New CPU, Struggling to decide

[alexp90]

I'm looking for a new CPU to replace my E8400 which is been given to my dad.
I'm looking at a Q9550, looking on the forum its seems it will OC ok. What are they like? It'll be going into a P5Q Deluxe (which is taking up some of my budget!)

Is this a good choice? What else should i be looking at, i'm on a budget of around £170-£200 for the CPU.
And sorry, you must be fed up of 'what cpu' threads!

Thanks in advance

 

[Dauthi]

The Q9550 should do nicely max out the 775 socket and i'd recommend it if you didn't need to spend money on a new motherboard aswell.

But if your going to be buying a board like the P5Q Deluxe with it. I'd wait a month or 2 so you can go an i7/i5 or even AM3 route with that budget for upgradeability.

 

[petriodet]

that's the best cpu for that price and will work on your board

 

[alexp90]

I'd like to go for i7 but not sure how long i can wait because my dads needs my board and cpu. My budget is around £300 (could be more unsure at the moment) for both board and CPU. If i can get a decent board and cpu on i7 i'd go for it but im a bit confused on RAM on i7 boards, do they accept DDR2 (i'd presume that they would) because if not it also means buying more ram

 

[valdai]

You need about £420 ish to get a minimal i7 set up. i7 can only go with DDR3 in tri-channel so you would need new ram as well. I would advise AMD because buying high end 775 mobo and cpu now just seems a waste when the upgrade path from AMD mobo would probably be much nicer.

EDIT: actually not so certain about the ram, could someone confirm that please?