Is the Q9650 @ 4Ghz still a powerful cpu?

[Sasqui]

Originally Posted by Sinzia

if game = playable then current > upgrade
if game = unplayable then current < upgrade

Words to live by.

True dat. Also consider graphics card if that might be the bottleneck (specifically for games).

[BarbaricSoul]

As another 4GHZ Q9650/UD3P combo owner, I can't justify a CPU upgrade at this time. I paid $275 for my Q9650 like two years ago, and I'm still very happy with it's performance.

[Outback Bronze]

I enjoy my q9550 @ 3.4ghz. Can push 4ghz but ive got an i7 in the cupboard 4 that.

[xkm1948]

Upgraded from a Q6600 to QX9650 a few weeks ago. Dont wanna change to the new sandy serires since I dont have that much money to switch out all the stuff: mobo, power unit, cpu, mem and etc.

Spent 200 bucks on the QX9650, overclocked it to 4GHz now. Running it 24x7 no problem on my maximus formula with 8GB mem. It is not the fastest, but it is stable and reliable. That is all I need right now. It is a good CPU. I say keep it until Windows 8~

[BababooeyHTJ]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

Yes check out ECH's thread above. the benches are good and he shows they are not too far apart. the Q9650 is still a great chip.

Bring that chip outside of some canned benchmarks and you'll see the difference grow. I've seen bigger gains between i5 760 and i5 2500k in real world gaming than between the same cpu in that comparison (2500k) and an older cpu than the 760(Q9650). Here are a few real world benchmarks.


Like I said bring it outside of well optimized canned benchmarks and you'll see the difference between the two processors grow. There are a few games that I have played where even with a single GTX570 I am cpu limited with an overclocked 2500k, especially with 3d vision. Borderlands, Drakensang, Serious Sam HD, FO3, FONV, Oblivion, and GTA4 come to mind. Those are just a few that I have personally tried.

[FreedomEclipse]

went from a Q9550@3.9Ghz to a 2500k@4.9Ghz. Personally. I noticed a great difference in ALL areas. especially gaming.

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

I will be keeping mine until LGA 2011 comes out.

[Lazzer408]

I still have mine...Forsale! If I were you I'd sell it off while it still holds value. Then jump on a sandy platform with an overclocked 2500k. Then ditch the 2500k for the ivy when it comes out. That will keep you fairly up to date (and faster) for awhile with the least expense.

$.02

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Originally Posted by Lazzer408

I still have mine...Forsale! If I were you I'd sell it off while it still holds value. Then jump on a sandy platform with an overclocked 2500k. Then ditch the 2500k for the ivy when it comes out. That will keep you fairly up to date (and faster) for awhile with the least expense.

$.02

Thought about doing that, still debating though.

[Lazzer408]

If your only running that qx at 3.3 you'll get a nice surprise once your running 4.5 on a sandy. I forgot to mention my i7 960 inbetween my qx9650 and 2600 builds. Also forsale.
I will say this about the QX9650. It has more cache and I swear something just felt faster about that chip when I had like 50 things going on at once. Having been a gamer for so many years I think some 6th sense is kicking in. I feel latency.

[Animalpak]

same mine still kick asses

[trickson]

I gotta say I do love mine but if I could I would upgrade . I like the new Intel chips but I just can not afford to upgrade at all . Sucks too . I sure would like to get my hands on one of then 2500k i7's man they are Sweet !

[Lazzer408]

The QX9650s go for $200~250 on ebay. 2500k is about that. You break even. Can't say the same for the mobo and ram though.

[random]

Best route to take in terms of gaming would be to upgrade according to what GPU setup you have or want and I am sure the Q9650 is still able to handle dual 6xxx/gtx5xx cards.

[trickson]

Till I can really upgrade to tri SLI or even tri fire I think I will just stick with the Q650 sold fast reliable it is just Awesome . I have been very pleased with this CPU for 3 years now .

[Evolved]

my Core 2 Duo E8400 oc'ed to 4.05Ghz is still keeping me from upgrading :P
very tempting, but I really don't think I need a quad... AT ALL!

unless I decide to stream my gaming online more often than not.

I think all I need to do is upgrade to a 6870 and get ax750, and im good to go FOREVER!

i might consider getting a corsair h80 and just focus on more and better cooling.

[BababooeyHTJ]

Originally Posted by random

Best route to take in terms of gaming would be to upgrade according to what GPU setup you have or want and I am sure the Q9650 is still able to handle dual 6xxx/gtx5xx cards.

Like I said there are a few games where I'm cpu limited on a much more powerful cpu with a single GTX570. I have showed real world benchmarks where a higher end cpu makes quite the difference. Can a Q9650 handle those cards? Sure, but it wont be an optimal experience and when you are already spending that kind of money why not upgrade your cpu? I would rather take a i5 2500k over a second 6950 or GTX570. Heck, I would rather buy a GTX560ti and cpu upgrade like a used lynnfield over a GTX570 on 775.

People seem to underestimate the importance of a good cpu for gaming. Most people don't know how to benchmark cpus properly and Anandtech is one of the worst offenders.

[yogurt_21]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

Yes check out ECH's thread above. the benches are good and he shows they are not too far apart. the Q9650 is still a great chip.

if by not too far apart you mean pretty far apart then yes. lol remember the 9650 is overclocked whereas the i7 2600k is at stock in his thread. Even so some of the differences get up to 20%. In a stock to stock comparison it would be much higher.

the q9650 is still a respectible cpu, but it won't compare to SB even overclocked to its max. And remember SB is a hell of a clocker.

the q9650 will of course fare much better against 1156 cpu's and 1366 cpu's. but against the i5- 2500k and the the i7- 2600k, it's not even close.


my q6700 @ 4GHZ still couldn't match my i7 950 @ stock in most games. but it was much closer than ECH's q9650 was to his i7 2600k. (might just have something to do with his 2600k beating my i7 950 pretty soundly, call me crazy)


if you're not having an issue with games though don't worry about it, but also don't think that the new stuff isn't much better. It is, it's just not needed.

[mlee49]

Just for grins, there is a QX9775 with 12MB L2 cache and 1600MHz FSB. Even found on one ebay currently for $150:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core-2-Ext...#ht_667wt_1346

[Animalpak]

thanks to this CPU, i was able to jump over socket 1366/1156/1155 with overclocking this CPU has allowed me to play all the games with the maximum performance and i will take socket 2011... Oh remember my motherbard is socket 775 the first Rampage Extreme x48 chipset with ICH8...

[Champ]

that is still a very expensive chip now in my eyes. How much was it when it dropped?

[_JP_]

Originally Posted by mlee49

Just for grins, there is a QX9775 with 12MB L2 cache and 1600MHz FSB. Even found on one ebay currently for $150:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core-2-Ext...#ht_667wt_1346

That's great, now go find a s771 board.

[Solaris17]

4GB ram
quad at 4Ghz
GTX 460

crysis 2 on ultra?

[Jetster]

The question for me is would an upgrade to a Q9650 be a viable option. Ive seen them go for $210 - $230 used. I still have DDR2 ram so going to a new board, 2500K and ram would be about $400

[mlee49]

Originally Posted by _JP_

That's great, now go find a s771 board.

Hell

/facepalm

sorry, should have looked at that.