• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Would a Q9550 hold back a GTX 295?

CarolinaKSU

New Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
442 (0.07/day)
System Name ANTC-1221
Processor Intel Core2 Quad - Q9550 2.8ghz
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-Deluxe
Cooling Xigmatek HDT-1283
Memory G.SKILL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1100 1.8v
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB in RAID0, WD Caviar 500GB
Display(s) Hanns-G HW223D 22"
Case Antec 1200
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker connected to Logitech G15 5.1 Surround
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower W0116RU 750W
Software Vista Home Premium 64-bit
I am thinking about trading in my 280 for a 295 through EVGA's step-up and was wondering, would a Q9550 be a bottleneck for a 295? Or would it be better to have an i7 setup to keep up with the 295's tower of power?
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
297 (0.05/day)
Basically if you were to overclock the Q9550 a ways (to 3.6GHz-3.8GHz which is probably a reasonable overclock with a decent chip and decent motherboard) I think it would probably eliminate most bottleneck... if we're talking gaming at a resolution of 19x10 or higher.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
4,985 (0.85/day)
Location
Greensboro, NC, USA
System Name Cosmos F1000
Processor i9-9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z370XP SLI, BIOS 15a
Cooling Corsair H100i, Panaflo's on case
Memory XPG GAMMIX D30 2x16GB DDR4 3200 CL16
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 ti
Storage 1TB 960 Pro, 2TB Samsung 850 Pro, 4TB WD Hard Drive
Display(s) ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278Q 27"
Case CM Cosmos 1000
Audio Device(s) logitech 5.1 system (midrange quality)
Power Supply CORSAIR HXi HX1000i 1000watt
Mouse G400s Logitech
Keyboard K65 RGB Corsair Tenkeyless Cherry Red MX
Software Win10 Pro, Win7 x64 Professional
Yes, it should do fine. You don't actually have your Q9550 just sitting at 2.8Ghz do you? :confused:

Well even an i7 wouldn't make that much of a difference than your processor at 3.6Ghz versus a Core i7 at 4Ghz. I was looking at charts on how the high end cards scale on Processor power and we are talking very little difference. Its against conventional wisdom but its reality. Your Processor won't really be holding you back on gaming with a GTX 295.

Shoot me a PM whenever you upgrade to i7 because I might want to buy your Q9550 when you decide to upgrade.
 
Last edited:

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
I think it will if you're at 2.8GHz. Overclock some and see your performance ramp up. As others have suggested, 3.6GHz is nice.
 

CarolinaKSU

New Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
442 (0.07/day)
System Name ANTC-1221
Processor Intel Core2 Quad - Q9550 2.8ghz
Motherboard ASUS P5Q-Deluxe
Cooling Xigmatek HDT-1283
Memory G.SKILL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1100 1.8v
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 280
Storage 2x Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB in RAID0, WD Caviar 500GB
Display(s) Hanns-G HW223D 22"
Case Antec 1200
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Striker connected to Logitech G15 5.1 Surround
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower W0116RU 750W
Software Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Thanks for the quick responses, sadly it is still sitting at 2.8ghz. I haven't had much time to mess around it lately. Catching the flu (the real flu, not that weak I have the sniffles crap) and work and school has limited my free time way too much for my liking ;)
 

Kursah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
14,666 (2.30/day)
Location
Missoula, MT, USA
System Name Kursah's Gaming Rig 2018 (2022 Upgrade) - Ryzen+ Edition | Gaming Laptop (Lenovo Legion 5i Pro 2022)
Processor R7 5800X @ Stock | i7 12700H @ Stock
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming BIOS 6203| Legion 5i Pro NM-E231
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S Push-Pull + NT-H1 | Stock Cooling
Memory TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32GB (2x16) DDR4 4000 @ 3600 18-20-20-42 1.35v | 32GB DDR5 4800 (2x16)
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 4070 JetStream 12GB | CPU-based Intel Iris XE + RTX 3070 8GB 150W
Storage 4TB SP UD90 NVME, 960GB SATA SSD, 2TB HDD | 1TB Samsung OEM NVME SSD + 4TB Crucial P3 Plus NVME SSD
Display(s) Acer 28" 4K VG280K x2 | 16" 2560x1600 built-in
Case Corsair 600C - Stock Fans on Low | Stock Metal/Plastic
Audio Device(s) Aune T1 mk1 > AKG K553 Pro + JVC HA-RX 700 (Equalizer APO + PeaceUI) | Bluetooth Earbuds (BX29)
Power Supply EVGA 750G2 Modular + APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 | 300W OEM (heavy use) or Lenovo Legion C135W GAN (light)
Mouse Logitech G502 | Logitech M330
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Core RGB | Built in Keyboard (Lenovo laptop KB FTW)
Software Windows 11 Pro x64 | Windows 11 Home x64
TBH I'd think it'd really depend on what resolution you game at, but with 4GB of system ram, and that quad core at close to 3ghz, there shouldn't be a huge difference. I don't notice much of a difference between stock and 3.6Ghz while gaming with my Q6600 and my GTX260, though I did notice more of a performance increase from oc-ing the GTX than the Q. Sure I might get a higher score in a bench, but actual gaming didn't show much of a difference at all.

:toast:
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
4,985 (0.85/day)
Location
Greensboro, NC, USA
System Name Cosmos F1000
Processor i9-9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z370XP SLI, BIOS 15a
Cooling Corsair H100i, Panaflo's on case
Memory XPG GAMMIX D30 2x16GB DDR4 3200 CL16
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 ti
Storage 1TB 960 Pro, 2TB Samsung 850 Pro, 4TB WD Hard Drive
Display(s) ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278Q 27"
Case CM Cosmos 1000
Audio Device(s) logitech 5.1 system (midrange quality)
Power Supply CORSAIR HXi HX1000i 1000watt
Mouse G400s Logitech
Keyboard K65 RGB Corsair Tenkeyless Cherry Red MX
Software Win10 Pro, Win7 x64 Professional
Thanks for the quick responses, sadly it is still sitting at 2.8ghz. I haven't had much time to mess around it lately. Catching the flu (the real flu, not that weak I have the sniffles crap) and work and school has limited my free time way too much for my liking ;)

I totally know what you mean! I threw up for two days straight and couldn't hold down water even. I became dehydrated, ruptured my throat from dry heaving, and my heart BPM got high enough to almost have a heart attack in the ambulance.

Be careful because if you don't take care of yourself when you have the flu, you could possibly die. :cry:

I am glad to hear you have gotten over the flu. It can be devastating.
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
5,250 (0.90/day)
Location
IRAQ-Baghdad
System Name MASTER
Processor Core i7 3930k run at 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus Rampage IV extreme
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory 4x4G kingston hyperx beast 2400mhz
Video Card(s) 2X EVGA GTX680
Storage 2X Crusial M4 256g raid0, 1TbWD g, 2x500 WD B
Display(s) Samsung 27' 1080P LED 3D monitior 2ms
Case CoolerMaster Chosmos II
Audio Device(s) Creative sound blaster X-FI Titanum champion,Creative speakers 7.1 T7900
Power Supply Corsair 1200i, Logitch G500 Mouse, headset Corsair vengeance 1500
Software Win7 64bit Ultimate
Benchmark Scores 3d mark 2011: testing
just low overclock can handle this without any increase in voltage maybe can reach 3.2 , i think this is same if think about core I7 920 also need some overclock , cuz games need high clock first
 
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
415 (0.07/day)
Location
Pakistan
System Name Mean Machine
Processor Intel Core i5 2400 at 3.1 GHz
Motherboard Asus can't remember the model
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 103
Memory Kingston 4GB 1600 DDR3
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 6850 1 GB
Storage WD Cavier SEII 3200AAKS 320 GB and Seagate 500 GB
Display(s) HP X22 LED
Case Generic
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
Power Supply Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W
Software Pro/E, Delcam Powermill, These things just for work.
Yes Kurash is right for me, In my case I have not looked any difference with my 4850 at my default X2 clocks 2.2GHz. I overclocked the chip to 2.5GHz and it did not give me any feeling in gaming, Though benches showed them there but who cares for benches.

If you do then clock your chip a little high, At these clocks I don't think you are stuck with your CPU.
 

Binge

Overclocking Surrealism
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
6,979 (1.23/day)
Location
PA, USA
System Name Molly
Processor i5 3570K
Motherboard Z77 ASRock
Cooling CooliT Eco
Memory 2x4GB Mushkin Redline Ridgebacks
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 680
Case Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced
Power Supply Corsair HX-1000
I am thinking about trading in my 280 for a 295 through EVGA's step-up and was wondering, would a Q9550 be a bottleneck for a 295? Or would it be better to have an i7 setup to keep up with the 295's tower of power?

lolol no it would not be a bottleneck. You can overcome a 775 bottleneck with raw cpu horsepower. Is that right? Whenever a 775 is lacking in performance of bandwidth it makes up for in the overclock. Just my thoughts on the matter. Oh! And get your step-up in ASAP, I was on their waiting list for 2 months now, and it is finally done. From what I understand the line has gotten longer.
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2007
Messages
2,668 (0.45/day)
Location
Earth
I totally know what you mean! I threw up for two days straight and couldn't hold down water even. I became dehydrated, ruptured my throat from dry heaving, and my heart BPM got high enough to almost have a heart attack in the ambulance.

Be careful because if you don't take care of yourself when you have the flu, you could possibly die. :cry:

I am glad to hear you have gotten over the flu. It can be devastating.

damn, i think you sent your friggin cold to me with that card.....I am fihnally getting over a tough bout with it....:ohwell:
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
3,924 (0.66/day)
System Name Main / Home Media Serever
Processor Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory 12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage 2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s) 2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04
Sucks to hear about the flu man. You should be fine with your q9550 though, put a little OC on it and youll be all set.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
2,686 (0.48/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name JIM LAHEY
Processor CORE I9 9900K
Motherboard ASROCK Z390 TAICHI
Cooling COUGAR HELOR 360 AIO
Memory 32GB TRIDENT Z RGB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s) EVGA 3080Ti FTW3 ULTRA
Storage SAMSUNG EVO 1TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG STRIX 4K UG27UQR
Case THERMALTAKE VIEW 37
Audio Device(s) STEELSERIES ARCTIS 7 WIRELESS
Power Supply EVGA SUPERNOVA G+ 1000
Mouse STEELSERIES RIVAL 600
Keyboard STEELSERIES APEX 7 TKL
Software WINDOWS 10 ENTERPRISE
Benchmark Scores WUT
No you will be fine with a Q9550..Hope you feel better..:D
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
4,985 (0.85/day)
Location
Greensboro, NC, USA
System Name Cosmos F1000
Processor i9-9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z370XP SLI, BIOS 15a
Cooling Corsair H100i, Panaflo's on case
Memory XPG GAMMIX D30 2x16GB DDR4 3200 CL16
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 ti
Storage 1TB 960 Pro, 2TB Samsung 850 Pro, 4TB WD Hard Drive
Display(s) ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278Q 27"
Case CM Cosmos 1000
Audio Device(s) logitech 5.1 system (midrange quality)
Power Supply CORSAIR HXi HX1000i 1000watt
Mouse G400s Logitech
Keyboard K65 RGB Corsair Tenkeyless Cherry Red MX
Software Win10 Pro, Win7 x64 Professional
Some people are fighting cancer on this forum(lets not mention names) so I count my blessings that my ailments were a simple fix like my kidney surgery. Good health is something you cannot keep your whole life. Our lives are very fragile things.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
2,686 (0.48/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name JIM LAHEY
Processor CORE I9 9900K
Motherboard ASROCK Z390 TAICHI
Cooling COUGAR HELOR 360 AIO
Memory 32GB TRIDENT Z RGB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s) EVGA 3080Ti FTW3 ULTRA
Storage SAMSUNG EVO 1TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG STRIX 4K UG27UQR
Case THERMALTAKE VIEW 37
Audio Device(s) STEELSERIES ARCTIS 7 WIRELESS
Power Supply EVGA SUPERNOVA G+ 1000
Mouse STEELSERIES RIVAL 600
Keyboard STEELSERIES APEX 7 TKL
Software WINDOWS 10 ENTERPRISE
Benchmark Scores WUT
Some people are fighting cancer on this forum(lets not mention names) so I count my blessings that my ailments were a simple fix like my kidney surgery. Good health is something you cannot keep your whole life. Our lives are very fragile things.

Amen. :toast:
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
3,924 (0.66/day)
System Name Main / Home Media Serever
Processor Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory 12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage 2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s) 2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04
Some people are fighting cancer on this forum(lets not mention names) so I count my blessings that my ailments were a simple fix like my kidney surgery. Good health is something you cannot keep your whole life. Our lives are very fragile things.

Agreed, I would give up all the money in the world to be healthy. Health is not something you can buy. Its something you are born with and develop during your life time.
 

EarlZ

New Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
339 (0.05/day)
Processor Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 Rev1.1
Cooling Noctua D14
Memory 4GB G.Skill 9-10-9-27-1T 2133Mhz
Video Card(s) GTX580 1.5Gb
Storage 2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s) Samsung T220
Case Lian Li PC-P80
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Extreme Music
Power Supply Silverstone Strider Gold 850
Software Windows 7 Ultimate x64
IMO,

a Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz (425x8) is still a bottleneck for a 285 ( aside from Crysis ) , so i would assume that at 3.6Ghz the 295 will do pretty well but i think it can scale better with 4.2Ghz i7 or more.
 

Binge

Overclocking Surrealism
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
6,979 (1.23/day)
Location
PA, USA
System Name Molly
Processor i5 3570K
Motherboard Z77 ASRock
Cooling CooliT Eco
Memory 2x4GB Mushkin Redline Ridgebacks
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 680
Case Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced
Power Supply Corsair HX-1000
And you're getting these results from what? Of course an i7 920 at 4.2GHz will "scale better", but you have to ask yourself how much of it is the GPU being bottlenecked and what is the speed of the CPU helping regardless of the GPU. Comparisons like "Q6600 @ 3.4GHz," "your proc (the Q9550) at 3.6GHz," and "a i7 at 4.2GHz," are all pretty shallow observations because they are very DIFFERENT processors all at different frequencies.
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
3,924 (0.66/day)
System Name Main / Home Media Serever
Processor Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory 12gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Storage 2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex II 80GB & 10TB of HDD Space
Display(s) 2x Acer 24" LED / Samsung 50" LED
Case Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
Power Supply Rosewill 750w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / Ubuntu 14.04
IMO,

a Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz (425x8) is still a bottleneck for a 285 ( aside from Crysis ) , so i would assume that at 3.6Ghz the 295 will do pretty well but i think it can scale better with 4.2Ghz i7 or more.

Yeah where are you getting your results from? Please posts some links to benchmarks that prove this.
 

HammerON

The Watchful Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
8,397 (1.52/day)
Location
Up North
System Name Threadripper
Processor 3960X
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix TRX40-XE
Cooling XSPC Raystorm Neo (sTR4) Water Block
Memory G. Skill Trident Z Neo 64 GB 3600
Video Card(s) PNY RTX 4090
Storage Samsung 960 Pro 512 GB + WD Black SN850 1TB
Display(s) Dell 32" Curved Gaming Monitor (S3220DGF)
Case Corsair 5000D Airflow
Audio Device(s) On-board
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G5
Mouse Roccat Kone Pure
Keyboard Corsair K70
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Always changing~
I am running a E8500 at 4.06 GHz with a GTX 295 and from what I can tell from benchmarks and playing games (Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Fear 2, DOW II), I have been very satisfied (might be a bottleneck, but I cannot tell). As others have stated in this thread ~ overclock that puppy and thou shall be happy :toast:
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,195 (1.12/day)
System Name ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory 2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s) HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s) 2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s) Audigy 2
Software Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.
Even a Q6600 wouldnt hold a GTX295 back.

Remember, it depends on what you are using it for. Dialling up FSAA using more shaders has no CPU impact. So you can set higher effects.

Increasing texture sizes is going to hit GPU memory issues. If all assets can't be held on the GPU, the memory controller has to upload them from system RAM to GPU RAM. Here, the PCIe lanes and the RAM bandwidth is what counts. Therefore i7 is MUCH better with the DDR3. This has nothing to do with CPU again.

Where CPU comes into play is the AI and calculation of goemetries to be displayed. Does your CPU have enough headroom to "fill" the GPU's processing capacity? Well, that answer depends ENTIRELY on the application.

Synthetic benchmarks like 3Dmark do calculations based on the GPU and on the CPU and add them together. Therefore you 3Dmark score always goes up with a better CPU. But the KEY question is: does the GPU score go up with a better CPU? Answer: no. (Not unless you have a really really slow CPU).
 
Top