Final Q9550 Build

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PC_User

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All I need are the following: CPU, Motherboard, Hard Drive, RAM
I will be using an OCZ GameXStream 700W Power Supply.

I was deciding between a Q9550 build and a Core i7 920 build. After comparing the two and receiving advice on several forum, I think I'll go with the Q9550 build. It seems that the overclocking is more difficult on the 920, and the prices of DDR3 memory and the expensive P6T Deluxe will make the i7 920 build about $300 more expensive than the Q9550 build. At the moment, I'm just not sure if the performance increase and benefits of the i7 920 will justify the price difference.

Here's the build:

Q9550 - $310 shipped from Amazon
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P - $136.99 from Newegg
4GB G.Skill DDR2 1066 - $59.99 from Newegg
Western Digital 640GB AALS - $79.99

GRAND TOTAL (w/ tax+shipping) = $614

If you can help me make the price lower, it would be very much appreciated! Thanks for any suggestions/feedback/input.

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Main questions/uncertainties:
1. Core i7 920 vs Q9550
2. 4GB G.Skill DDR2 1000 ($50) vs 4GB G.Skill DDR3 1066 ($55)
3. Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P vs ASUS P5Q Pro
 
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1. Q9550
2. G.Skill DDR2 1000
3. GA-EP45-UD3P (or rather, whichever one you could get in a combo deal)
Click to expand...

Any particular reason why you pick the DDR 1000 over the 1066? If performance is the same, I have no problem paying the additional $5.

fromeo85 said:
I'd go with the WD640GB AAKS, $74.99
Click to expand...

For $5 more, I'd rather get the AALS Caviar Black with 32mb cache. Not looking to cut corners that much...
 
The performance is about the same with the DDR2 1000 RAM and the DDR2 1066 RAM. Since they're both listed at twice their actual rated speeds, there's only a 33MHz difference between the two. Anything that you couldn't do using DDR2 1000 RAM you wouldn't be able to do with DDR2 1066 RAM.

Likewise, the hard drive's cache size doesn't matter so much towards overall performance as would drive platter/capacity and spindle speed. In most cases, you wouldn't notice the difference between the Western Digital AAKS and AALS models -- each drive would outperform any of the last-gen models.

Since it's only a $10 total difference, you could do this however you want.
 
PC_User said:
Any particular reason why you pick the DDR 1000 over the 1066? If performance is the same, I have no problem paying the additional $5.



For $5 more, I'd rather get the AALS Caviar Black with 32mb cache. Not looking to cut corners that much...
Click to expand...

not really gona see much a difference
 
tiraides said:
The performance is about the same with the DDR2 1000 RAM and the DDR2 1066 RAM. Since they're both listed at twice their actual rated speeds, there's only a 33MHz difference between the two. Anything that you couldn't do using DDR2 1000 RAM you wouldn't be able to do with DDR2 1066 RAM.

Likewise, the hard drive's cache size doesn't matter so much towards overall performance as would drive platter/capacity and spindle speed. In most cases, you wouldn't notice the difference between the Western Digital AAKS and AALS models -- each drive would outperform any of the last-gen models.

Since it's only a $10 total difference, you could do this however you want.
Click to expand...


But there won't be a decrease in performance if going with the 1066 ram over the 1000, will there? I plan to be overclocking and want to get the best ram possible without going over $60. Does one kit overclock better than the other?

I also found some benchmarks that have the AALS slightly faster at reading/writing than the AAKS, and power consumption (according to WD's website) is exactly the same...so the $5 difference isn't something I would get stuck on.

ALSO: Any reasons to go with the ASUS P5Q Pro over the above Gigabyte board? I've read great things about both but I think the Gigabyte has 6-phase power whereas the ASUS has 8-phase...which would be better overall for overclocking?

Thanks again for the suggestions/help.
 
You'll see no difference in performance between the DDR2 1000 RAM and the DDR2 1066 RAM. But for only $5 more, you might as well get the DDR2 1066 RAM.

Both boards will work fine for overclocking. I can't say which one is "better" because there are many factors that affect the maximum speed that you could obtain from overclocking. For all intents and purposes, they perform about the same; I recommended the EP45-UD3P because it was cheaper (through a combo deal) than the P5Q Pro.
 
Which CPU are you going with? If its the Q6600, anything over DDR2-800 won't really matter, since that CPU tops out at around 3.6Ghz, which is 9x400, and 2x400=DDR2-800. No point in getting faster RAM if you go with the Q6600.

Another good thing about the Caviar Black (vs the Blue) is the 5yr warranty instead of 3yr... but yes, you won't notice the performance difference between the two.
 
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