How to decide between i7 and Q series?

9

99rollaguy

Gawd
Joined
Jun 18, 2003
Messages
684
Since the machine in my sig is all but dead (random freezes, incomplete windows loading, etc.), I've decided it's time for a new rig.

I do a lot of Photoshop work (not uncommon to see 1+GB files), barely any gaming (doesn't mean I won't in the future), and video editing is something I'm interested in trying--as far as the CPU intensive stuff goes.

I'd like a rather future proof (my machine has served me well for photoshop work and general use...it was at the speed in my sig pretty much since day one) set up without breaking the bank (under 1k for cpu (and cooler if necessary), mobo, and graphics card...my vx550 should be fine from what I've read).

It seems I can build a very nice Q series machine for less than an i7 one, but if there are some benefits to the i7 (obviously not heat...though I do like the heating affect on my room) that would make it a wise choice, I would like to know.

Thanks all
 
If I'm not mistaken you should see a nice benefit from going with i7 for say a Q9550.
 
How to decide? It's a very simple matter of budget vs performance gained, the budget questions only you can answer; though from what you said the i7's well within your budget... And it certainly sounds like it could be worth the extra expense for the type of work you're doing. Just keep in mind you're still paying a healthy premium for it.

+$100 more for the cheapest i7 over a cheap C2Q, +$90 on the mobo for an X58 over a P45, +$50-80 probably on DDR3 over DDR2 (depends on whether you go dual/trip channel, and 4GB vs 3GB or 6GB)... So that's what, like $360 more for whatever performance gains you're getting? Only you can answer whether it's worth it to you, take a look at some of the Nehalem reviews/benchmarks and figure it out.

Have you tried to diagnose your system at all though? Could be your Windows install has just gone down the crapper, or it could be a single component that's giving you trouble, some stuff is pretty easy to rule out (memory for one, being one of the most common causes of that type of behavior as well). Might as well try and get to the bottom of it before selling it or passing the system on to someone else.
 
it really depends on the type of user you are, not in the sense of what applications you use, but how often you like to upgrade your PC, if you do it every 6 months or even every year, i'd say hold off on i7, take advantage of the great DDR2 pricing out there, and just build a Q9550

but if you don't upgrade for over a year, then just do i7 now and save yourself the misery of wanting one in the future, the pricing difference aren't that big.
 
I've done little trouble shooting as I've wanted to upgrade for a while, but I guess I should try to prolong the life of the machine as long as I can.

I'll check the RAM...I had a stick fail early in the machine's life.
 
it's running right now...I think the #1 DIMM slot might be bad. I'll try running memtest in a bit.
 
would a change of the windows theme indicate a bad stick of RAM? the first stick I put in came up with the windows classic theme (what I selected), the second stick came up with the standard xp theme. does that mean anything?


edit 1: it seems to be running the antivirus software fine. it would've locked up by now...

I'll try the #2 and #4 DIMM slots and see if it'll boot up.

I wish this monitor did PIP or PBP with VGA(G4)/DVI(problem machine).


edit 2: well, it appears the #1 and #2 DIMM slots are bad. kinda sucks since I'd like to run in dual channel. now I have to decide if I want to invest in old tech (new mobo...I see I don't have many options).
 
I went Core i7, and the reason I did was for performance. If you looks across all the benchmarks the Core i7 is where it's at currently. I have not been dissapointed with the results either.

It took me 20 minutes to install Vista from install to the desktop.

I have 4 virtual machines running in virtualbox with just about a gig to each (plan on adding more VMs and RAM to the system). The virtual environment runs so smooth its amazing, where as before I had a Core 2 Duo and it wasn't even possible to run those 4 VMs at the same time!

I am setting up the entire System Center suite from MS to showcase its ability, so you see virtualization is a big part of what I do. Thank you virtualbox for supporting x64 guests:) And thank you Intel for providing a kick ass chip.
 
I had a similar question myself.

Go with a new P45 Motherboard and a Q9650 for 458 bucks or spend a bit more , 171 bucks to be exact, for an i7 920 $229, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $184.99 and a 6 GB Kit of Corsair 1600 DDR3 for $169.99 for a grand total out the door at Microcenter for 629.02.

I went with the i7 setup, Worth every damn penny. I have never seen Photoshop run so fast. It was ok on my Q6600 @ 3.6 but it flies now. I also love Titan Quest and on my old rig even as beefy as it was the game could get to chugging in spots. On this i7 she's one helluva lot smoother, no slowdowns at all.

It was not an easy decision either. I was undecided for several months, but I finally figured if I'm gonna drop money on a new CPU and motherboard I might as well do it for one that has more of a future upgrade path.

I'm loving my i7 :D
 
Kangg said:
I had a similar question myself.

Go with a new P45 Motherboard and a Q9650 for 458 bucks or spend a bit more , 171 bucks to be exact, for an i7 920 $229, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $184.99 and a 6 GB Kit of Corsair 1600 DDR3 for $169.99 for a grand total out the door at Microcenter for 629.02.

I went with the i7 setup, Worth every damn penny. I have never seen Photoshop run so fast. It was ok on my Q6600 @ 3.6 but it flies now. I also love Titan Quest and on my old rig even as beefy as it was the game could get to chugging in spots. On this i7 she's one helluva lot smoother, no slowdowns at all.

It was not an easy decision either. I was undecided for several months, but I finally figured if I'm gonna drop money on a new CPU and motherboard I might as well do it for one that has more of a future upgrade path.

I'm loving my i7 :D
Click to expand...


Agreed, the i7 is the way to go for the forseeable near future
 
I would need cpu, ram, mobo, hard drives (I guess I wouldn't need them since there is an IDE channel...but then I would have to format and back up and all that...I could just send all the important stuff over the network to my roommate's machine, I guess)), optical drives (mine are IDE and old anyway), video card, and an e-sata card (for my external...I guess I don't NEED that right away, either.). I'd use my current case until I found something I liked.


but, for now, I guess my machine DOES work...just not how it's supposed to.
 
I say save your money, get a Q9400 for $180, cheap used P35/P45 mobo for $60-70 and 4GB of DDR2 800 ram for $40. That's ~$300 for a system that will slaughter your current system in every way and last you for quite some time considering you're still holding onto an IC7 =)
 
My friend just built a Q9650 system and I asked him why he didn't go i7 and he says it cost too much.
I priced out his parts with 8GB of ram and an i7 with 6GB of ram and the difference in price was $123.
I personally would have spent the extra $123 and gone with an i7 setup.
 
When you get a new mobo, hook up your C Drive HD to the mobo and try running Windows Repair from the Windows Disk at boot and you may be able to save all your files on your HD without copying them to another drive, reformatting your ould C Drive, and then recopying the files to the reformatted C Drive. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't, but when it works it is very nice and makes you very happy and saves a lot of time and trouble. I just did this with my old C Drive that was running on an MSI AMD mobo and my new Asus AMD mobo was identified by my OS on the old CDrive without a problem except a couple of reboots or three. Saved me a lot of hassle. Some people don't realize that you can use Windows repair on an old HD C or whatever letter OS Drive when installing a new mobo. Sometimes with some of the newer mobos you may not have to run Windows Repair from the Windows Install Disk because Windows will alter itself and use the new mobo HD drivers that you install from the mobo driver disk, or it downloads them off the inet, whatever, I forget but it is nice when you can use your old C Drive with a new mobo.
 
upgrade to the core i7, and I am talking to everyone of ya who don't currently have this MONSTER of a CPU in your machine now.

PS it even does the dishes
 
Monkeypillow said:
Google informs me that this is a Pentium 4. I'm not sure what the "c" designates.

Considering that's the last time you upgraded, I'd spring for the i7 for longevity's sake.
Click to expand...

a = 400mhz bus
b = 533mhz bus
c = 800mhz bus
e = 800mhz bus with prescott core.
 
Would go with the Core i7, definitely worth the money even thought it is slightly expensive.
 
Kangg said:
I had a similar question myself.

Go with a new P45 Motherboard and a Q9650 for 458 bucks or spend a bit more , 171 bucks to be exact, for an i7 920 $229, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $184.99 and a 6 GB Kit of Corsair 1600 DDR3 for $169.99 for a grand total out the door at Microcenter for 629.02.

I went with the i7 setup, Worth every damn penny...
Click to expand...

Well, between spending $460 for a C2Q setup and spending an additional $120 for the i7 setup I'd definitely pony up the extra dough, but if you're gonna go budget then go budget...

If you're not averse to some OC'ing you can move into a C2Q setup for way less than $458. A Q6600/Q8300, a P45 board, and 4GB DDR2 should only run ya about $350 for proc, mobo, and RAM. Could even go used or find some aggresive rebates and shave off another $40. The price delta vs the i7 then becomes more like $200+, or the price of a very good video card. ;)

If you're a gamer, that's some very strong rationale for not going i7 unless you've got cash to burn, since the i7 won't even make much of a difference in most games... If you're a professional who depends on the rig for your work then it's a much more personal question of performance vs budget.
 
If price and performance is the factors for a new build, try the Q9550 with the motherboard of your choice. Right now motherboards are pretty limited in choice (and exspensive) for the i7 and having to use DDR3 does not help with the cost.
 
Howdy, Get a 775 Q4 with a mobo that uses DDR3 dual channel, as those mobos have also come down in price and there are some decent deals already on DDR3, but DDR2 is still just fine. If you have the $$ the i7 920 or have even more $ the i7 940 when they are on sale. Or, you could buy my good old P4 571 3.8GHz CPU. :rolleyes: Just kidding, but it is still OK for many things, not bad at all.
 
the only reason to get a Q over an i7 is if you already have a GOOD 775 board IMO.
 
Zepher said:
My friend just built a Q9650 system and I asked him why he didn't go i7 and he says it cost too much.
I priced out his parts with 8GB of ram and an i7 with 6GB of ram and the difference in price was $123.
I personally would have spent the extra $123 and gone with an i7 setup.
Click to expand...

QFT!!!

I was surprised how close these setups where when you actually crunch the numbers. I included in my number crunching the Microcenter i7 deal for 229 plus tax and it was only an $86 difference and a 9550 setup a $146. That was too close for me to not jump to i7 especially if you're looking at the 9650. The 9550 is only where you begin to in my opinion truly start seeing where the savings make an impact. In my opinion the Q9XXX are overpriced once you look at the numbers.
 
99rollaguy said:
Since the machine in my sig is all but dead

It seems I can build a very nice Q series machine for less than an i7 one, but if there are some benefits to the i7 (obviously not heat...though I do like the heating affect on my room) that would make it a wise choice, I would like to know.

Thanks all
Click to expand...

It's a pretty easy decision...

put down the crack pipe and pick up a i7-920

LOL
 
I have to agree, when I priced out similar systems starting from scratch in december, I used a Q9400, and the saving was less than $200 cdn. With i7 there may be cpu upgrade paths in the future, multi-gpu is better at the high end, which in turn opens the door to higher resolution monitors. Sure most people won't go with 3 gpu's but the performance of a tri-sli today, is the perf of dual tomorrow, and a single card in the future. So for a nominal cost at the beginning it is far more future proof, IMO
 
Here is an idea of how fast the i7 is. I had a Q6600 oc'd to 3.33ghz and in 32bit Vista i used cinebench and rendered the motorcycle in 1 minute 11 seconds. In 64 bit windows 7 with a 4.0ghz and HT on (8 threads) it renders it in 37 seconds... almost twice as fast. It's seriously nuts, and as mentinoned before it also does your dishes.
 
Barrok said:
Here is an idea of how fast the i7 is. I had a Q6600 oc'd to 3.33ghz and in 32bit Vista i used cinebench and rendered the motorcycle in 1 minute 11 seconds. In 64 bit windows 7 with a 4.0ghz and HT on (8 threads) it renders it in 37 seconds... almost twice as fast. It's seriously nuts, and as mentinoned before it also does your dishes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, for video work etc. the i7's are super fast, quite amazing. The i7 920 has been on sale for $230 at the Egg and especially Micro Center. G-Skill etc. at the Egg has a lot of DDR3 mosule sets for very good prices ATM. I'm CHEAP so I'd get a Q4 and 775 DDR3 dc. mobo and would be more satisfied than a pig in slop etc. :D Micro Center has had the i7 920 on sale for a good time and I think it still is, not sure.
 
I took the plunge too - don't forget to mention that you'll need a good i7 cooler if you plan to oc so add in 40-60 bucks.

I went 920/3gb corsair 1600/asus p6t/mugen scythe 2 - was still about 600 bucks when said and done...

running vista biz 32 cuz there is no 64 bit client for my work vpn :( - tempted to return the 3 for the 6gb kit at 164 though...for 60 more I get double ram ready for when I can go 64 bit.
 
99rollaguy said:
I'd like a rather future proof (my machine has served me well for photoshop work and general use...it was at the speed in my sig pretty much since day one) set up without breaking the bank (under 1k for cpu (and cooler if necessary), mobo, and graphics card...my vx550 should be fine from what I've read).
Click to expand...


future-proof means i7 to me.
 
hmm been debating this myself
fortunatly alcohol pushed me toward the i7
and i built one two weeks back
the total difference for all parts was about $200..which deffinetly seems well worth it for a futureproof rig
 
I bought my computer (i7 920), complete specs in the sig, and it has been running rock solid stable at 3.8GHz (kept it on for 12 days at a time... had to restart it when I installed a few things...) but absolutely no problems at all, other than my dated video card. Everything other than video games amaze me.

If you can afford it (prices came down since I bought it at least) the i7 is DEFINITELY the way to go. Granted the Core 2s are not bad at all, but I upgraded from a Q9300 and never looked back.
 
Photoshop, I dont think your better off with a i7, you can get a very cheap Q system and that for the price will last you a very long time. Q series is future proof i believe, because of the large market that C2D AND C2Q is you will always have support. However if you were a hardcore gamer into SLI and QSLI then i would say go i7.

For photoshop and i7 seems like overkill- go C2Q.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top