I7 vs Q9550 - Help.

[rhysduck]

Evening all..

Unfortunately I'm a bit out of the loop with what's hot and what's not... Although I read PC GAMER every month.

I'm looking to be building a new gaming rig sometime soon and need some help.
I was looking into the new i7 920 Nehalem chip. I had more or less settled on that for just over £200. Then I saw the Q9550 for approx £180. (all from OCUK)

Now, I'm wondering would I be better off with the i7 or the Q9550?
@ £30 more than the Q9550, would I be better off spending that for that bit extra in performance or not? I'm wondering if the extra 4mb on the L2 cache is worth it... Also overclocking;

I'll be likely to overclock whatever processor I get, using aftermarket cooler (more likely of the Zalman variety).. which one would be best for this?

Now I have to decide on a MOBO.. Im looking at the Asus P5Q Pro for the Q9550...

Cheers, Rhys

 

[Minstadave]

If you don't have a mobo and RAM already the I7 route is much better value and will have much more expansion possibilities.

 

[cmndr_andi]

If the computer is just for games, you would be MUCH better off going for an i5. Here and here are reviews.

In games (and at stock speeds) it is usually as fast as an i7 920. Plus it is cheaper than both the above options and overclocks very well. This motherboard is a good choice as is this RAM.

How much are you wanting to spend on a CPU cooler and what level of overclocking are you planning on doing?

 

[rhysduck]

Cheers for the replies at this time chaps!

I've not purchased RAM or a Motherboard yet, I wanted to get the Ram, Mobo & Processor together.
So... The pc that I'm looking to build will be primarily a gaming machine yes.
I'm budgeting around the £400 mark, preferably below, for the RAM, Mobo and Processor.

That was my only quandry with the i7 920; price.

Overclocking/Cooling;
Im not sure to be honest.. I was looking at the Zalman fans, not sure if there's one for the i5 or i7 yet though.
Im not wanting to go down the liquid cooling road, as my budget does not stretch that far.
What do you mean by "what level of overclocking"?
I'd be looking to get the most out of the processor I buy for the best price.. IE; buying a reasonable aftermarket cooler and getting the most out of the processor that it could handle with said cooler.

Thanks for the help guys. much appreciated
Rhys

 

[setter]

Tbh honest mate, i jacked in a q9550 3.8ghz asus p5q deluxe rig for my current rig (i7 920 6gb ram) old system was pretty good, id heard about i5, good systems as well, but no crossfire/sli at x16 per slot, opted for the i7 setup, proper crossfire/sli, triple chanel memory and the option of a 6 core cpu in the future.

 

[cmndr_andi]

I wouldn't hold out for a Zalman cooler. These days they aren't much cop. For example, this is the best air cooler about today. This can take an i7 up to 4GHz with little trouble.

If you want to stay on budget, i7 will be tough. This is the cheapest i7 spec I would go for. Anything cheaper and you are seriously compromising performance.

As I said before, an i5 spec would perform almost the same in games and cost:

This cooler is worth considering though, considering the excellent performance and its ease of install - its a very cool cooling solution.


My suggestion is get the i5, get the H50 cooler, overclock it to 4GHz and spend the money saved on a great graphics card like the ATI HD 5850.

 

[rhysduck]

Tbh honest mate, i jacked in a q9550 3.8ghz asus p5q deluxe rig for my current rig (i7 920 6gb ram) old system was pretty good, id heard about i5, good systems as well, but no crossfire/sli at x16 per slot, opted for the i7 setup, proper crossfire/sli, triple chanel memory and the option of a 6 core cpu in the future.

Hi Setter.
To be honest, I can't see my budget at the moment and this side of christmas stretching to be able to support an Sli/CF setup. Although things may have changed; I've not heard of superb performance increases from dual gfx card's.

The new 6 core cpu is going to be stupid money

 

[setter]

cmdr andi, bit of a highjack here, what settings are you running on your i7 920, p6t dlx v2 combo, i run the same board/cpu, my ram is ocz reaper 1600mhz, im interestesd in seeing different voltage/speed settings on this board from different users.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Hehe, no worries, so long as the OP doesn't mind.

I have it running at a reasonably cool/quiet overclock at the moment.

I have the BCLK @ 180, multi @ 20. Vcore at 1.19V, My RAM is 1333MHz stock and I have it overclocked to 1440MHz, 1.64V. It primes at about 68 degrees now, but I have my CPU fan speeds down and the cosmos case is not the best for cooling.

Its not the best overclock in the world, but it does what I want it to- which at the moment seems to be Uni work, playing 720p videos, running battlefield 2 and keep itself quiet


To the OP, the X58 is a great platform and so easy to use an idiot like me can have a go. However, don't let these features compromise on what matters in a gaming PC - the graphics card.

 

[setter]

Hi Setter.
To be honest, I can't see my budget at the moment and this side of christmas stretching to be able to support an Sli/CF setup. Although things may have changed; I've not heard of superb performance increases from dual gfx card's.

The new 6 core cpu is going to be stupid money

You have a good point, the new six core cpu is something im interested in, probably will be expensive, aside from that issue, im primarily a gamer, i currently run a single gtx 280, it copes ok ish with my res of 1920x1200, thinking of adding a second for sli but theyre hard to find, particularly as id prefer a card identical to my current gtx 280.

 

[rhysduck]

Re: Thread hijacking;
Carry on chaps So long as it doesn't cover up my needs

I wouldn't hold out for a Zalman cooler. These days they aren't much cop. For example,

No I know, I had a quick scout around and couldn't find a Zalman cooler compatible with an i5 or i7 anyway!

this is the best air cooler about today

Looks sexy! Is it worth spending the extra £20 on the Corsair water cooler?

My suggestion is get the i5, get the H50 cooler, overclock it to 4GHz and spend the money saved on a great graphics card like the ATI HD 5850.

I think I'm swaying more toward an i5 rig like you suggested.
Graphics card's was going to be my next question, I've had some bad experiences with ATI over the years in my short life.. Is there a Nvidia equivalent to the HD5850?

Is ATI coming out on top over Nvidia at the moment for performance with gfx cards? I went with Nvidia after a bad spell with Ati and have never regretted it, I've always thought that Nvidia were the best of the bunch.

So I'm looking at £350 for processor, motherboard and Ram.
Graphics card @ £200 MAX.
I'll check funds tomorrow and see what Ive got left to play with.
Also, PSU - Is 600w enough?

I may have to sell a kidney

Thanks guys!

 

[setter]

Your 600w psu should be fine mate, if your primarily a gamer the i5 would be a very good choice. The i7 rigs really show there weatlh in applications such as video encoding, not much difference in gaming unless your runnning resolutions above 1920x1200 with dual graphics cards.

 

[setter]

Hehe, no worries, so long as the OP doesn't mind.

I have it running at a reasonably cool/quiet overclock at the moment.

I have the BCLK @ 180, multi @ 20. Vcore at 1.19V, My RAM is 1333MHz stock and I have it overclocked to 1440MHz, 1.64V. It primes at about 68 degrees now, but I have my CPU fan speeds down and the cosmos case is not the best for cooling.

Its not the best overclock in the world, but it does what I want it to- which at the moment seems to be Uni work, playing 720p videos, running battlefield 2 and keep itself quiet


To the OP, the X58 is a great platform and so easy to use an idiot like me can have a go. However, don't let these features compromise on what matters in a gaming PC - the graphics card.

Thanks cmdr andi for the setings that your using, every bit of info is helpful, your clock is pretty good compared to mine mate, (a modest 3.0ghz) trying to learn how to clock an i7 on low voltages as asus boards scare me a bit with auto settings.

 

[Mr Krugga]

Zalman coolers compatible with i5/i7 (both 1156 and 1366):

Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet

Zalman CNPS9900-NT

Zalman CNPS10X Extreme

There are some