Core 2 Quad Q9550 Build

[fwilson789]

Hello,

This is going to be my first attempt at building a computer. Since I'm new at this, I thought I should get some expert opinions.

I am aware of the new Intel i7 processors, but the prices of the motherboards, DDR3, and the processors themselves are too high. For this reason, I've decided to go with an LGA 775 processor and motherboard.

This is sort of a budget build, but I'm looking for performance that would be sufficient for photo and video editing/encoding in HD and the occasional game. I'd also like to have the opportunity to overclock sometime in the future.

• HP 22X DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model 1170i - Retail
  
• GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
  
• EVGA 512-P3-N956-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
  
• CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
  
• CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail (X2 for 8GB total)
  
• GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
  
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 - Retail
  
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Oh, and just one more question:

Should I really consider getting an aftermarket cooler? Are they really THAT much better?


If you have any suggestions of things that are either overkill, something that I could improve for a small amount of cash, or something that's incompatible, I'd be grateful for your opinions and suggestions.

Thanks for your time!

Fred

 

[jamesman32]

If you have an extra $40 or so, I'd switch the 9500GT for an HD 4850. It's better overall, and wont bottleneck your CPU as much in games and such. Looks ver nice otherwise. Post pics when you've got your parts. Oh, and welcome!

 

[fwilson789]

Thanks for the suggestion and warm welcome, jamesman32!

I was looking at some benchmarks for the i7 and they really show that it smokes the Core 2 Quads.

What would you say the minimum price would be for a solid, well-performing i7 rig? I've tried it with all the cheapest components, and it was still in the thousands.

I seem to find myself thinking more and more about the i7.


Thanks,

Fred

 

[TimoneX]

i7 is great for encoding. Prices on both x58 boards & DDR3 are coming down. Lookie here:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U3R

UD3R + i7 920 retail + STT 3x2GB 1333 = $536 - $30 MIR = $506.

That's a great system core at a tough to beat price. I just received the UD3R's big brother UD4P from these guys. Everything went smooth.

Chuck the Seagate 7200.11 in favor of WD Black goodness. 5yr warranty instead of 3yrs. WD6401AALS or WD1001FALS.

 

[fwilson789]

I recall reading somewere on the internets that the i7 920 is faster than the Q9550 that I was originally planning to use, even though the clock speed is lower. Is this because of the Hyperthreading?

I'm really beginning to lean towards the i7 because of the LGA 1366 socket, which will still be used with Westmere.

Here's another one:

• HP 22X DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model 1170i - Retail
  
• GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
  
• Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
  
• EVGA 512-P3-N956-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
  
• CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
  
• CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C9 - Retail
  
• GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
  
• Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
  
  Grand Total:* $940.93

Thoughts? It's getting up there in my budget, but if the i7 is as great as everyone says, it's probably worth it.

Thanks for your reply,

Fred

 

[TimoneX]

At the risk of turning this into a C2Q vs i7 debate I will say that i7/x58 is faster for general tasks, though not alot faster. In the case of encoding however i7 is significantly faster than C2Q...around 30% on average.

Good selections for the most part. I'm not crazy about the 750GB model in the WD black lineup simply because it uses 3 lower capacity platters. I simply ignore the 500 & 750GB drives and focus on the 2 full platter 640GB & 3 full platter 1TB drives.

 

[LilBuddy]

I'd go with the Q9550 if you planned on overclocking (and yes you would need a different HSF over the stock one). I second getting something other than the 9500GT, for not much more I'd go with a 4850, 9800GT, or 9600. The 9600 is a great card for the money. I'd say nothing less than a 9600 for gaming.

I have a 640gb black drive and love it. I think it is the way to go for just a few dollars more.

Q9550 + UD3R + PC8500 memory + good HSF = Overclocking goodness

Also I'd go for a more powerful PSU...at least 500W if you plan on getting a better GPU. You may not need it now but it doesn't hurt to spend $20 more to get more power that will carry over to a new build or give you headroom to upgrade.

 

[x30Jx]

no, honestly, Core i7 is just plain silly IMHO, unless you plan to do 2-3 folding jobs, while transcoding 4-5 1080p MKVs and playing World in Conflict in SuperHD. Otherwise, keep the money and stick with the Q9550.

Think of it like the whole Quad vs, Dual debate. Sure, Quad is new better, faster (and +expensive, ) but a majority or people still have dual core pocessors and could not be happier. the Prices of the Core i7's, DDR3 Ram, and the rest of the super expensive crap you need to run (that one processor has completely changed every aspect of your new build, save the case) ARE going down and you will be sitting in fron of your $1K Rig and making cart on Newegg for an identical setup at like $600

So just be REALLY sure you want to spend the extra dough.

--> OH! Either way you go, I suggest a WAY better GFX card.... like a nice 9800 GX2 or a GTX 295 (BEAUTIFUL when watercooled). The 9500 GT is really not the uber performer it is cracked up to be... I have one. (NVIDIA FTW!)

 

[TimoneX]

i7 build prices are falling pretty quick guys. While they're still more, the premium is now likely substantially less than you may think. Solid 6GB DDR3 kits are now sub $100, excellent boards can be had for under $200, and the i7 920 itself can be had for less than even the Q9550, and far less than it's more realistic rival, the Q9650.

For pure gamers, I agree there is still little incentive to move to i7 as the cost/performance metric is not there, but for encoding & rendering jobs the i7 is an absolute monster and earns it's premium.

 

[jamesman32]

Yeah, just do a quick search on Newegg. i7 got a bad rep just like Vista did when it was first out, but i7 came out in November, and it's now February. Look at prices, it isn't too much more than a nice quad LGA775 setup. In some cases, it can be about the same price.

 

[chucko58]

no, honestly, Core i7 is just plain silly IMHO, unless you plan to do 2-3 folding jobs, while transcoding 4-5 1080p MKVs and playing World in Conflict in SuperHD. Otherwise, keep the money and stick with the Q9550.

I dunno... the game developers keep demanding more and more from the system, and pretty soon 1920x1200 is going to look like 1024x768 does today.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Core 2 Quad system today (see my sig rig), but IMHO a Core i7 will have a longer useful life.

OBTW the Core i7 requires even better cooling because the DDR3 memory controller is integrated into the CPU. This may not matter at stock speeds but it will when you decide to OC it.

 

[TimoneX]

True that. i7 gets toasty warm under load. I see max load temps about 10c higher on average i7@4Ghz vs Q9650@4Ghz under water.

 

[LilBuddy]

no, honestly, Core i7 is just plain silly IMHO, unless you plan to do 2-3 folding jobs, while transcoding 4-5 1080p MKVs and playing World in Conflict in SuperHD. Otherwise, keep the money and stick with the Q9550.

Think of it like the whole Quad vs, Dual debate. Sure, Quad is new better, faster (and +expensive, ) but a majority or people still have dual core pocessors and could not be happier. the Prices of the Core i7's, DDR3 Ram, and the rest of the super expensive crap you need to run (that one processor has completely changed every aspect of your new build, save the case) ARE going down and you will be sitting in fron of your $1K Rig and making cart on Newegg for an identical setup at like $600

So just be REALLY sure you want to spend the extra dough.

--> OH! Either way you go, I suggest a WAY better GFX card.... like a nice 9800 GX2 or a GTX 295 (BEAUTIFUL when watercooled). The 9500 GT is really not the uber performer it is cracked up to be... I have one. (NVIDIA FTW!)

Please....whatever you do...don't listen to a person that tells you to get a $500 GPU when you are looking to spend $100.

 

[fwilson789]

i7 build prices are falling pretty quick guys. While they're still more, the premium is now likely substantially less than you may think. Solid 6GB DDR3 kits are now sub $100, excellent boards can be had for under $200, and the i7 920 itself can be had for less than even the Q9550, and far less than it's more realistic rival, the Q9650.

For pure gamers, I agree there is still little incentive to move to i7 as the cost/performance metric is not there, but for encoding & rendering jobs the i7 is an absolute monster and earns it's premium.

So is the performance advantage enough to make you spend a couple hundred bucks more? From what I can see, the Q9550 is still a pretty fast processor by today's standards and is only about a year old.

 

[TimoneX]

I already did spend the few hundred bucks more to go from C2Q to i7. Only you can decide if it's worth it for you. The Q9550 is a terrific CPU, though IMO the Q9650 is worth it's relatively small premium over the Q9550 with last month's price cuts. For pure gamers i7/x58 offers little incentive, but if you do alot of encoding &/or rendering then it's definitely worth considering. Frankly you cannot go far wrong with either system. Were I building a really low cost system I would likely opt for AMD's dragon platform. For a mainstream system at a reasonable cost I think the GA-EX58-UD3R/i7 920 combo is pretty tough to beat.

 

[ghost_recon88]

If you're building a new system from scratch, I would go the i7 route. While the Q9550 still is an excellent processor, the LGA775 chips have reached their peak (with the exception of a few new models being released, nothing super significant is coming out). As noted above the prices on X58 boards, i7 CPUs, and DDR3 has dropped significantly from their initial release.

No matter which route you go, if you plan on doing any overclocking you'll want an aftermarket cooler. I'd recommend the Thermalright Ultra 120 Xtreme or if you can't afford that the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283.

 

[x30Jx]

Please....whatever you do...don't listen to a person that tells you to get a $500 GPU when you are looking to spend $100.

hahaha
I was comparing the possible expenditures of the money he would save by NOT going i7

 

[fwilson789]

Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been away for a few days.

I'm still not sure about which way I'm going to go, but I'd just like to say thanks to all of you who have helped me.

When I get around to ordering the parts and building it, I'll be sure to post final specs and pics!

Fred

 

[TimoneX]

Good luck!

I'll be looking for that "Fred's new build thread".

 

[AngryArtichoke]

The 4850 would be a well advised upgrade. I'd also suggest a larger hard drive if you are doing any good amount of photo or video. But then again, you can always add that later.

Pricegrabber.com has a price/GB display when searching for hard drives, and I'd suggest finding a sweet spot that you are happy with. Good luck!