i7 or C2 Quad?

[Dorkenstein]

Is an overclocked i7 920 faster in games and video encoding than a similarly overclocked Q9550? I picked the Q9550 up not long ago, but if the i7 is a lot better I would go for one and give the Q9550 to my dad. I almost went straight for an i7 but at the time couldn't afford the complete setup. Thanks for any help.

 

[n7]

Of course the i7 is going to be faster clock for clock.

Whether it's worth it or not really depends on what you use the PC for.
For most games, i'm not sure you'll see a huge improvement.

But for video work, depending on what apps you use, you could see some huge gains.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you already have the Q9550, I would build with that. I just don't see the massive advantage that the i7 has, esp. for gaming. Possibly if you do a lot of video editing the i7 might be worth it, or if you use VMs a lot. Otherwise, I would go with the cheaper C2Q solution.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Yeah, it's almost only for gaming. If there's no big difference I will stick with my Q9550. Anyone that's used both have any input?

EDIT: Oops, took me too long to reply. Thanks for the answers.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

See what kind of overclocks you can get with that Q9550

 

[Gikaseixas]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Yeah, it's almost only for gaming. If there's no big difference I will stick with my Q9550. Anyone that's used both have any input?

EDIT: Oops, took me too long to reply. Thanks for the answers.

If it's mostly for gaming just keep your Q9550 and overclock. What size is your monitor? Video Card?

 

[nitromullet]

IMO, if you're building a new gaming rig AND you think you might go dual video card I'd opt for i7 simply for the Crossfire and SLI compatibility provided by most X58 boards. With C2Q, you have to decide/limit your potential to either Crossfire or SLI based on your motherboard choice. Otherwise, since you already own the Q9550, sticking with that makes the most sense.

 

[13Gigatons]

Maybe you should wait for the Core i5?

 

[alcoholbob]

i7 has a different cache structure than Penryn. From what I've seen it performs pretty much identical to Penryn clock for clock in games except in some cases, you can tell the weaker L2 cache on the i7 is causing it to perform worse. On a few rare occasions the integrated memory controller sometimes works in its advantage.

Of course with any conceivable application outside of the currently available games, i7 is significantly faster.

 

[exar333]

i7 if you can afford it; can't go wrong with C2Q either tho...

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Q9550s are clocking close to and above 4ghz.... thats fast

 

[Zenoth]

If you already have a Q9550 stay with it. Going from a C2D to i7, yes, but not from C2Q, especially not for the main purpose of gaming.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

What you currently have is fine for gaming.

For video encoding, or pretty much any other productivity task, the 920 does indeed smoke the Q9550 despite having a lower clock speed.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench...3.44.45.46.47.48.49.50

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
and give the Q9550 to my dad.

Check with your dad and see if he wants it ... if not, can I adopt you, jk, I'd rather have the i7