Q9550 or Q8300?

mazeroth

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2006
1,821
2
81
My local Microcenter has the Q9550s for $169 + tax = $181.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...namitedata.com

I can get a Q8300 from Newegg right now during the Black Friday sale for $140 - 10% Bing = $126. Do you guys feel the Q9550 is worth an extra $55? I will sell my X3110 (E8400) @ 4.0 ghz. for about $100. I'll only have a $26 investment with the Q8300 but an $81 investment with the Q9550. If I can get the Q8300 to 3.2 ghz. I will be happy. I will likely keep this setup for the next 18 months. My main reason for the upgrade is I want to play GTA 4 much faster, which I've seen a quad do, and the new Dragon Age game runs much better on a quad. I currently have a GTX 260 192.

Thanks.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
7,430
0
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I think it's worth the extra money. The Q9550 has a ton more cache, and is much faster right out of the box. It should OC better, too.

Especially if you will keep the setup for the next 18 months, getting the faster chip is a no brainer.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
7,430
0
71
I think it's worth the extra money. The Q9550 has a ton more cache, and is much faster right out of the box. It should OC better, too.

Especially if you will keep the setup for the next 18 months, getting the faster chip is a no brainer.
 

GP_Pacer_Blue

Junior Member
Nov 25, 2009
19
0
0
Q9550, better video encoding, 8mb of L2 more than the Q8300. I this would allow you to bypass the i5 & i7 platforms and DDR3. If think about it, this upgrade would allow you to wait for the 6 core cpu, sata 3.0, usb 3.0, and any other that may come in the future. With the Q9550 setup, I would install 4gb or more of ram and sit on this platform for 18 to 24 months. And if you feel that your system may become dated, then buy good cpu cooler and overclock the cpu and add an ssd hdd drive (Intel, OCZ, or 2 Kingston 40gb ssd in RAID 0).
 

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,248
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I'd say that if are even considering the Q9550 at all just buy it....If you buy the Q8300 then within a couple of days you'll be thinking " I should have just bought the Q9550 "

Well at least that's what happens to me :D
 

potato28

Diamond Member
Jun 27, 2005
8,964
0
0
9550. I had the same decision, but the price gap was $80 and I couldn't afford it, so I'm stuck with a Q8400 OC'ed to 3.5.