The Quad Extreme 6850 vs The Quad 9450

[failmexnow]

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115026&Tpk=qx6850

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

NOTE: Price isnt a factor

Ok so I'm building myself a new machine by the end of the summer. Its going to be mainly for gaming, school, and I'll incorporate it into my home entertainment system.

EVGA nForce 790i
4gb 1333mhz OCZ
GeForce 9800GX2

Besides my internship doing IT, I also work at bestbuy so I get an employee purchasing option through Intel's Retail Edge program. I can purchase the QX6850 for $240. So price is not a factor seeing as the extreme is actually cheaper than the regular Quad.

Im looking at these factors

Q9450 vs QX6850
45nm vs 65nm
2.66ghz vs 3.0ghz
12mb Cache vs 8mb Cache
$329 vs $239


Thanks for the feedback

 

[Gautam]

9450 hands down. The 790i is an annoying mobo but clocks well if you fight with it enough.

 

[Brolloks]

If price is not a factor then I would suggest wait for the Q9650 which will be released in the Q3 and will cost around $550. The Q9650 has a new E0 revision that should reach 4Ghz relatively easy.

 

[hajalie24]

Yoou should get the qx9650 if you plan on getting the qx6850.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115034&Tpk=QX9650

 

[Albuquerque]

If price is not a factor then I would suggest wait for the Q9650 which will be released in the Q3 and will cost around $550. The Q9650 has a new E0 revision that should reach 4Ghz relatively easy.

As the current owner of a Q9450, I wholeheartedly agree with my man Brolloks here. The Q9650 looks to be a killer performer, and at the same price as the QX6850. I'd wager a good board would get you to 4.5Ghz, as evidenced by the successes of at least one person in this thread

 

[failmexnow]

well now im reading that people are overclocking their 6850's to 4.7-5.1 stable

 

[jason4207]

well now im reading that people are overclocking their 6850's to 4.7-5.1 stable

An E6850 or a QX6850? Also, was it on LN2?

I seriously doubt it was stable at those speeds. The Q9650 is faster clock-for-clock, & runs cooler w/ less power usage.

 

[ratbuddy]

Guys read his post again, he's doing that Intel retailedge (retail advantage? whatever) thingy, and they limit the processors you can pick from..

I would personally get the QX6850 from Intel, sell it on ebay or whatever, buy a Q9450 or E8600, and pocket the extra cash

 

[Albuquerque]

Oooooooooh...

Reading comprehension > all of us Except ratbuddy

So ok, I'd so what Ratbuddy suggests -- buy QX6850, sell QX6850, profit! Use profit for Q9450 + other fun toys

 

[mattspalace]

agreed

 

[Brolloks]

Or, buy a few QX6850's and sell them all on e-bay...use profit to buy a nice shiny new Q9650 when they come out and clock it to 5 Ghz on LN2

 

[ou_phidelt]

To me it depends on cooling. If you are going to have the cooling to take advantage of the unlocked multi go for the extreme otherwise go with the Q9450.

 

[prime81]

Given the mobo of your choice, I'd go with the unlocked multi as those 790i boards are hard to clock from what I hear. The 9450 will run cooler, but it's multi is locked at 8.

Just like Brolloks said, you could buy that qx6850 and then sell it for 300-400 easily.

 

[ratbuddy]

Given the mobo of your choice, I'd go with the unlocked multi as those 790i boards are hard to clock from what I hear. The 9450 will run cooler, but it's multi is locked at 8.

Just like Brolloks said, you could buy that qx6850 and then sell it for 300-400 easily.

Ehh? I've heard the opposite, 780i and 790i are supposed to clock like champs..

 

[Jaym14]

I'd wait for the non extreme version of the 9650. Will overclock almost the same as the extreme unless your planning on doing LN2 runs. Otherwise, it will be almost the same.

 

[Brolloks]

Ehh? I've heard the opposite, 780i and 790i are supposed to clock like champs..

Not for quads...they clock like old ladies, duallies are much easier, believe me I've spent many nights struggling with 790i and 780i clocking quads.

 

[gsrcrxsi]

the retail edge program only lets you pick the qx6850 for $240 or the qx6700 for $200

or a lenovo laptop for $500

 

[failmexnow]

and i have 3 accounts to use (between me, my cousin, and my old supervisor) so I had already planned on selling two of the qx6850's BUT i was debating on whether or not I should keep or sell the third one

 

[failmexnow]

And since were on the topic...I chose the 790i because I like the nforce line. I was very happy with my 680i. If its going to give me problems (especially from what Im hearing about the OCZ 1333 ram I picked out) are there any other suggestions in terms of motherboards? (assuming theyre cheaper than the 790i by evga)


Or should I stick with it? etc

 

[prime81]

If you want SLI your limited on options, if you want single slot PCI-E x16 2.0 for a Gx2 or if you decide to go crossfire then pickup the ASUS P5Q-E/Deluxe or the ASUS Maximus 2 Formula. My P5Q-E took a Q6700 and put it to 500fsb fairly easily... great board.