what to do with q9300?

wojsku · 17 May 2011 at 09:37

hi everyone. I'm new to forum so this is my first post really apart of the welcome thread.
My specs:
q9300 2.5GHz 6Mb cache
mobo Ga-q35m-s2
2 x1GB ddr2 ram pny 800MHz
asus radeon 4890
arctic freezer on cpu
coolermaster haf 922 case
psu corsair 550W
I also have spare 2x 2GB ddr3 ram corsair xms3 1600MHz a gift from my mate.

Because my pc is getting quite old now I started thinking about upgrades. But I don't have £260 for i5 2500k and a mobo. I need to choose a a cheap path at the moment. Any ideas guys what to do to improve performance for under £100?
new mobo could make a big difference and allow me to overclock over 3Ghz but than I would probably need a faster ram on ddr2 or buy a mobo that supports ddr3 and use corsair. but than what mobo and on what chipset?
thanks fro help.

Avathar77 · 17 May 2011 at 09:53

if you are going to stay in the ATI GPU path get a second hand P45 board like P5Q deluxe, so you can xfire if you want to. there are p45 boards that support ddr3(think they are P5E from asus) or x38/x48 chipset mobos but they are going for much higher than p45's with/with out ddr3.
But seeing that your mobo can have 4 ddr2 sticks why not get another 2gb ram?(which seems to be going for under £25)
Cant you over clock with your gigabyte mobo at all?

also a SSD is some thing to conceder as well! but all depending on what you use your pc for!

wojsku · 17 May 2011 at 12:02

I could add more ram but this mobo will not let me overclock at all. it's already running on highest possible fsb. If it could it would be overclocked long time ago.
this might help:

don't see a point buying ddr2 ram for £25. i could possibly buy mobo for similar price and use ddr3 ram that i have. and new mobo could allow me to overclock.

If I go for p45 chip it would have to be ddr3 mobo cause I already have ram.
crossfirex would be nice to. but im not sure about powersupply its only 550W. would it run stable two 4890? I think 4890 uses 190W on load.
x38/x48 would be even better cause it supports 2x pci-express x16 each. is it a big difference between 2x x8 and 2x x16 in crossfirex? cause it might not be worth the difference in price between p45 and x38/x48.
ideal mobo would be ddr3 with high capabilities to overclock and support for a double x16 crossfirex. but thats only top range of x38/x48 which is not cheap to buy.
i use pc for gaming and any other purpose of an average pc user.

wojsku · 17 May 2011 at 12:45

I found asus p5e3 used for £75. its got everything i mentioned. fsb can be adjusted between 200Mhz and 800Mhz. its ddr3 and 2x x16 crossfirex.
but than:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-139-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1490 is only £35. it doesn't have 2 pci-express but its ddr3 and cost only £35. anyone knows what is max fsb?

cmndr_andi · 17 May 2011 at 13:44

If you are wanting a LGA775 board that supports DDR3 and overclocks well then the best option is something like a ASUS P5Q3 or P5QC. These board use the P45 chipset and are great overclockers, however they haven't been made for a while and their features are highly sought-after - so they are pretty rare and expensive for what they are. It is also worth keeping an eye out for good quality X48 boards, these don't overclock quads quite as well as P45 boards, but they still do well and crucially the vast majority of these boards used DDR3 memory - so there will be more of them about than DDR3 P45 boards.

The G41 board you linked to does support DDR3, but it uses a G41 chipset which will be no better (and likely much worse) than your existing P35 board for overclocking a quad core. I would not suggest doing this "upgrade".

My suggestion would be to either:

- Buy a second-hand DDR2 P5Q (p45 chipset) board like the P5Q Pro/Deluxe/Pro Turbo or P5Q-E, sell the existing RAM and buy a good quality DDR2 PC2-8500 kit second-hand. This kit should hold its value pretty well as DDR2 isn't produced in the same volumes as it one was. Then overclock your CPU as far as you can using the new board.

- keep an eye out for a P45 or X48 chipset DDR3 board going for a decent price (less than the cost of the DDR2 P45 board + 4GB RAM kit - return from selling existing RAM)

- Save up the ~£256 needed for a i5 2500K CPU and a P67 board (which supports SLI/CF at x8/x8 speeds. Bear in mind your Q9300 usually sells for ~£100.

As for crossfire with your HD 4890, a board which can run the two main PCIE v2.0 slots at x8/x8 is fine for crossfiring these cards, going for a x16/x16 just isn't required as the performance benefit is tiny. As for PSU, the 4890 is a powerful card - I wouldn't imagine your corsair 550W PSU could handle two of them, I would suggest a good quality 650-750W supply if you are going to do this (this one is a good option).

wojsku · 20 May 2011 at 08:30

thanks for an advice. i keep my eyes open for a decent board on p45 for a good price. damn they are really expensive- about £80 on online auctions.
my board is not p35 but Q35 which is very poor. i know that you mention that p35 is not the best but what if I find a decent board like asus P5K3 premium for a low price due to the fact it's not a p45.

wojsku · 23 May 2011 at 21:48

I finally bought asus maximus formula for £75. do you know about what fsb I will be able to run stable q9300? hopefully it can do something about 500mhz.

cmndr_andi · 23 May 2011 at 23:03

Looking at this review it is a good board. Since it's an X38 board I don't think you will be able to hit the ~500MHz FSB heights the P45 boards can achieve - but it should clock your Q9300 very well (450MHz FSB seems a solid bet).