Q9550 @ 3.6 stable for a year, go further?

[Dorkenstein]

My Q9550 has been rock solid at 3.6 ghz for about a year now. I have a good cooler with two fans, so the heatsink is always cool to the touch. Is there any point in overclocking further? I can't imagine there being much gain in going from 3.6 to 4.0, but maybe I'm wrong. Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do? Thanks.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

A Yorkfield at 3.6Ghz is nothing to sneeze at. That's very fast.

What do you want to go higher for? For what? Why?

 

[JAG87]

The question is, do you need to?

I only overclock when I know there is tangible and perceivable performance to be gained.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I don't really want to go higher, just wondering if anyone else did it and got perceivable improvement. Yesterday I talked myself out of upgrading to a newer cpu and it's still on my mind a little. Thanks for the replies.

 

[JAG87]

There is no perceivable improvement. If you render/encode you will shave off a few seconds, if you game you will see no difference at all. Almost nothing is CPU bottlenecked today.

 

[Shmee]

yes, for the fun of it! What is the stepping? How are temps under full load?

I usually shoot for the sky

When I get my gulftown I am hoping for 4.6 or higher

m7 920 D0 is currently at 4.2 XD

Also have a Q6600 at 3.5

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Think of your electric bill.

 

[Dorkenstein]

So, my best bet is to hang on till march for an upgrade?

 

[vj8usa]

I don't really want to go higher, just wondering if anyone else did it and got perceivable improvement. Yesterday I talked myself out of upgrading to a newer cpu and it's still on my mind a little. Thanks for the replies.

Improvement in what? You never mentioned what apps you're trying to get a performance increase in. You won't see any improvement at all for surfing the web or typing up documents in a word processor, for instance.

So, my best bet is to hang on till march for an upgrade?

If you have budgetary constraints, your best bet is to not upgrade until you want more performance in something specific. There's no point at all to buying faster hardware when you're getting the performance you need from the hardware you have now. If your budget is unlimited though, you might as well just upgrade right now for the hell of it instead of waiting until March.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Games, mainly. I'm probably going to wait and jump to a new socket type.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If it's games, I'd suggest the latest and greatest video card.

 

[soccerballtux]

eh I wouldn't bother. Save the motherboard so you don't have to upgrade from failure-- overclocking stresses the mobo more than the CPU, in my opinion (in terms of shortening life, specifically the capacitors).

You might get to 3.8Ghz, but that's not much better.

 

[Claudius-07]

Been rocking a q9550 at 3.4 GHz from the day the came out. Rock solid... and not even a bump in Voltages. The temps have been very good -- using a TRUE. I have had the itch myself... thinking of Oc'ing to 4 Ghz or upgrading to an i920 or something but then I simply revert back to being rather happy and content with what I have.

I think at 3.4 or 3.6 etc, the power/heat/stability ratio for the return on performance is pretty good as it is. I can't see a few more 100 mhz making much difference. The only thing I would consider is a new Hex when they become affordable to "maybe" see an increase in actual performance when I do so much encoding.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'm reviving my Q9550 rig with a new mb and would be content between 3.4 & 3.6Ghz maybe a 420fsb by 8.5 for 3.57Ghz That sounds good to me

I have an i7 rig but I am looking for comparisons between both. I'm sure I'll find the Q9550 not too far off in UT3

 

[Ride2kmax]

I had a e5200 doing 3.8 on stock everything and just because of it. I'm not happy with my q9550 at 3.6.
I think if you got a very good mb just go for it. Because i just cant.