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Interim Skt775 Quad Upgrade

Arthalen

Arthalen

Arthalen

Associate
Joined
20 Apr 2006
Posts
2,037
Location
Leeds, UK
Hey y'all,

Fancying an interim upgrade from the current Xeon 3210 @ 3.05Ghz I have atm. Mainly for a new toy to overclock as much as possible, but more to drive a quad into the 3.6Ghz+ region, just to make sure that I'm driving the Crossfire I have as much as possible.

Bizarrely, I'm actually tempted by the Q6700 and its 10x multiplier, the basic thinking here is that this will give me a better overclock with less FSB/NB strain.

Or the other choice would be a 9550, higher FSB/Memory clocks to get the same kind of overclock as what I might get out of a Q6700.

Suggestions on what to do, anyone?
 
Ok then, a 9550 it is then. A 9650 is bit beyond my kind of budget tbh.

*Starts saving pennies and keeps eye on MM*
 
Ok, big question time. Is the 9550 worth the extra over the 9450.

The 9450 is at excellant prices at the moment, although I can afford the extra towards the 9550....
 
gurusan said:
If you plan on keeping your system the way it is for some time to come I would stretch the extra way and get a Q9550 E0 stepping.

Try looking for a 2nd hand one, or even a Q9650. With your setup and an E0 quad you can hope for a nice 4ghz clock.

Otherwise go for a Q9450, but many have FSB walls around 450-470 so you better be happy with 3.6-3.8ghz
Click to expand...

3.6Ghz is the overclock I'm aiming for, everything over and above that is nice brucey bonus.

I think I'm gonna save up the extra for 9650, if I can wait that long lol!
 
Hairybudda said:
I'm going to be sticking to 775 for a while too, thinking of selling my Q6600 and picking up something that'll hit 4Ghz under water, is a (second hand) Q9650 my best bet?
Click to expand...

All depends on the Rig you have now, what your budget is and what your aim is in upgrading your processor?......
 
Thanks for the input, McstylisT!

I'm not going to upgrade to i7 anytime soon, the Motherboard and RAM investment is too costly for me at this point. I have a very decent X38 based motherboard and a decent amount of RAM, so having a quality processor on this rig is whats key.

The higher the clock I obtain on a 45nm the more I stand to gain in Crossfire, and as I said, 3.6Ghz is the 'I'm ok with that' overclock, everything else is going to make me very happy :D

So, I figure I'll get the most out of my platform I have with a 9550/9650, keep this platform for atleast 18 months and see whats about then. I always thought that I would sit out the first round of Nehalem, and see what the refresh brings on a lower process. Hell, we'll probably have ATI 6870 cards by then! :D
 
The good news in all this, is that I have a £40 credit note to use towards the processor, which dips the 9550/9650 down nicely in price :D
 
Hairybudda said:
TPower i45 running my Q6600 G0 B stepping @ ~3.0 (rubbish aftermarket air cooler, runs about 60c under load @ 1.325, have never tried pushing it beyond 3.2 however can get there with no issues but heat), 4gb of OCZ Gold DDR2.

I'm slowly but surely picking up bits and bobs for a CPU/GPU loop and I'm looking for something that will reliably hit 4Ghz for a bit of future proofing (while remaining on S775). I've read my current chip can hit that mark however the volts you need to put through it to get there don't really look that healthy.

I do a bit of occasional gaming, coding, web deveopment and my other half uses it occasionally to do illustrator/photoshop/3ds max for college.

Budget is probably about £160 + whatever I get for my Q6600.
Click to expand...

like mysaelf I think your looking at a Q9550 or Q9650 then, chap.
 
Don't you just hate it when you get bright ideas?

Well, I was all set on a Q9650 to be honest, then I go browse i7 / X58 prices.

So, for £20 LESS than what I could pay for the Q9650, I can get a D0 stepping i7 920.

Arrghhh!

Should I? Do I? Is it worth the hassle of selling off my Motherboard and RAM, and going the Bloomfield way? Or just stick to my plans and stay on skt 775??.....

And no, i5 is out, Crossfire pretty much sucks on Skt 1156. I want full 2x PCI-EXx16 v2.0 functionality, not some motherboard makers half baked attempt on the 1156 platform.
 
Ok, the madness has subsided.

Come high hell or armageddon, no matter what happends, by Monday I'll be the owner of a Q9650.
 
I really thought about the i7 platform, but looking at similar price point at stock (9650 vs 920) they really trade blows, some favouring the 9650 processor, the memory intensive benchmarks naturally favouring the 920. Looking at Benchmarks, in games it just doesn't make that great a difference.

So, after weighing up the extra £100 to £140 needed after second hand sales of my current motherboard and memory (even at my 'hopeful' initial posting prices) it just wasn't worth it for the latest tech.

So watch this space! I'll get the 9650, and clock it to within an inch of it's life.

On Air :D

and then I'll benchmrk it and see if it all turns out in Roses.
 
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