Q9550 or P2 940

[FrostByte]

I cant decide which i want to go with. Found a fucking awesome X48 motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136054) for LGA775 and the Q9550 is similarly priced as the P2 940 ive been looking at too. Which one should i go with? Coming from a AMD 6000+ x2 processor. I have made a wishlist of both systems and both are coming out to the same price +- $30

[Baleful]

It all depends on what you use your machine for. While Intel processors beat AMD in most areas, there are a few that AMD still wins.

Someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but I think AMD still holds the performance crown when it comes to things like running virtual machines. There are also a few other things they're good at (can't think of any more off the top of my head)

If you're gaming and OCing, I would get the X48 and Q9550. I have the Q9550, but I have the P45 chipset. Both are amazing to work with, and very solid.

[Langer]

engage fanboyism:
amd woot!
/disengage

[FrostByte]

95% of my time on the PC is watching movies and playing lots and lots of FPS games. And that board i linked to above has a removable NB block to allow for a WC block WITHOUT having to remove the whole assembly altogether. I just know that LGA775 isnt going to last forever and ill probably upgrade again in another year or so and with that being said, should i go ahead and buckle down and get the intel still?

[FrostByte]

i love AMD, dont get me wrong, im just stuck with a budget my wife wont let me go over and i want THE best performance for my dollar.

[Baleful]

You won't notice a difference in watching movies with either one of these. You should notice a boost in games with the Intel. Do you have any experience with Intel stuff, or are you mostly an AMD guy?

I can tell you, if you've been strictly an AMD guy over the years, you probably won't like going to the other side.... meaning you won't see a huge improvement over the P2 940, and you could get easily frustrated trying to clock in the intel if you've never done it before.

I would get the X48 and Q9550, but I like Intel right now b/c they perform better.

[FrostByte]

i had a Q6600 G0 stepping (First gen) clocked at 3.7 for the longest time, but sold it to a friend who really needed a PC.

[zlojack]

Seriously...with X48...get the Q9550, but make sure you get an E0 stepping, not C1.

It's worth going to your local shop and looking up the codes.

With that board, you should be able to pull 3.8-4.2 GHz depending on the chip.

I'm not a big proponent of the modular waterblocks on the NB, as they have to go through a few layers of material to cool the NB. The X48 can get hot!

DFI boards have a steep learning curve with the bios, but apparently they clock like demons.

I can't tell you anything about AMD. When they were on top, I was living on the beach in Mexico and Venezuela and I didn't give two shits about overclocking. :D

[FrostByte]

im really thinking very hard about it, i know the modular NB block isnt as good as direct, but its simpler to add without as big of a pain as you would normally have. Why is the C1 bad? Ill be getting it off of NE, my local FRY's wont let me just look up the codes.

[zlojack]

The C1 isn't bad. It's still a killer chip, but the E0 stepping overclocks like mad.

Note the Q9650s which have been hitting 4.2-4.5GHz on AIR!!! are all E0

[FrostByte]

are the E0 stepping the newer ones?

[zlojack]

Yes they are.

[FrostByte]

yea, then i wouldnt have to worry about it. How long would a overclocked 9550 last me with the rate we are seeing these newer games make advancements in power.

[iandh]

Kind of a tossup. Some of the combo deals on newegg make the PII 940 REALLY competitive, even when you account for the 9550 price drops.

I bought a PII 940 solely for the hell of it. Plus unlocked multi chips are great fun. If you ever are thinking of toying with extreme cooling the PII is a no-brainer compared to the 9550.

[FrostByte]

argh, too much stuff to take into consideration. Each have their strength and their weaknesses.

[zlojack]

yea, then i wouldnt have to worry about it. How long would a overclocked 9550 last me with the rate we are seeing these newer games make advancements in power.
Quite a while.

Still, it's a tough call.

The i7 920 costs very close to the same amount as the Q9550 and that would give you a lot more longevity, if you're worried about that.

Here are a couple of decent boards. The Giga's pretty close to your price range.

Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R - $199 (less $15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130216

Some very affordable 6GB DDR3 kits - $135 (Free Shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211367

And the i7 920 - $294
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Total - $628

For the rig you're looking at:

DFI X48 Board - $160
Q9550 - $294
4GB DDR2 RAM - $50
Total - $504

So if you can scrape together $124, you get a system that will give you the same or better performance (much better RAM bandwidth, for sure) and is much less likely to bottleneck your games. Even the bad i7 920s are hitting 3.6-3.8 GHz which will do what that Q9550 can do at 4GHz. Plus, the Gigabyte boards seem to be solid performers (the UD technology seems to be effective as so far they've been amongst the best clockers of i7 and the P45 UD3 board is legendary)

That, plus you get the graphics flexibility of SLI or Crossfire and the upgrade path of the new technology.

Those are my thoughts on the subject. :D

[FrostByte]

well, im having to get a new video card, memory, PSU, RAM, Processor, and motherboard in this purchase and the wife as set my budget at roughly $700, i can get away with a tad more but not without incurring her wrath.

[zlojack]

Hmm...well, the 775 platform is still going to be able to run anything with a quad and DDR2 for a while yet.

[FrostByte]

the i7 system i built will cost me about $770 if i go with the Gigabyte UD3R board if i only get the stock HSF that comes with the processor and have to wait on a aftermarket cooler, unless someone can find the i7 bracket for the Coolermaster Hyper 212 cooler. I would then have to hold off on my powersupply for a while and have to continue to use my Corsair 520HX.

i7:
Mobo - $199 Gigabyte UD3R
CPU - $294 i7 920
RAM - $144 G.Skill 6GB 1333 kit
Video - $169 XFX 4850

AMD P2:
Mobo - $169 DFI M2RSH
CPU - $275 P2 940
RAM - $64.99 G.Skill 4GB
Video - $169.99 XFX 4850
PSU - $139 BFG tech ES 800watt

LGA 775:
same as AMD but with the x48 board and Q9550

[zlojack]

Well, the Corsair 520HX should be plenty to power that system.

Why would you even want the BFG PSU over the Corsair? Unless you're going with much more powerful video cards, I think the Corsair should be fine for that.

The one thing is that the AMD system does give you the ability down the road to upgrade to an AM3 board.

[FrostByte]

true, and yes, here in the future i would like to be running crossfire. If i go with the i7 route, i can go for a much more powerful motherboard down the road as the architecture matures more. So now, which of these three systems is going to be my best bet?

[bigslappy]

Q9550 & the UD3p Mobo $119 @ newegg 4870 prices have dropped also .. UD3p is a Hellva over clocker & all the Q9550 are ESS chips
& u can use ddr2 SAVE there also
as they have some awesome DDR2 out now that way over clocks as well

It's a no brainer that Q9550 runs way cooler than a i7 ever will ...Stable all the way with Q9550 & ud3 MoBo that's 450 for a CPU & MoBo .. i got the UD3P & a Q9650 & love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zlojack]

What slappy says is true.

The Gigabyte UD3 P45 is the way to go with the Q9550 and it should be cheaper than that X48 board and get your quad over 4GHz.

Don't listen to me with my i7 advice. i7 is new tech and not very stable yet (trust me, I'm having a hell of a time clocking this mofo)

[Kayin]

My UD3 P45 is a screamer, but I want to give AMD money too.

This year, I'm just doing cooling and video cards, my 4 GHz Q6600 will last a bit yet.

For the money, impossible to beat for a board.

[FrostByte]

that x48 board is only $159.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136054

[zlojack]

Frostbyte, this board is a fucking champ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128369


Check around and look at the quadcore results on that bad boy.

The X48 is great, but that P45 rules the roost for quad core overclocks.

[FrostByte]

doesnt it suffer in crossfire setups tho?

[zlojack]

Not really.

If you put two 4870 X2s on it...maybe a little bit in some benchmarks.

I doubt you'd notice the difference.

PCIE 2.0 8x is the equivalent of PCIE 16x

[FrostByte]

and that board is using DDR3 correct?

[zlojack]

and that board is using DDR3 correct?

Sorry, meant this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

DDR2

That's a sweet board.

Check around. There are some pretty sweet results on the net on quads using that board.

[FrostByte]

i just got the go ahead from my wife for the gigabyte board you listed, the Q9550, XFX 4870 1GB XXX Edition and 1066 GSkill ram $769.96

[zlojack]

Killer rig, bro. Killer!

Here's a good discussion on the board.

http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/415077-gigabyte-ep45-ud3p-overclocking-guide.html

[bigslappy]

add this shit & you will get to 5GHz


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231201

i know it's pricey but it's the best out there

i got some on my UD3P

check out that other forum for the setting to get there

[FrostByte]

thanks for the info. Really hope this lasts me a good while.

[zlojack]

The thing is, Slappy, you can get the G.Skills to 1100 for much less money than that.

[bigslappy]

got those(1100's) also but they don't EVEN compare to the 1200's

Nite & Day Difference
those 1200's are highly binned shit .. headroom to the MAX

[zlojack]

Yeah, but I mean, come on bro. They cost four times as much for 100MHz?

[bigslappy]

but till u see what they can do then u will question that ..., 5ghZ really on a Q9650

[zlojack]

but till u see what they can do then u will question that ..., 5ghZ really on a Q9650
I believe you, bro.

But what I'm saying is...if he's on a bit of a tight budget, blowing nearly $300 on DDR2 RAM is silly when he can get 90% of the performance for $65

[bigslappy]

YEAH yer right there the G.Skills 1100's super PI 's work very well & for the cost they are hard to beat with the heat spreaders that keep them VERY COOL if i was on a budget as I am that's why i have 8 GB's of them on the rampage formulas they give some great bang for the Buck

[Hondacity]

its a hit and miss with the q9550 ..if its fsb limited..you won't be at 4ghz...

just my two cents..

[iandh]

its a hit and miss with the q9550 ..if its fsb limited..you won't be at 4ghz...

just my two cents..


I also agree... when talking about intel in an intel forum usually 500fsb is a so/so chance depending on chip and board, but for some reason when talking about AMD vs. intel 500fsb is guaranteed.


Either way it's still a tossup.


Don't forget, the Biostar/940 combo costs $334... that's for a nice OC board w/crossfire to boot.

[zlojack]

You won't get 500 FSB from the Q9550 regularly.

But on the UD3P you can get pretty close.

470 FSB gets you 4GHz. which is damn good on a quad.

[FrostByte]

i havent really dealt with biostar at all. Are they any good at all? I wont be upgrading for atleast another year.

[zlojack]

Well, I'm not familiar with Biostar boards.

But I know that when a board like the Giga creates such a stir on several different overclocking sites, there must be something there.

[kgd1]

Get the Q9550:D

[Worthy]

On your budget, I would go for the P2 most definitely.

I think with the intel you are almost guaranteed to go overbudget once you get sucked in initially. One thing leads to another it seems.

I would definitely get the P2 and not feel like I've settled for second best in any way.
That way a better video card and ram is within reach. Plus boards are cheap for them.

[smee]

Intel... INTEL... ...... ......... INTEL!!!! xD

Sorry but, i too had to let out the fanboyism...... xD

[Greedseed]

i haver the phenom 955 Q and i am very happy about it :D

[DexNfX]

I currently own 2 i7 920 and a P2 940. I would say, unless you're gonna do i7, I'd go with the P2 940. I wouldn't waste my time with a Core 2 Quad 9550, especially with the i5s out already.

[p0Pe]

i would say the 9550... it has better room for clocks.

looking at the scores from this thread
http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=12439

stock scores (thx to the people who did the runs)
1 - 12927 - amd phenom II 955
2 - 12579 - intel Q9550
3 - 9609 - amd phenom X4 9850


the 9550 almost beats a pII 955, and IIRC the 940 isnt as good as the 955.

point being:
take the intel, it will clock higher, and is generally faster

[Baleful]

This:

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt121/Liquid_Bale/oldestthread0hx.jpg


And this:

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt121/Liquid_Bale/1_resurrection.jpg

[mattgmann]

Yeah....WTF old thread. Ya think he hasn't made his mind up since january? I've got a post on another board from 5 years ago. Should I get an athlon or a p4...not sure yet. Why don't you bump over there and revive it. I could really use some advice.

[p0Pe]

lol... just saw the date of the OP xD

[Grnfinger]

fuck AMD they have been sucking the hind tit for along time now....
Intel is the top dog so why waste your cash on the runner up.

UD3P would clock the shit out of a Q9550, but you'll get better bandwidth and benchmarks out of the X48 board P45 seems to choke bandwidth.

Unless you get very old stock you should get a E0 but sont let the haters fool you C1's clock just as well they just require a few more drops of vCore

Heres my C1 Q9550 b4 I sold it

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/500FSB.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Grnfinger/3d06_500FSB_22189.jpg


FFS I didnt see the date grrrrr

[cactosjack]

I have an intel Q9550 and ECS P45T-ad3 and do not regret,
optimal performance even somewhat exceeded.

[jacobroufa]

Thread necro, what? :rofl:

[Marne]

holy shit dude. old ass thread is OLD.

[jtf2]

i still use a 9550 in my backup rig-with a gtx570 on an abit ip35 pro and 8 gigs of ram and it works just fine