Real life difference? Should I upgrade from Q6700 at 3gig to a Corei5 Quad

[Locke]

OK, here's another similar qustion for you guys: what about an upgrade from a Q9550 to a Q9650?

I don't want to overclock as my system runs very cool and quiet as it is. I would be reselling the Q9950 and it looks like I could get most of the cost of a Q9650 back. Are there any improvements in performance over and above the increase in frequency?

I do a fair bit of media encoding, so any increase in processing power should benefit me.

Just ask yourself this question: "Can I wait a few extra seconds or shall I spend money on a shiny new processor?"

Keep your current CPU and spend some of the saved money on a few beers.

[Funkstar]

Fair enough guys

I had it in my head there was more than just a frequency bump, but obviously I'm wrong. I will just save my money for now. It's amazing that this PC is almost 2 years old now and without spending a boat load of money there is no real point in replacing it.

[Queelis]

I had it in my head there was more than just a frequency bump, but obviously I'm wrong. I will just save my money for now. It's amazing that this PC is almost 2 years old now and without spending a boat load of money there is no real point in replacing it.

I'd say sad, for the lack of competition makes it that way Otherwise we'd just have cheaper i5/i7s.

[marktime]

Fair enough guys

I had it in my head there was more than just a frequency bump, but obviously I'm wrong. I will just save my money for now. It's amazing that this PC is almost 2 years old now and without spending a boat load of money there is no real point in replacing it.

I know what you mean, just upgraded from a Q6600 to i7 920 after 2 years and at stock there's no noticeable difference in anything other than media encoding. Those Core 2 quads must be the best bang-for-buck ever.

[Locke]

Fair enough guys

I had it in my head there was more than just a frequency bump, but obviously I'm wrong. I will just save my money for now. It's amazing that this PC is almost 2 years old now and without spending a boat load of money there is no real point in replacing it.

Looking at your system, in my opinion the next logical upgrade would be a SSD drive. You'll be surprised how much difference they have on a system like yours.

[marktime]

Looking at your system, in my opinion the next logical upgrade would be a SSD drive. You'll be surprised how much difference they have on a system like yours.

Totally agree.

[Funkstar]

Looking at your system, in my opinion the next logical upgrade would be a SSD drive. You'll be surprised how much difference they have on a system like yours.

Totally agree.

Yup, so do I

It is on the cards, I'm just not sure when. I really need a 120GB+ drive and you are talking a couple of hundred for that at least. When I do move to SSD I'll reinstall W7 at the same time. Might wait until SP1 for that, I much prefer installing the OS with the latest SP slipstreamed into it rather than applying it to an existing system. It may be stupid, but that's just the way I like to do it

And when I do, I'll probably replace the 650GB drive as well, propably with something 1TB+ and along the lines of a Samsung F3 (although I don't like Samsungs these days) and the DVD drive with a BluRay reader.

[watercooled]

OK, here's another similar qustion for you guys: what about an upgrade from a Q9550 to a Q9650?

I don't want to overclock as my system runs very cool and quiet as it is. I would be reselling the Q9950 and it looks like I could get most of the cost of a Q9650 back. Are there any improvements in performance over and above the increase in frequency?

I do a fair bit of media encoding, so any increase in processing power should benefit me.

Just as a suggestion you could overclock your 9550 to the same clock as a 9650 and get pretty much the same performance for free (not including the likely increase in power draw but you might be able to overclock without overvolting). Of course, the multiplier of those CPUs is locked so you'd have to up the FSB, meaning you couldn't get it at exactly the same specs as a 9650 but higher FSB vs higher multiplier might give you marginally better performance anyway.

[scaryjim]

When's this watercooling build getting done Jim? I want pictures

Apologies to Zak for the momentary thread-jack

I've got pretty much everything apart from tube and connectors - many thanks to the good folks of Hexus (and particularly GoNz0) for their generously priced for sale threads . Sadly I've got a couple of other financial commitments over the next month or so, so I'm not quite sure when I'll be finishing the shopping...

Build threads will start shortly as I've come up with at least 3 possible layouts for components and want to get some feedback from these wonderful forums as to whether there's any obvious advantages / disadvantages between them. Pictures will occur, but it looks like the actual waterloop probably won't be finished for a couple of months...

[Zak33]

thread -jack away....

I've had my answer

[Funkstar]

Just as a suggestion you could overclock your 9550 to the same clock as a 9650 and get pretty much the same performance for free (not including the likely increase in power draw but you might be able to overclock without overvolting). Of course, the multiplier of those CPUs is locked so you'd have to up the FSB, meaning you couldn't get it at exactly the same specs as a 9650 but higher FSB vs higher multiplier might give you marginally better performance anyway.

I might give it a go, probably not though. As I said, I thought there was a core difference not just a speed bump so the advantages of a Q9650 are less than I thought

[Li4m79]

i'm in a similar situation, i have a q6700@3.5Ghz, but the thing is, my mobo is on its way out, so instead of getting a cheap 775 i'm just gonna go all out, get a 1336mobo and an i7 950, plus ram. I'm gonna have to buy it bits at a time though, but hopefully will see an improvement!!

I agree with the majority here, the Q6xxx is a really good chip considering, adn to make it worthwhile you'd have to go to an i7 i think. an i5, although you may notice a slight performance increase, it wouldn't be worth it....

[nibbler]

i'm in a similar situation, i have a q6700@3.5Ghz, but the thing is, my mobo is on its way out, so instead of getting a cheap 775 i'm just gonna go all out, get a 1336mobo and an i7 950, plus ram. I'm gonna have to buy it bits at a time though, but hopefully will see an improvement!!

I agree with the majority here, the Q6xxx is a really good chip considering, adn to make it worthwhile you'd have to go to an i7 i think. an i5, although you may notice a slight performance increase, it wouldn't be worth it....

i7 950 is being halfed in price IIRC. If not don't go anywhere near it, get a 930.

[watercooled]

Yeah it is dropping in price according to a few sources, including Hexus. I often hear people saying they are gong to buy bits when they can afford them but you're best saving up and buying everything when you have the money (unless there is a good deal on for some of the parts of course), by the time you buy the last parts everything may have dropped in price or you might be able to get the next gen components for the same price.

[Funkstar]

Yeah it is dropping in price according to a few sources, including Hexus. I often hear people saying they are gong to buy bits when they can afford them but you're best saving up and buying everything when you have the money (unless there is a good deal on for some of the parts of course), by the time you buy the last parts everything may have dropped in price or you might be able to get the next gen components for the same price.

Definitely this. Although motherboards drop less than processors, and if you really do want to spread the costs, things like coolers and cases never really change in price.

[Li4m79]

Yep price is already dropped @ Scan, but they won't ship until the 1st of august!! I have my shopping basket full, just waiting for the nice students loan people to put the money in my bank!!

New i7 rig purely for educational purposes!!!