Is this CPU upgrade worthwhile?

sastusbulbas · 21 Jul 2010 at 03:43

Hi all,

I have PC that I use for all round, games media, photo's, storage etc with a few large HDD's etc, with my HTPC streaming from this usually.

I am thinking of spending a couple of hundred on an Intel Q9650, and wondering if I will notice much of a difference over my current CPU? I do now wonder that if I am going to be working with Blue Ray files if it will make a difference, and have wondered if my CPU is a bottle neck when I am utilising a lot of ram?

I didn't think I needed 8gb of memory, but have monitored up to 6+gb in use since installing (I am sure previous it was less than 4gb so maybe it senses and utilises more ram when working with multiple large files?)

Looked at i5/i7 and it would still cost another load of £££ for a motherboard and memory so it seems expensive in comparison to just adding a new CPU to the old system?

Current spec.

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L
E6300 (2.4Ghz stock, up to 4Ghz OC)
Scythe Kama Angle cooler
Corsair PC-6400C5 4x2gb (8GB)
ATI Sapphire Toxic 4750 1gb. (may upgrade before Xmas)
Seasonic 650w X series PSU
Samsung DVD drive (waiting for the newer Samsung BR drive)
2 500gb F3
2 1tb F3
1 1.5tb WD Green
Windows 7 Ultimate.

Fallen god · 21 Jul 2010 at 04:18

Get a q6600 dude, you can overclock it to a good 3.2 - 3.6 should hold you over for awhile, if u still got money left after that take a look at a 5770/460 gtx

PhoenixUK · 21 Jul 2010 at 04:36

or 2nd hand q9xxx, should be able to get one around 100 mark.

But then, it depends what you mean by working with blu ray files.
Just editing, adding effects etc, you might not notice much difference but the decoding times should be halved if you can use all 4 cores to max.

sastusbulbas · 21 Jul 2010 at 08:52

I have seen two different wattage ratings for the Q9650, 95w and 130w

Can someone explain the differences and which is better? Is there a standard Q9650 and an Extreme and if the specs are the same what is the better model for OC'ing etc? What spec/model 9650 should I be looking at?

PhoenixUK · 21 Jul 2010 at 22:58

Q9450/550 will do, doesn't have to be the 9650. There isn't much difference between them. The extreme versions have unlocked multi but unless you have some xtreme cooling and want super high OC this wouldn't matter.

I can't remember which steppings were OCing better, you should be able to dig out some info here in overclocking or cpu section of forums if you search for it or just google it.

Either way, I'll go for cheapest option because you don't want too spend too much on that upgrade, if you go too high you'll be better off with selling and purchasing new set.

Short search shows me that you should be able to get 9450/9550 for around 100 now, maybe even below and that E0 steppings are best OCers IIRC.

I personally wouldn't spend more than 100-110 on it now as if you sold your mobo/cpu and added 100-150, could get you nice AM3 setup.