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Moving from E8400 to Q9550

Billzz

Billzz

Billzz

Associate
Joined
11 Dec 2003
Posts
297
Hi all

I'm contemplating a move from an overclocked E8400 (3.6ghz) to a Q9550 which I will also overclock if I decide to buy. I currently use the E8400 for gaming but also do a lot of video/audio/photoshop work on the machine and can't help feeling a quad will be good for this. I can then use the E8400 in a HTPC which I plan to build soon.

Will I notice a big drop in gaming if I crossgrade to the overclocked Q9550? That is my only big concern, I do like Crysis and my other FPS's :D

Any thoughts? Current spec:

Asus Maximus Formula + [email protected]/Tunic Tower
8800GT o'clocked
4gb Geil 800hmz RAM

Cheers for any replies :)
 
A Q9950 at the same clock as your E8400 would offer the same if not slightly better performance (not that you would notice this in the real world) infact any 65/45nm processor clocked over 3.2ghz I would dout you would notice a huge differernce in real world performance
 
Thanks for the quick reply pneumonic, I was planning on 3.2 (at least for a start overclock) so it sounds like a good move judging from your reply.
 
you should notice a nice performance increase on anything that will make use of the extra cores :)

You might also want to hold fire on buying the Q9950 for a couple of weeks.. by then the new E0 stepping should be on the shelves
 
Made the move myself a few days ago.

The 8400 (CO stepping)I was running at 3.6 and the 9550(C1 stepping) I am now running at 3.4.

Do not do video/audio/photo work so cannot make a comparison.

In general use the quad feels quicker . the quad gets a few more 3d marks and an extra frame or so in Crysis BUT do anticipate much greater gains with games optimised/written for quad. (may never happen of course)

Overall am pleased with what I consider an upgrade but at an extra £100 - not a bargain. If I did video /photo etc it would make a lot more sense, I know;)

Found both cpu's easy to overclock - Speed difference is purely mutiplier; both are set at 400fsb at nice low volts.

Do not find that any games have run 'noticably' either quicker or slower - may be that what will hold you back , with either cpu , will be your gpu (dependant at what res etc you play)

If your into overclocking and/or concerned with resale value would probably be best to wait until EO steppings are available but the C1 chips are still good
 
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