q9550 worth it?

[baked188]

I currently have e6400@3.2ghz, p5q p45 board & a 4890. Would it be a good upgrade going to the q9550 and clocking it to near 4ghz?
system is for gaming @ 1920x1200
changing platforms to i5/7 is out of the question due to budget.

 

[yh125d]

I'd just wait til your budget allows an i5 upgrade

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

It's not a bad upgrade for the 159$ MicroCenter deal, just the platform is EOL

 

[toyota]

unless you plan on getting a faster gpu soon then just stick with what you have.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You could clock that a little higher and save for a 5870, that might be a better optoion. The new AMD GPU comes out in 10 days, IIRC

edit; what ram do you have DDR2 800? 1000?

 

[baked188]

My ram is XMS2 800, i hit a limit @ 402x8 1.41v using arctic freezer pro, 35c idle 60-63c load

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: baked188
My ram is XMS2 800, i hit a limit @ 402x8 1.41v using arctic freezer pro, 35c idle 60-63c load

so thus the 3.2Ghz? what is the multi on the e6400?

 

[baked188]

x8.0 & x6.0 idle

 

[MODEL3]

Yes it is a good upgrade.
Sell your 6400 and buy the 9550
I think, Microcenter had the 9550 at $170.
Check to see if the offer is still valid.

If you overclock it, you will have a faster CPU than what AMD (overclocked) can possibly have until bulldozer... ( 6cores for home use/games, makes no difference, at least in the coming 2 years...)

After 2 years change platform.

The 32nm quads i5 even the 2011 models (if you overclock them) will offer less than 2X in games in relation with an overclocked 9550.

9550 is a very good solution.

With the 4890 you could run the Q4 2008 game at 1920X1200 4X AA 16X AF
in some Q4 2009 games probably you will have to drop the res at 1680X1050 or drop quality options
and in some Q4 2010 games you will probably be forced to drop the res at 1440X900 or drop quality options.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

He is still hindered by the DDR2 800/400fsb unless he drops his timings and then we won't know if that's stable or how far he can go; so 400fsb x 8.5 on the Q9550 will give him 3.4ghz - he needs atleast 471fsb to obtain 4Ghz


edit and then we don't know if his board will do that stable

 

[baked188]

Thanks for the great info, I would be looking to buy Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 too if I buy the q9550.
Is the arctic freezer pro adequate for the q9550 oc'd?
Will also be getting 5870 around xmas when prices fall a bit.

edit: my board seems to oc well (on the e6400 anyway) some info on it here

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I would buy the memory first; test and find the mb max fsb (NB)

To do this, set the multi manually to 6 and run up the fsb. Leave all the voltages at stock and see what craps out first. By this trial and error you are stressing the RAM and NB more than the e6400. 6x450 = 2700Ghz which shouldn't be a problem for the cpu.

 

[baked188]

the multiplier is locked on the e6400 (conroe) , I dont really understand how to change nb voltages and other voltages, Just changed the vcore and fsb untill it failed on prime95

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

You can't clock it down? You should be able too.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Read this for a little better understanding. I'm not so sure everything in the guide is correct so always double check with others if you are unsure of something.

 

[MODEL3]

You have the regular XMS2 800 or the XMS2 800C4?

If you have the XMS2 800C4 you can probably overclock it at DDR2-933 (5-5-5-18 ) but you have to check stability for the platform.

In any case, even a mild overclock at 3,4GHz will make the 9550 nearly equivalent with a 3,9GHz overclocked Phenom II X4.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd go for the Q9550 and hold on to the system only upgrading the GPU until 32nm chips. That's what I am doing, waiting for 32nm. Then I will go ahead and dive into the i7 stuff.

 

[Shmee]

yes, if overclocking, yorkfields are still great chips. A good E0 quad can do 4.2 GHz or above on air, given it is high end air, and you have a solid p45 mobo. Looks like you have it, but you should get the faster RAM so that you wont be FSB limited. I know my friend faxon has his Q9650 at 4.2, on low airflow push pull on a megalems. You should have an easier time than him if you dont have 8 GB of ram like he does.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: baked188
Thanks for the great info, I would be looking to buy Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 too if I buy the q9550.
Is the arctic freezer pro adequate for the q9550 oc'd?
Will also be getting 5870 around xmas when prices fall a bit.

edit: my board seems to oc well (on the e6400 anyway) some info on it here

It's decent, but I'd go for a Xigmatek s1283. Very good cooling.

 

[baked188]

Thanks for the replys guys.

Originally posted by: MODEL3
You have the regular XMS2 800 or the XMS2 800C4?

I made a schoolboy error as I had 2x1gb standard xms2 then i orderd 2x1gb xms2 C4's so theyre mixed.

When I get the cpu and ram I will probably buy a Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler too as should hope this will get it to 4ghz+ with the new 1066 ram.