Upgrade from e8400 to q9550?

[damage424]

GA-EP45-DS3L
4GB Crucial DDR2-800
ATI 4850 ICEQ4 Turbo
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W

Would e8400 to q9550 be worth it? $159.99 isn't bad and I think it's a good upgrade to future proof for games. I got an itch to pull the trigger on this deal; should I do it? FYI I'm gonna upgrade video card in December.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I'd say overclock that e8400 to 4ghz and put that $160 towards the gtx 300's later this year.

 

[damage424]

That is what I initial thought too. I can just get a heatsink and OC my e8400. The only thing is I don't want my e8400 to bottleneck any future cards, like a gtx 300 (I game on 1920x1200). This is the only reason I am considering getting the q9550 as I can just OC that cpu down the road instead of buying new mobo/ram/cpu.

 

[Shmee]

I would say if you can utilize the quad, get a Q9550 E0 and take it to 4.2 GHz or something.

 

[Brutus04]

Hell ya...Sell your 8400 and take your 755 to the limit.

 

[damage424]

I really have an itch to get this and OC the heck out of it. The MicroCenter also carry Prolimatech Megahalems which I'll end up buying If I do get the q9550. I feel like it is just the smart thing to do with more and more games coming utilizing quad cpu's.

 

[damage424]

How do I tell if it's E0?

Edit: SLB8V for the E0 and SLAWQ for the C1

 

[faxon]

Originally posted by: Shmee
I would say if you can utilize the quad, get a Q9550 E0 and take it to 4.2 GHz or something.

this. you could probably even sell the E8400 for $100-$120ish and only have to pay $40 of the cost out of your pocket lol

ed: as for figuring out which stepping

http://processorfinder.intel.com/

microcenter shouldnt have any C0 stepping chips left by now anyway, the E0s have been around since this time last year lol

 

[damage424]

I am definitely going tomorrow to get it!

 

[faxon]

awesome dude. also, when you get your megahalems see if you can get a second set of fan brackets so you can push/pull with it. it makes a pretty good difference especially if you want quiet low CFM fans, because the split down the middle allows the fan in pull to suck extra air into the cooler through the gap. was like a 2-3c difference at load with my 2 low speed yate loons

 

[damage424]

I heard the Megahalems don't come with fans and you have to buy them separately, but it comes with two brackets.

Also, should I be concerned about my DDR2-800 ram? My mobo says it supports 1200mhz and I was thinking I can probably sell my ram too and upgrade those to make the most out of my OC.

 

[faxon]

it comes with 2 brackets yes, but you need both to mount a single fan. think of the wire clips that noctua and thermalright use, the megahalems uses something similar. as for upgrading your ram, i would recommend it. in order to get my Q9650 stable @ 4.2ghz i needed 467FSB and 1:1 memory ratio, so my ram is clocked to 934MHz right now @ 5-5-5-15. with the Q9550 your multi is .5 lower, so your FSB will be clocked even higher than mine is.

 

[damage424]

And should I get 2x 120MM Yate Loon fans?

 

[spinejam]

fwiw, i have an e3110 (e8400) @ 4050mhz and my rig in sig (q9550 @4.0Ghz) and both are very responsive and great for gaming. i use the q9550 for my video-crunching duties though.

 

[Zap]

It really comes down to how long you expect to keep with your platform (mobo/RAM). If you plan to stick with it for a while, then do the upgrade. If you tend to change platforms often or you think you would be due a platform change in the next half year or so, then don't bother.

Your motherboard uses a fairly recent chipset though, and for me that would be a keeper for a while. If you were on an older chipset like P35/P31 or especially P965, I'd hold off and save up for a platform upgrade in the next year.

 

[faxon]

Originally posted by: damage424
And should I get 2x 120MM Yate Loon fans?

pick whatever fans suit your needs. i got the yates cause they were cheap and quiet, but if you want high CFM without any regard for nose, high speed or medium speed yates are also good fans. the scythe slipstream fans are also excellent choices if you want something which can move a ton of air.

 

[damage424]

Yea, I'm not crossing to a new platform any time soon. I'm hoping after the cpu + ram combo, I'm not going to have to touch that stuff for years to come. Graphics card is another story.

Any suggestions for which ram to get? Mobo is GA-EP45-DS3L. Same model as UD3P just no sli/cf. On the box it says FSB 1600 DDR2 1333/1200. Running on Vista 32 bit.

Currently have 4GB G. Skill DDR2-800

 

[Shmee]

I would recommend getting a 64 bit OS to be able to utilize more ram.

As for what to get, I would recomend getting the 4GB Gskill pi ddr2 1100 kit.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Brutus04
Hell ya...Sell your 8400 and take your 755 to the limit.

+1

unless you plan on getting an i5 soonish?

 

[damage424]

Nope, I'm not gonna budge from my q9550 OC for a few years.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I would read up on how well that board overclocks a quad. I had a Maximus II Formula that cried beyond 480fsb with my Q9650 (yorkfield) while people reported 600fsb with wolfdales on the XS forums. I spent almost 280$ for that board and then took the advice from some of the people around here and upgraded to a 114$ Gigabyte P45 UD3R as you see in my sig.

My point is, make sure your board will help you reach your OC goal and good luck!

 

[damage424]

Just to clarify this. If I want to set my OC goal at 3.4gh (for now) I would obtain that by 8.5x400=3.4 And my ram is DDR2-800 PC6400. To get 1:1 ratio, my ram settings should remain the same? 800/2=400. So since I don't have to change my ram settings because it is in sync? This is going to be my first OC attempt so any comments are helpful. And yes I am using the sticky as my guide.

 

[damage424]

On my way to the store now!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

3.4ghz should be a breeze. I have the same board and went up to 3ghz on my Q8200.

Same settings translate to a Q9550 @ 3.65ghz, which is really fast.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

IS the $159 deal avail online? Can someone link me?