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Q9550 or Q9550S ?

Cov

Cov

Gawd
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Messages
917
Hi, the other day I made my mind up with the Q9550.

The little Yorkfield would be employed in a Mini iTX system.

I don't have plans to OC, but I do appreciate energy efficiency & silent PCs.

Having just checked my online retailer, they offer the Q9550 (E0) for Euro 247.17 = $ 325.56 = £ 222.86

And the Q9550S version cost Euro 304.33 = $ 400.89 = £ 274.25

I'm all for quality but would the S-Version be worth the additional money ?

Hm ... I'm a bit confused now, pls help [H] ...

Cheers
 
For an ITX sytem, go for the S version to cut down on heat generation and power usage.
 
Ok thanks, sounds reasonable ... one more question pls.

The first generation of quads had C1 stepping and the latest is E0, right.
The specifications of the Q9550S doesn't say anything about what stepping it is.
Could I just presume that it has to be the latest anyway ? Hm.

Thanks again.
 
Specifications Intel Q9550S

specq9550sukj4.png


Interesting ...
 
The Q9550S uses the E0 stepping exclusively. The only difference between it and the normal Q9550 is the fact that the S model has a TDP of 65W and the normal model has a TDP of 95W. However, be advised that you can lower the voltage of most normal Q9550 chips in order to achieve similar power savings to the S model.
 
The lowering of the voltage is motherboard business, right ?
Afaik, the Zotac Mini iTX I'm about to order can't do undervolting / underclocking.
what a pitty ... sniff sniff
 
Below is a screenshot of my Q9550S. I was under the same dilemma and just ended up going with the S version as it was going in a SUGO case. If you can find it at a decent price, get the L3360 chip. It's the server version that tends to be ~ $150 cheaper, at the time I ordered the Q9550 was $280, the Q9550S $399, and the L3360 $260 but I just couldn't find a place that had it in stock at the time and got impatient.

q9550s.jpg
 
Then go for the Q9550S, there is 1 minor difference between the two but it realistically makes no difference, the 9550 has support for an instruction set that the 3360 doesn't.

Also, the temps you see below are with a NT06 with no active cooling, the power supply fan acts as the cooling as it is a 120mm fan that is 1mm above the top of the heatsink. The CPU fan reading is either from the power supply (unlikely) or from the 80mm fan I plugged into the motherboard which is attached to the northbridge heatsink via zip ties. This box is dead silent and insanely fast in the desktop environment.

edit: found my post from when I was doing the same research... http://www.hardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1407315
 
I don't think its worth the extra money. I doubt your going to see any major difference.
 
Hi folks, I've registered for this simple question: Where do I get the L3360 for like $260? I've been searching now for several hours and this suspicious and delicious cheap offer keeps hiding!

Please help, I'm desperate :(
 
rive22 said:
+1 :cool:
Click to expand...

Well, the ITX boards from Intel won't recognize or even initialize Quads with a TDP over 65.

shoopy said:
Hi folks, I've registered for this simple question: Where do I get the L3360 for like $260? I've been searching now for several hours and this suspicious and delicious cheap offer keeps hiding!

Please help, I'm desperate :(
Click to expand...
 
^^ That's good info. And if the zotac doesn't do it, that leaves a jetway board. Maybe someone can shine in with info on that too. Hopefully though the op wasn't planning to buy an intel board anyway I certainly wouldn't ;x For basic needs though it would do.
 
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Hi rive22 and all others !! ... I'm about to order the following parts very soon:


CPU _ Q9550(S) E0 stepping ... this one cost 208.- Euro = $290.- while the (S) version cost almost $300 = $418.-
I'm not sure anymore if the additional 30% higher cost is worth it.

Board _ Zotac GeForce 9300 iTX ... it's not perfect, but it seems to be the best Mini iTX board atm. I would love if they could offer a BIOS version with undervolt / underclock capability sometimes.

RAM _ G.Skill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ ... my retailer has only few types of modules to chose from. Originally I had chosen the HK PC6400 version, but he hasn't got them.
Well, do I presume correct that RAM modules are downwards compatible ? Because The Zotac board can only take up to 800 MHz modules.
And I rather run the RAM with 1.8V over the 2.0V of the chosen modules. That shouldn't be a problem, right ?

HDD _ WD10EADS ... I'm as desperate as you for an SSD drive, but I need lots of storage space for now.

PSU _ AC to DC Power adapter (12V / 12.5A / 110W) + DC to DC PicoPSU 150XT ... I think the price is ridiculous expensive compared to high quality ATX PSUs, but there is no alternative I guess.

CPU cooler _ I'd like to give the MeOrb a try. Have read good test results about it.
 
You can get the Q9550 for $10 more than the Q9400 at just $230. The Q9550S costs like $350. Doesn't seem worth it to me. If you're going to pay that much for a CPU, go i7. You can get an i7 system with a fairly decent gpu for under $1000... assuming you don't factor in operating system, keyboard, mouse and all that.

Just noticed you're not in the US.. are prices that different?
 
Hi angelic, thanks for the suggestion but as I'm focused on Mini iTX, there is no alternative to 775 atm.
 
No i7 for mini itx right now, but there are matx boards.. Looks like a PC-Q07, which would only fit the mitx. That's a nice looking case :)
 
Ender said:
Below is a screenshot of my Q9550S. I was under the same dilemma and just ended up going with the S version as it was going in a SUGO case. If you can find it at a decent price, get the L3360 chip. It's the server version that tends to be ~ $150 cheaper, at the time I ordered the Q9550 was $280, the Q9550S $399, and the L3360 $260 but I just couldn't find a place that had it in stock at the time and got impatient.

q9550s.jpg
Click to expand...

Come on, who knows where I'll find this CPU that cheap? :confused:
 
shoopy said:
Hi folks, I've registered for this simple question: Where do I get the L3360 for like $260? I've been searching now for several hours and this suspicious and delicious cheap offer keeps hiding!

Please help, I'm desperate :(
Click to expand...


nowhere is this chip for sale less than $340 - $350. i think that other fellow was "mistaken". unless he can provide linkage??
 
Okay, thx for the response. I can find the Q9550s in my area for $350 (converted from CHF379 incl. shipping) so it's a deal that can compare to those in the USA
 
shoopy, are you really willing to pay the premium for the (S) version ?
The information that I found about the Q9550S was not really convincing.

Got any other info maybe ?

Someone said that undervolting the Q9550 would lead to similar results of the Q9550S ... hmm, don't know if that's true.
 
Hey Cov nice case man :D I don't think the S is entirely necessary for that case. I was picturing the flat thin ones when you said mini-itx lol. The biggest thing is I would just make sure your external psu can power that baby efficiently so the 65 watt would be better in that respect. Or just slap a bigger one in there.

Just to toss in, it looks like P55 will coming the way on a few mini-itx boards which means you could slap a Lynnfield chip on that baby. Sometime this fall or so. If you were willing to wait :p
 
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Cov said:
PSU _ AC to DC Power adapter (12V / 12.5A / 110W) + DC to DC PicoPSU 150XT ... I think the price is ridiculous expensive compared to high quality ATX PSUs, but there is no alternative I guess.
Click to expand...
Your case has room for a standard ATX PSU, so why not just use one instead of going with a PicoPSU?
 
Cov said:
shoopy, are you really willing to pay the premium for the (S) version ?
The information that I found about the Q9550S was not really convincing.

Got any other info maybe ?

Someone said that undervolting the Q9550 would lead to similar results of the Q9550S ... hmm, don't know if that's true.
Click to expand...

There's not much to it. The only serious platforms I found for an Intel quad itx system were the Intel mainboards themselves. I do not need the furious graphics power combined with inferior sound quality the Zotac mainboard got. However, the Intel boards require CPUs to have a TDP below 65W, I have to put a s-version in it. That's the whole story. As mentioned in different forums, undervolting the CPU won't work: While the Zotac has a 4-phase power design, the Intel ones only have a 3-phase.

rive22 said:
Just to toss in, it looks like P55 will coming the way on a few mini-itx boards which means you could slap a Lynnfield chip on that baby. Sometime this fall or so. If you were willing to wait :p
Click to expand...

Nice hint! According to some reviews you'll find to Lynnfield, the i7 920 counterpart with 2.66Ghz, a superb turbomode, although missing a third memory channel and the QPI (which both, imho, aren't noteworthy in a standard non-ultra-cranked-up 1-CPU-system) will hit the stores till mid september for not even $200! The P55-boards too will be in the price range of today's P45-boards!

But I ask myself 2 questions. Will there be a G55 chipset with IGP? Soon, when Intel releases their clarkdales with IGP, a IGP on the board gets useless. Further, Intel announced a P55-ITX board, which will be released at the same time as the Lynnfields. Does this ITX-board come with a TDP restriction, too? The power efficient Lynnfields are announced for Q1/Q2 2010. That would be pointless, waiting half a year for the processor to be released.

I'm sorry for eventually appearing spelling mistakes. I'm swiss and not used to post in english forums, but to read :cool:
 
The interesting thing is my SLAWQ Q9550 chip runs at 1.14V max if I am to believe my voltage sensors. It did this without me adjusting the bios.

BTW, This same effect is true for AMD energy efficient processors. They are basically just binned undervolted chips and in AMDs case they also are frequency capped.
 
Zero82z said:
Your case has room for a standard ATX PSU, so why not just use one instead of going with a PicoPSU?
Click to expand...
Well, there are several reason for that.

1. I'm a minimalist. You can't go any smaller than with a PicoPSU ... actually you could. If they would implement a PicoPSU onto the motherboard, that way you'd only need an adapter. Hmm, I like the idea actually.

2. A good full size PSU is the heaviest part in a PC case. The weight shouldn't be so much of a reason, but I like to see the two attributes powerful and light together.

3. Full size ATX PSU usually start from 400W but how much power do I really need ? Maybe 80 W would do but I will get the 150-XT PicoPSU (150W) to be on the safe side.

4. By leaving the full size PSU away, I gain so much space, enabling me to (theoretically) use the whole width of 173 mm (from 193 mm) for any CPU cooler of my choice.


This is the power consumption (idle) of a similar system with full size ATX PSU:

leistung_idlet5tu.jpg



... and that's under load:

leistung_lastj2nf.jpg


Source
 
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