Q9550 to i7 940 worth it?

[ZipSpeed]

I've been humming and hah-ing these last few days trying to convince myself that I need the upgrade. Stupid upgrade itch. I can grab the CPU for cheap ($200). I will need a new mobo and RAM of course. I suppose my main concern is whether my Q9550 is feeding my 5870 adequately. I do some video encoding on the side but I usually leave it running overnight so encoding time isn't too huge of a concern. I was going to wait for Sandy Bridge but perhaps someone can convince me otherwise.

 

[Markfw]

I doubt you would be happy with the money you would be spending. A 9550@3.4 is pretty good for games.

 

[AndroidVageta]

Yeah, I Q9550 is plenty fast, especially at 3.4ghz...now thats not to say that the 940 isnt faster, but I doubt it would be anything you'd notice, ya know?

I say stick with what you have, you arent missing out on much!

 

[aigomorla]

i7 940 is mostly a c0/c1 stepping.

if your an OCer, u want a D0.

i7 920 D0.
i7 930
i7 950

 

[ZipSpeed]

Sounds good guys. Thanks for the inputs. I think I will put the money towards a SSD instead.

 

[Sp12]

Sounds good guys. Thanks for the inputs. I think I will put the money towards a SSD instead.

That is definitely a much more meaningful upgrade, and probably the best single-component upgrade possible in terms of its impact on performance.

I do want to warn that 25nm flash is in full production and shipping to partners, so the Q3 SSD refresh is forthcoming.

 

[ZipSpeed]

That is definitely a much more meaningful upgrade, and probably the best single-component upgrade possible in terms of its impact on performance.

I do want to warn that 25nm flash is in full production and shipping to partners, so the Q3 SSD refresh is forthcoming.

Thanks for heads up. Will wait till then.

 

[natty1]

For this Q3 SSD refresh, is it important to have a SATA 3.0 capable motherboard?

 

[RussianSensation]

Throwing away 8GBs of DDR2 ram to replace it with 8GBs of DDR3 ram for $225+ seems like a huge waste. Also, upgrading from Q9550 already overclocked to 3.4ghz to Core i7 3.9ghz may not provide that much of a boost with a single 5870. Also, have you tried overclocking the Q9550 more? They can often do 3.8-4.0ghz with good aftermarket cooling.

I would recommend:

1) Get an aftermarket cooler if you already don't have one
2) If you have $ to burn, get an SSD instead.
3) I would upgrade only if you can sell your old parts and spend no more than $100 for the total platform upgrade.

 

[Markfw]

That is definitely a much more meaningful upgrade, and probably the best single-component upgrade possible in terms of its impact on performance.

I do want to warn that 25nm flash is in full production and shipping to partners, so the Q3 SSD refresh is forthcoming.

Are you saying that the prices will drop a lot ? speeds go up or ???

 

[ZipSpeed]

Throwing away 8GBs of DDR2 ram to replace it with 8GBs of DDR3 ram for $225+ seems like a huge waste. Also, upgrading from Q9550 already overclocked to 3.4ghz to Core i7 3.9ghz may not provide that much of a boost with a single 5870. Also, have you tried overclocking the Q9550 more? They can often do 3.8-4.0ghz with good aftermarket cooling.

I would recommend:

1) Get an aftermarket cooler if you already don't have one
2) If you have $ to burn, get an SSD instead.
3) I would upgrade only if you can sell your old parts and spend no more than $100 for the total platform upgrade.

I have a TRUE120 on the CPU and had the CPU up to 4 GHZ at one time. I took it back down to 3.4 GHz to find a better balance between temperature and voltage. It gets pretty hot in my condo too. I've been running the CPU at stock VID and it hasn't complained for the last couple years.

I have a wedding to save for so I suppose upgrading my platform at this point isn't necessarily a smart move. Intel Retail Edge had a wicked price on their SSDs for people at Rockstar status but I missed out. A SSD is eventually going to be in my rig, just a matter of time.

 

[aigomorla]

For this Q3 SSD refresh, is it important to have a SATA 3.0 capable motherboard?

it would be nice... but nothing you would notice in Real world applications.

Are you saying that the prices will drop a lot ? speeds go up or ???

I heard its not that much faster... there telling me i wont say wow, until i see the price.

So from my understanding, they will get cheaper, but not significantly faster.

And the ICH10 is the prefered onboard for SSD's.
Nothing will beat a dedicated controller tho, and you always hear ruby making fun of me on it.

A SSD is eventually going to be in my rig, just a matter of time.

I added a third to play with on the OS on raid. LOL.

Im waiting for the G3 Intel SSD in a 320gb or 640GB size to replace my raptor array.

 

[evolucion8]

Unless if you use lots of multi threaded software, which will never give you twice the performance of your current CPU, the performance gains won't impress you. Spending more on a SSD like other posters said will give you much better gains. A Q9550 at such speed is no slouch, it can keep up with the likes of a i7 920 at stock speed.

 

[aigomorla]

A Q9550 at such speed is no slouch, it can keep up with the likes of a i7 920 at stock speed.

actually i am putting money on the 4ghz Q9550 being faster over the 2.66ghz 920 even with HT ON.

 

[evolucion8]

actually i am putting money on the 4ghz Q9550 being faster over the 2.66ghz 920 even with HT ON.

At 4.0GHz, it is faster indeed

 

[Spikesoldier]

12mb l2 cache is very sexy at high clockspeeds. the 12mb c2q's were very nice chips. i regret letting my q9550 go kinda

 

[OCGuy]

For games? Not a chance.


SSD all the way.

 

[aigomorla]

For games? Not a chance.


SSD all the way.

Hear me roar!

 

[evolucion8]

12mb l2 cache is very sexy at high clockspeeds. the 12mb c2q's were very nice chips. i regret letting my q9550 go kinda

I haven't seen any other x86 processor which such large cache, and the best thing is its low latency, even lower than many newer processors currently.

 

[edplayer]

actually i am putting money on the 4ghz Q9550 being faster over the 2.66ghz 920 even with HT ON.

OP says that he is currently using it at 3.4GHz