Q9650 vs. i7 920

[Fedaykin311]

So I'm buying a new system, and I've narrowed down my choices to the Q9650 and the i7 920.

From a performance standpoint, they are roughly equal in my eyes. I've read that Q9650 actually does better than the i7 920 for my primary CPU bound gaming purpose: Supreme Commander, but that the I7 920 generally does better in other games.

Also, I've found builds that are within $100 of each other for these, so price really isn't a concern.

Now, for many reasons (upgrade potential, DDR3, PCIe 2, etc.) I would prefer a i7 platform, however after reading up on the i7 I am concerned about the relative stability of that platform and in the heat and noise generation of such a system compared to the much more refined Core series/platform. (my current setup is an E6750)

I want to build a reasonably quiet air cooled system optimized for Gaming (esp SupCom) and as a platform to try out and SSD and maybe even SLI for the first time. Of course while gaming I don't expect quiet operation, only while doing other tasks like browsing, listening to music, light gaming, etc. but the less noise at all times the better.

The setup is going in an Antec P182 so I have 2 120mm fans to get decent airflow even at low RPM, and I will likely drop a Thermalright 120 or perhaps a Zalman as the cooler.

So,

1.) Is the i7 platform (X58 based boards) reasonable stable at this point.

2.) Will I be able to achieve a near silent setup with air cooling (during non intensive tasks) as I can now with the E6750.

 

[polarbear6]

I read a little about the tock of 45nm die shrink of intel, But i never heard of any stability issues probably a link to where you read it would be helpful. Well if your over clocking it IMO the I7 would outperform the 2 quad. With D0 stepping you might hit 4.3 ghz (according to anandtech) and that also on air. but the q9650 IMO will have problems touching above 4 ghz mark on air without insanic vcore.

Reference to the 4.3ghz oc on 920

 

[Rick James]

For building a new system. Buying the 775 is a waste because its a dead socket. Spend the extra money and get the I7

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

The Core i7 wins in everything, just get it.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

I somewhat agree with the previous 2 posters. Plenty of folks are running relatively quiet & perfectly stable i7 systems. I can't comment about how quiet compared with your current rig, though, as many people have a different definition of "quiet" compared with mine.

One would think that future software will take better advantage of i7 architecture, so the performance difference between i7 and C2Q should grow.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
The Core i7 wins in everything, just get it.

Actually, the i7 falls behind other quad-cores in some gaming situations.

 

[polarbear6]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
The Core i7 wins in everything, just get it.

Actually, the i7 falls behind other quad-cores in some gaming situations.

About the reference i gave over there for the D0 stepping, i would like to know wheither they got 4.3ghz on air cooling or water !! cause its a pretty low vcore (1.344v) which i dont think might need water!!

 

[Binky]

If I were building a system from scratch, I wouldn't even consider a 775 setup. If you already have a 775 motherboard, then the Q9650 (or Q9550) makes a great choice.

 

[n7]

You'll probably be able to OC the Q9650 to higher speeds than than the i7 920 (likely slighty better for some games), but i'd go i7 in your shoes if the extra $$ isn't an issue.

Doesn't really make sense to go high end s775 these days.

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
The Core i7 wins in everything, just get it.

Actually, the i7 falls behind other quad-cores in some gaming situations.

I believe that only happens when HT is enabled...

 

[polarbear6]

Originally posted by: n7
You'll probably be able to OC the Q9650 to higher speeds than than the i7 920 (likely slighty better for some games), but i'd go i7 in your shoes if the extra $$ isn't an issue.

Doesn't really make sense to go high end s775 these days.

Well what about this article from Anandtech. So its water cooling huh ?? cause its a 920 and it hit 4.3ghz at 1.344v vcore. Thats fairly higher than the q9650's reachText

 

[Gikaseixas]

heat will be a little higher comparing to a Q9650 but it's not horrible. We have very good aftermarket coolers these days.

The i7 is also more futureproof so go for it

 

[FalseChristian]

You'll wanna go with a AMD Phenom II X4 system. It's much, much cheaper than the 920 i7 and just as fast.

 

[bipartisanpwnage]

Originally posted by: FalseChristian
You'll wanna go with a AMD Phenom II X4 system. It's much, much cheaper than the 920 i7 and just as fast.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

i7 all the way

 

[elconejito]

As a Q9650 owner, I'd have to say if cost isn't an issue then go for the i7.

As far as noise is concerned, I've got mine overclocked pretty well and it is very quiet. It is only a little louder than my media center, if the screen has gone to sleep you might not even realize that it's on from more than a few feet away. The Antec P182 does a really good job with noise. Make good choices with your fans and you should be good. silentpcreview.com and their forums have a lot of good info for trying to get the quietest system possible.

 

[Acanthus]

Are you limited by budget at all?

What graphics card are you using?

I would put $100 more into the graphics card before spending $100 on an arbitrary CPU performance increase.

Going from a 9800GT to a 4890 1GB is a huge boost.

and going from the 4890 to the 4870 x2 is another huge boost.

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: Rick James
For building a new system. Buying the 775 is a waste because its a dead socket. Spend the extra money and get the I7

Intel change their sockets so frequently now I don't see how "a dead socket" is relevant at all. You probably will never get to upgrade ur CPU, just buy a brand new system in a few years.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: kyotousa

Originally posted by: Rick James
For building a new system. Buying the 775 is a waste because its a dead socket. Spend the extra money and get the I7

Intel change their sockets so frequently now I don't see how "a dead socket" is relevant at all. You probably will never get to upgrade ur CPU, just buy a brand new system in a few years.

wtf... you must be thinking of AMD, intel doesn't change sockets very often at all.

look at how long they had LGA 775 for. 4 years.

look at what AMD did in the same 4 years: socket 754, 939, AM2, AM2+

 

[lopri]

There are pre-built i7 systems from Dell and HP. If you don't mind their proprietary stuff (and probably limited upgrade-ability), it'll be very hard to match the price of those. I saw a Dell system (complete with OS, 6GB RAM, and even 21" monitor) with i7 920 for $999. Sure it may not have 3 PEG slots but it'll probably be damn quiet. Just a thought.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: JAG87
wtf... you must be thinking of AMD, intel doesn't change sockets very often at all.

look at how long they had LGA 775 for. 4 years.

look at what AMD did in the same 4 years: socket 754, 939, AM2, AM2+

I think he meant more than just physical sockets.

If you pick up ANY socket 939 CPU you know it will work on a Socket 939 motherboard.
If you pick up an LGA775 CPU, and you will have to find out which chipsets are compatible.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: JAG87

Originally posted by: kyotousa

Originally posted by: Rick James
For building a new system. Buying the 775 is a waste because its a dead socket. Spend the extra money and get the I7

Intel change their sockets so frequently now I don't see how "a dead socket" is relevant at all. You probably will never get to upgrade ur CPU, just buy a brand new system in a few years.

wtf... you must be thinking of AMD, intel doesn't change sockets very often at all.

look at how long they had LGA 775 for. 4 years.

look at what AMD did in the same 4 years: socket 754, 939, AM2, AM2+

Accuracy FTL. S754 came out in 2003. Intel's S478 still roamed the earth, and L775 had just been introduced.

Also, if you are separating AM2/AM2+, then in all fairness you need to separate the L775 into 2 groups - the mobos that accepted the newer 45nm chips, and the older mobos that would not.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: FalseChristian
You'll wanna go with a AMD Phenom II X4 system. It's much, much cheaper than the 920 i7 and just as fast.

This is sarcasm, right?

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: lopri

Originally posted by: JAG87
wtf... you must be thinking of AMD, intel doesn't change sockets very often at all.

look at how long they had LGA 775 for. 4 years.

look at what AMD did in the same 4 years: socket 754, 939, AM2, AM2+

I think he meant more than just physical sockets.

If you pick up ANY socket 939 CPU you know it will work on a Socket 939 motherboard.
If you pick up an LGA775 CPU, and you will have to find out which chipsets are compatible.

There is very little you can do about that. It's just how it is.

Different generation architecture requires different generation chipsets...

AMD on the other hand hasn't changed K8 in 3 years.

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Accuracy FTL. S754 came out in 2003. Intel's S478 still roamed the earth, and L775 had just been introduced.

Also, if you are separating AM2/AM2+, then in all fairness you need to separate the L775 into 2 groups - the mobos that accepted the newer 45nm chips, and the older mobos that would not.

I disagree.

Socket 754 was going directly against CPUs in socket 775.

Socket A was the same generation as socket 478.

And as far as AM2/AM2+ goes, they are physically two different sockets. Props to AMD for making them backwards compatible, but the point is they are different, while LGA 775 hasn't changed in years.

Lets not make this a compatibility debate, the discussion was about sockets.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: JAG87
There is very little you can do about that. It's just how it is.

So basically you're agreeing to the person you were responding to. He said,

Originally posted by: kyotousa
Intel change their compatibility so frequently now I don't see how "a dead socket" is relevant at all. You probably will never get to upgrade ur CPU, just buy a brand new system in a few years.

(change made by me, bolded)

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: JAG87

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Accuracy FTL. S754 came out in 2003. Intel's S478 still roamed the earth, and L775 had just been introduced.

Also, if you are separating AM2/AM2+, then in all fairness you need to separate the L775 into 2 groups - the mobos that accepted the newer 45nm chips, and the older mobos that would not.

I disagree.

Socket 754 was going directly against CPUs in socket 775.

Socket A was the same generation as socket 478.

And as far as AM2/AM2+ goes, they are physically two different sockets. Props to AMD for making them backwards compatible, but the point is they are different, while LGA 775 hasn't changed in years.

Lets not make this a compatibility debate, the discussion was about sockets.

S754 was made for single-core CPU's, so it wasn't really targeting L775, IMO. It was an admittedly "budget" platform, and intended to compete w/478. Anyone who did research at that time knew that another socket was around the corner for AMD.

In 2003, Intel was still introducing new CPUs for S478. Therfore, it was a competitor.

The fact that L775 did not change electronically from alpha to omega is nice, but of no consolation for the early adopters who face the frustration of buying early model L775-based mobos but there's no support for the 45nm C2's. Just like the early AMD 780G users who have sockets that can accept the latest PhII's, but fear mobo meltdown.

Actually, my own accuracy FTL. LGA 775 wasn't launched until 2004, so it was definitely a competitor with AMD's S939.