Q9400 Vs Q9650 Vs ...?

markyboy1980 · 5 Jul 2011 at 18:25

My machine has a Q9400 in it at the moment, been using this for about a year so far. Can't afford new Mobo/Processor/RAM/GFX card that I'd like to get a whole new system going, but been looking and found some Q9650 processors still about. Price I've found one at, and the price I've been offered by a mate for my Q9400, would leave me about £80 out of pocket.

So, will I really get a lot more bang for my buck with the Q9650? Clock speed is 3GHz Vs 2.66GHz (can sadly can't seem to OC a quad core on my Mobo). Am I likely to notice that significantly?

Or, put it another way, should I go an entirely other direction and as my motherboard is known to be a very good overclocker of 200MHz FSB dual cores (like the 3.2GHz E5800 Pentium Dual Core), should I go down that route (which is ultimately going to be much cheaper, in fact it would probably put money back in my pocket)?

Main uses of the computer, other than internet and email, various music production and recording software, Handbrake, iTunes etc. So for the mostpart, the software I use can make use of a Quad Core I believe.

N00bbuilder79 · 5 Jul 2011 at 18:27

Which motherboard do you have?

markyboy1980 · 5 Jul 2011 at 18:30

Gigabyte G41M-ES2L, 4GB OCZ Gold DDR2-6400 RAM on there, and an 8800GTX Gfx card right now.

Emphacy · 5 Jul 2011 at 18:56

You could easily clock your Q9400 to reach the Q9650 speeds. The price: performance ratio is plain silly.

You're really not going to get any more noticable difference if you upgrade to the Q9650.
Here's a little comparison to show you:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/76?vs=49

I wouldn't bother, keep your £80 and spend on something more useful, such as an SSD.

pastymuncher · 5 Jul 2011 at 19:04

Completely not worth it. You would be better off selling what you have, putting the extra £80 to it and doing a full upgrade. 2500k/mobo/ram can be done for less than £300 if you are careful.

Mr. May · 5 Jul 2011 at 19:23

Emphacy said:
You could easily clock your Q9400 to reach the Q9650 speeds. The price: performance ratio is plain silly.

You're really not going to get any more noticable difference if you upgrade to the Q9650.
Here's a little comparison to show you:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/76?vs=49

I wouldn't bother, keep your £80 and spend on something more useful, such as an SSD.

that would be hard as the q9650 has a lot bigger cache and has a lot more power per MHZ than the q9400 i think you would have to clock the q9400 a good 500-600mhz faster to reach the same speeds

Sean_UK · 5 Jul 2011 at 19:27

Q9650's currently cost £250.00 new at one place I know of which still sells them, 2nd hand they frequently sell for near enough £200.00 via certain auction site...

i5 2500k CPU/Mobo/RAM build is possible for £300.00

markyboy1980 · 5 Jul 2011 at 22:24

Emphacy said:
You could easily clock your Q9400 to reach the Q9650 speeds. The price: performance ratio is plain silly.

You're really not going to get any more noticable difference if you upgrade to the Q9650.
Here's a little comparison to show you:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/76?vs=49

I wouldn't bother, keep your £80 and spend on something more useful, such as an SSD.

Overclocking current processor not an option. My Motherboard just won't go any higher than 340MHz Clock speed, no matter what, and even then it's very unstable. So seeing as the Q9400 is already at 333, I get a paltry 2.72GHz max that is nowhere near stable. Apparently though, this board is known to clock up to 335-340MHz stable with any processor fitted, including the 200MHz Clock speed Pentium Dual Cores, of which the E5800 has a 16x multiplier, which is why I'm also thinking might be an idea to try one of them... 335x16 = 5.36GHz Dual Core!!!

But to be fair, think you're right, the £80 difference wouldn't net me much that I'd notice at all. Sadly though, wouldn't buy me a big enough SSD, I'd need minimum of 120GB to make it worthwhile (for my OS and programs), and they're £160+.

Will have a look/think about the core i5 option, if it was possible for £300 all in it might be an option in the close future. Is that with a Z68 Motherboard too?

Surveyor · 5 Jul 2011 at 23:37

markyboy1980 said:
Apparently though, this board is known to clock up to 335-340MHz stable with any processor fitted, including the 200MHz Clock speed Pentium Dual Cores, of which the E5800 has a 16x multiplier, which is why I'm also thinking might be an idea to try one of them... 335x16 = 5.36GHz Dual Core!!!

No chance.

Unless you have some LN2 lying around.

markyboy1980 · 6 Jul 2011 at 00:36

Surveyor said:
No chance.

Unless you have some LN2 lying around.

Fair enough, just going on what I read on the following thread with someone using an E5200...

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2036205&page=2

To be fair, unless somebody wants to give me a processor anyway to try it out, it's kinda pointless I suppose investing 50 odd quid in a processor just for an experiment, where it may or may not end up faster overall than what I have already.

Cheers again chaps, will retire myself from silly ideas for now and go back to using my (perfectly good) PC as it is, until I have saved the pennies for a Sandy Bridge system I think.

N00bbuilder79 · 6 Jul 2011 at 12:18

I would save a little and wait for Ivybridge, I have a Q9650 and will be waiting for Sandybridge E or Ivybridge, I just don't see the point in upgrading to Sandybrige.

Michaeljcox24 · 6 Jul 2011 at 12:21

+1

For us gaming 9650 owners who can clock over 4Ghz, there is little or no point in moving to I7 at the mo.

N00bbuilder79 · 6 Jul 2011 at 12:37

Mine happily sits at 4.1Ghz and is quick enough for what I do.

jake9891 · 7 Jul 2011 at 02:11

Q9550? sweet spot between the two? unless u planing on really high OC, but people running their Q9550s at 4.0-4.2 on a good mobo

Blue160 · 7 Jul 2011 at 06:43

Save your money for when you can do a proper upgrade. That said, second hand E5200's go for £25~£30, so not expensive if you want one to play with. You could always sell it again afterwards (if it survives

). Just don't expect it to be as quick as your current CPU whatever you clock it to.

biuro74 · 7 Jul 2011 at 09:41

markyboy1980 said:
Main uses of the computer, other than internet and email, various music production and recording software, Handbrake, iTunes etc. So for the mostpart, the software I use can make use of a Quad Core I believe.

There's completely no need to change your current CPU as it's more than enough.

MagusUK · 8 Jul 2011 at 08:57

N00bbuilder79 said:
I would save a little and wait for Ivybridge, I have a Q9650 and will be waiting for Sandybridge E or Ivybridge, I just don't see the point in upgrading to Sandybrige.

Exactly my view & what I am waiting for too (Ivybridge that is)

Michaeljcox24 · 8 Jul 2011 at 12:11

And even then, I dont think systems will be pushed till the new consoles come out

Scougar · 8 Jul 2011 at 12:18

Sounds like you would be better getting a cheap second hand motherboard for around £15-£35 or so, so you can overclock the Q9400 properly :-)

You would be able to make a little back from your current board :-)

jake9891 · 9 Jul 2011 at 15:13

hmm just noticed my previous post was completely not relevant to the thread. Should read the first post properly. Sorry for that.

As the guys said, its not worth buying a new CPU, I would probably wait, save some money and go for the new stuff. LGA775 is almost dead socket anyway.