Does Microcenter still have the Q9550 for $169?

[LOUISSSSS]

^^ they had it a while ago and was just wondering. I think this was an in-store deal only

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0299412

 

[LOUISSSSS]

nice! didn't know i could find that online.

does the Q9550 offer anything over my Q6600 @ 3.6 ghz in gaming/cs:s/multi tasking?

 

[elconejito]

You can probably get a q9550 up to 4Ghz give or take. Not sure how much difference in games it will make. Clock for clock, I noticed my current q9650 was noticeable (not huge tho) faster with my adobe apps and video encoding over my old Q6600. I don't game much. The big difference though was my q6600 was at 3.2Ghz vs 4Ghz+ now. You're coming from 3.6Ghz already so.... *shrugs*

 

[toyota]

you have an 8800gt so you are already about as gpu bound as possible in gaming with that 3.6 Q6600.

 

[MrK6]

you have an 8800gt so you are already about as gpu bound as possible in gaming with that 3.6 Q6600.

Ditto. Get a faster video card and a bigger display first if you're looking at improving your gaming experience.

 

[Zargon]

x2

my 3dmark scores with a 9550 and 4850x2.....

CPU 11405
GPU 11415

both running stock everything.

the q9550 will destroy your 8800gt

 

[TheMeanestGuest]

I dunno, I wouldn't upgrade a quad to a marginally better quad, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Zargon]

its more than marginally better

65 to 45 nm is huge, the q66's run hot as hell

plus the 9550 is the upgrade for 775, the s's and the 96 cost a ton more.

its that or jump to i5 or i7 need a new mobo and ram.


but his GPU is the limit anyways by far

 

[toyota]

its more than marginally better

65 to 45 nm is huge, the q66's run hot as hell

plus the 9550 is the upgrade for 775, the s's and the 96 cost a ton more.

its that or jump to i5 or i7 need a new mobo and ram.


but his GPU is the limit anyways by far

yeah but if he actually needed a cpu upgrade then an i5 would be the way to go imo. the i5 is only $150 at microcenter and it would only cost about 50 bucks more for the upgrade by the time he sold his old stuff.

 

[TheMeanestGuest]

its more than marginally better

Well, marginally is an entirely subjective word, so I'm going to disagree with you.

From where I'm standing, if you've got a quad on 775.. I don't see any reason to get another 775 quad.

I, for one, love arguing semantics. It's the high point of any day.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i know its marginally better, but i love to OC

my rationality tells me to hold onto the Q6600 tho, i'm just worried that i won't be able to find a new cpu when mine dies, its been a 3.6ghz for a while.

temps don't worry me, i'm on a pretty strong watercooling setup

 

[Zargon]

haha fair enough.

with ddr2 prices the way they are the ddr3 upgrade is getting way cheaper

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yea i just checked ddr2 prices, and my 4gb kit doubled in price. i'm not upgrading from my 4gb!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

i know its marginally better, but i love to OC

my rationality tells me to hold onto the Q6600 tho, i'm just worried that i won't be able to find a new cpu when mine dies, its been a 3.6ghz for a while.

temps don't worry me, i'm on a pretty strong watercooling setup

3.6Ghz is a nasty fast Speed LOUISSSSS - Save and wait. Besides some of the Q9x50 chips have a FSB hole which generally is between low 400's to 470's I've had a Q9650 that was fsb solid, the latest Q9550 likes it above 470's and its choking above low 400's but will do 500fsb by an 8 Multi for 4Ghz at 1.375v bios and 1.345v in OS.

 

[MrK6]

i know its marginally better, but i love to OC

my rationality tells me to hold onto the Q6600 tho, i'm just worried that i won't be able to find a new cpu when mine dies, its been a 3.6ghz for a while.

temps don't worry me, i'm on a pretty strong watercooling setup

If you love to overclock, go grab a GTX 260, HD5770, or HD5850 and overclock the hell out of them (they're all great overclockers). Upgrading your video card would make much more of a difference.

 

[crazylegs]

If you love to overclock, go grab a GTX 260, HD5770, or HD5850 and overclock the hell out of them (they're all great overclockers). Upgrading your video card would make much more of a difference.

If you want to max your gaming experience, do this. My vote would be the 5850 if its within your budget? Numerous accounts of people getting it close to 5870 performance.

Will see you through the next 12-18months nps. Then take your pick of ATi / nV v2 DX11 parts.

(thats basically my plan although i'm not gaming much atm so picked up a 4890 not a 5850)

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'd want a new ATi card because i like the way ati does business better than NV. but that'd mean i'd need a new GPU block for my WCing (+$100)

with a new CPU i dont need a new cpu block since they're both lga775. so the consensus is to just use my q6600 till it explodes then worry about it then?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

i'd want a new ATi card because i like the way ati does business better than NV. but that'd mean i'd need a new GPU block for my WCing (+$100)

with a new CPU i dont need a new cpu block since they're both lga775. so the consensus is to just use my q6600 till it explodes then worry about it then?

That's the inherent problem with a GPU block or any block for that matter. Just dump the water and get a new card and block for it

 

[Arkaign]

No, going from a 3.6ghz Q6 series to a hypothetical 4ghz Q9 series is not a worthy upgrade.

From my perspective, if you can hold on to what you got, do this :

(1)- Wait for the supplies to open up and price drops on the ATI 58/5900s, then jump on one of those.

(2)- Wait for the new mobos to drop with USB3 and so on, and then get a cpu/ddr3/mobo at the same time, perhaps in summer '10.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm looking at doing a similar kind of upgrade. Want to replace my E2140s with E5200s. 2.8/3.2Ghz to 3.6-3.7Ghz. Already bought the E5200s, though, so I should probably go ahead and just swap them. I'm just lazy, and I don't have any real pressing need to go faster.

I don't even use my Q6600 3.6 gaming rig, it just sits on my floor unused. Sad, huh?

Edit: I am using GA-P35-DS3R v1.0 mobos in these two E2140 rigs. Should I upgrade to Q9400s, or E5200s? The Q9400s would be maxed out in this mobo at around 3.2Ghz, since I don't think P35 goes much above 400, esp. on a quad. (In fact, will it be a challenge to get them to run at 400FSB?)
I already have two Q9400s.

In fact, this is what I have:
2x DFI X48 T2R boards, which I originally purchased to go with my 2x Q6600 G0 CPUs (one currently installed and OCed to 3.6, on a Tuniq Tower), I have 2x Tuniq towers.
I also have 2x Gigabyte X48-DS5 boards, for which I purchased 2x Q9400s, but then later picked up 2x Q9550s at around the same price, so my Q9400s are available.
Then, I have my dual-cores. 2x Gigabyte P35-DS3R v1.0, with 2x E2140s. Both OCed to 3.2, but the one I use as my current primary rig (and has a MagicJack running 24/7) wasn't "unlimited stable" at 3.2, so I cranked it down to 2.8. I also have about 3x E5200s, one M0, and two R0s.
For RAM, I have 2x 4GB Patriot DDR2-800, 2x 4GB GSkill DDR2-800, and 2x 4GB A-Data DDR2-800. The Patriot is currently installed into the two E2140 rigs. The GSkill and the A-Data were going to go into the two OCed Q6600 systems, but since I bought the two X48-DS5s, I figured that I could just put 4GB into each system, and forego 8GB RAM for now.

So how should I arrange these rigs? Should I drop E5200s or Q9400s into the P35-DS3Rs? If by chance the problem with stability at 3.2(400FSB) is the FSB speed, if I have to drop the bus speed down to 350 like I have it now with the Q9400s, then they will only be running at 2.8, whereas the E5200s wouldn't be limited by FSB in any practical sense. I would hate to waste the capability of the Q9400s. Perhaps I should pick up two EP45-UD3P boards too?

 

[MrK6]

i'd want a new ATi card because i like the way ati does business better than NV. but that'd mean i'd need a new GPU block for my WCing (+$100)

with a new CPU i dont need a new cpu block since they're both lga775. so the consensus is to just use my q6600 till it explodes then worry about it then?

Q6600 + 5850 on air >> Q9550 + 8800GT on water

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Q6600 + 5850 on air >> Q9550 + 8800GT on water

nah air cooling sucks and is boring. WCing is fun

 

[Copenhagen69]

it shows 169 when i go to the link. did it go up or was it just a type?

 

[zagood]

Louissss...good advice on upgrading video/SSD instead of processor.

vLarry...drop an e5200 into your primary rig and go for 333x11.5 (or 11 depending on stability) at stock or close to stock voltage. Lay out your software in a spreadsheet or something and decide how much of it will truly benefit from running on a quad core. If not that much, pop in the other e5200.

Then put together a bench rig where you can see how much you can get out of the other hardware you have "laying around" or sell/trade it. Having a dedicated bench setup will keep you from swapping out too many parts in your active rigs, seriously reducing your downtime.

Copenhage...it's always been $169 (except for some 1 day sales). Louiss got the number wrong.