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Upgrade from E6750 to Q9550?

C

Colonel Sanders

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Sep 26, 2001
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Would you guys say that it is a worthwhile upgrade going from an E6750 @ 3.6ghz (see sig) to a Q5550 (at whatever OC I can get out of it)? This PC is used pretty much exclusively for gaming... Bad Company 2, ArmA 2, etc.

Money is pretty tight right now so there is no way I can afford shelling out for a CPU + motherboard + memory. I just want to get some decent extra FPS from my games - right now my PC does pretty well at most games, but there are a few really CPU heavy games like Flight Sim X and ArmA 2 that drag my PC down a bit in the more detailed scenes. I know how much faster the i5/i7s are, but I will probably wait for the next gen video cards before I make that switch.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
honestly dude
I say not worth it
just wait until the "i9" comes out early next year.
 
If you need the performance boost right away, get it - but only if you can find it used for less than $150. However, if all you can find for that CPU is new for more than $200, fuhgeddaboudit!
 
I concur with E4g1e: if the price is higher than $200, not worth it at all. The highest I would pay for a Q9550 right now would be around $150 to $170.

A quad-core CPU is gonna make a huge difference in BC2 and Arma II. My brother's Athlon II X4 630 routinely outperforms my PC (specs in sig). This was when both his and my GPU was the same: a HD 5770. HDD was a tad different: he had the WD5000AAKS and I had the WD6400AAKS. Anyway, it amazed me that such a cheap quad-core CPU could provide a huge performance increase in heavily multi-threaded games. The total price of his CPU + mobo upgrade? $100 for the CPU and mobo from a Fry's deal.

So yeah, even a cheap quad-core will make a difference. As such, if you can't find the Q9550 for around $150 to $170, might want to take a look at the Q6600 or Q9300 for $100 to $120.
 
Not to hijack, but I have an e6400 at 3ghz(2.13) Would the q9300 make a huge difference? I recently upgraded to a 460gtx 1GB and I'm still hurtin pretty bad in games. I need something to hold me over for 6 months maybe
 
Do it if the price is right...and the Q9550 is going to be a little better than the Q9300.
 
I did this exact same upgrade.
I definitely saw a big difference in my games. I have yet to regret paying the $180 at a microcenter for it.
Don't forget you can sell for current cpu for like $50 to offset the cost a bit.

If you want to keep your setup for a while longer, the Q9550 is pretty much the best processor you can get for this socket.
 
MC has also been running the Q8200 at $99.

I had one last year and ran it OC'ed @ 3GHz on stock voltage with a modest aftermarket cooler.

Besides less cache and lacking Intel's VT instructions, its a nice quad core as well.
 
Thank you everyone. I am going to pick up a Q9550 if I can get a good deal on one. The nearest Microcenter is 2 hours away from me, although it may still be worth it because that's a smoking deal...

Anyway, even if I only gain 10fps in the most demanding parts of ArmA 2 for example, that's taking me from almost unplayable 20fps to 30fps which is plenty smooth for good gameplay, and that's good enough for me!
 
I did this exact upgrade. It was well worth it. It made the biggest difference in games that use more than one core.
 
I did the same upgrade, definitely worth it. Got it @ microcenter for about $160 i think?
 
If you're gravy and just gonna use the comp for a while, it's fine. The FS/T forum still has the Q6600 around 110-140 for some reason so getting the Q9550 for 160 seems worth it. Like the above person said, selling whatever you got can help offset the price.
 
I sold my e6750 for about $60 in the spring, you can probably net the same.
 
Do it. I did a similar upgrade from a E7300 to Q9550 and I haven't looked back. I highly suggest making the drive to the MicroCenter if you can't find any price close to theirs. Totally worth it and worth skipping the Nehalem generation as it really opens up your rig. Even though 775 is relatively ancient these days the Q9550 is still a mighty CPU and has more than enough power for the average user. It also overclocks well and unless you plan on ponying up the cash for a 1366 system very soon I'd wait until you can. 1156 isn't really worth it because I wouldn't consider that an upgrade from a Q9550 775 rig unless you throw down even more for HT-enabled i7 branded CPUs (everything up to i5 750 is basically a sidegrade compared to the Q9550) at which point you might as well go 1366. Otherwise get the Q9550 because it will last you a very long time if all you do is game and use it for everyday tasks. 1155 and 2011 are still a whiles off and not worth waiting for in my eyes.

Your BC2 experience will improve substantially with a quad-core!
 
I would do it. For the money you simply cannot beat it. Yes, 775 is a dead socket but not dead enough where a q9550 can no longer compete. It would bring a lot of life to your current setup, and would feel like a significant upgrade. I went from an e8500 to a q9550 and wow, what a difference overall.
 
That Microcenter deal seems to be gone, and the cheapeast 9550s seem to be 270
 
i have had a q9550 for over a year now.... I cant complain.

Edit: Oh and i've always run it at stock. No need to Overclock it honestly...
 
Last edited:
The debate about dual vs quad, which was ongoing for years here, has been definitively decided in favor of quads. Upgrade ASAP.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
Would you guys say that it is a worthwhile upgrade going from an E6750 @ 3.6ghz (see sig) to a Q5550 (at whatever OC I can get out of it)? This PC is used pretty much exclusively for gaming... Bad Company 2, ArmA 2, etc.
Click to expand...

Bad Company 2 stressed my Q9650 to max when I stared playing them. I jumped the i7 bandwagon and it's been smoothing sailing since. But I know you're really tight for money and if you want instant gratification right now then get the Q5550. Save your pennies for sandy bridge.
 
arcturus said:
Q9550 is long gone from Microcenter
Click to expand...

All they stock right now (for LGA 775 quad-cores) are the Q8300 and the Q9300 (at $120 and $140 plus tax, respectively). While the Q9300 isn't a bad buy at $150-ish (including tax), there are better buys than the Q8300 for nearly $130.
 
Q9550 is on the way! Hopefully I should be able to get a decent clock out of it with my Zalman.
 
aldamon said:
The debate about dual vs quad, which was ongoing for years here, has been definitively decided in favor of quads. Upgrade ASAP.
Click to expand...

I lol'd.
Not because I disagree, but because of how effectively you got your point across.
 
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