2500k can be easily overclocked with a P67 chipset motherboard, however OC'ing is not recommended with the stock heatsink.

Actually http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589 i5 180 (in store) So thats 302$

 

[jaguarskx]

Only if you live near a Microcenter. Does no good if you live in Seattle, Washington for example.

 

[amuffin]

Tell your uncle to return that motherboard right now! And spend that money for a i5-2500k and a 1155 board immediatly! For the same price you could get a cpu that outperforms any c2qd cpu and has great overclocking abilities. Also photoshop and adobe applications are gpu accelerated so you might want to see if he can get a gpu for that.

 

[vdr369]

thank you all for a quick reply, I am pushed him to buy i5-2500k, and he bought it. actually i first suggested him i5 before he purchase the p5q board, but he refused, after i shown him anandtech cpu bench he realised and bought it,we returned the p5q board with return charges ,

now we have another problem of chosing right mobo, I suggested him a z68 board price tag between $100 to $170 preferences are in this thread,

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/302278-30-best-budget-mother-board-2500k

every reply will help more than u think.

 

[amuffin]

This only if your budget allows it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792 otherwise this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

 

[vdr369]

Best answer selected by vdr369.