Worth It?

[Rom]

Been stuck way behind.... LGA 775 Q9550 @ 2.83, 4 GB DDR2-800....

And I'm kind of out of the loop with the new Sandy Bridge and all that....

I know this shit is used, risks etc.


I would like some opinions on whether this is a steal, and whether it's somewhat future proof...?



http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/2776026881.html


Thanks!

[RS-Infested]

looks decent... however I'd try to offer them less cash and see if they go for it, heh

[RS-Bocephus]

I'm interested to hear the opinions of those in the know as well regarding the potential longevity of this stuff as it's very very similar to what I'm running.

[RSshruew]

Looks like a pretty good deal actually, even though the CPU and memory aren't made anymore.  The cost to upgrade on the 1366 platform will continue to dwindle as the LGA2011 rolls out.  (Which I'm relatively sure I'll upgrade to sometime this year).

So there will be upgrade options for you if needed.

Coupled with a halfway decent vid card you should be pretty good for FPS shooters for a long while.

[RS-Infested]

I have the i7 920 so its holding up for me fine..

I did a quick search on Hardforum to see what people are selling this for used and $300 is fine but I still feel you could piece this together from other sources cheaper just depends how much effort you want to put in. 

[Rom]

Thanks guys!!

The advantage here is that it's all local and no shipping infested. I can either wait for another bundle like this, or wait for shruew's stuff? What's the ETA on your stuff shruew?


Hmm...I texted the guy if he still had it and he said yes. But then I came to my minds and said, sorry man...but asked what he got the CPU to (GHz) 'cuz no way he got a HSF just for kicks. He didn't respond, so meh....

I just ordered a new GPU, so I'll just see how that goes.

EDIT: Hmm, anymore opinions? Still kinda interested. I am thinking it will be gone by the time I decide, but maybe not....I'll take it as a 'sign' lolol. Oh, and yes I will ask for $250 and go from there, but if I were him, I'd have a hard time going lower.


Regarding MOBO CPU support: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/P6T/#CPUS
Is that ALL i7s?

[RS-Bocephus]

I was suspecting something like that too (OC) but I can't see any real need for it.

I have the Deluxe version of the same board (P6T-D), similar RAM (OCZ @ 1333 MHz & 7-7-7-20) and an i7-920 (never been changed from factory conditions) and the factory heat sink.  With a GTX 285, I play BF @ 1920X12 on fairly high settings (don't remember if I'm "auto select" or custom) and get perfectly playable frames (seem to average mid 50's to right around 60) in nearly all instances.  There was a time where my frames were absolutely bombing into the high 20's on the "Metro" map near the flames in the subway tunnel but a driver update seems to have cleaned this up.

I believe Profit has the same CPU as well but I think he might've bumped his up a bit.

[RS-Dolph]

That socket is dead so there won't be any upgrading from there.

That said, I have a i7 930 myself and it's basically the end of the line for that socket.

I wouldn't buy that unless you get it for less than $225 AND have no intention of upgrading again for at least a few years.

I would probably only go LGA1155 or LGA2011 right now.
You'd be surprised what you could get that would totally outperform that for not much more money.

I just built a PC for a friend a couple days ago that's actually still sitting on my desk.
Here's the core components, to compare to what you're looking at on CL, for $360 shipped

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131773 - Mobo $133
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 - CPU - $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220569 - 8GB DDR3 - $37

It easily outpaces the older i7 9x0 series and it would embarrass your Q series.

If you're only looking to replace your mobo, cpu and ram, you can't beat the value in what I linked.


Edit:
If you're skeptical this is a quote from this article "And the $190 Core i5-2400 dominates the sub-$200 landscape without challenge".
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html (Written Jan 30th 2012)

[RS-LoveOfProfit]

Yeah I have i7 920. Running OC'd since day one at 3.6ghz. Aftermarket cooler of course.

[RS-Dolph]

My 930 has been running 3.52GHz since day one also.

[Rom]

Hmm, thanks Dolph. Makes sense in all kinds of ways.

So the set up you posted is somewhat future proof?


I guess I can wait a bit.

Thing is, the Q9550 can still hold its own. LGA 775 CPUs are to ship even in 2012. Looking at some benchmarks, it's not that bad, but in others it may lagg a bit.

I ordered a GTX 260 Ti, with the extra cores, and OC, for a good price;l so we'll see how that goes.


Thanks everyone!

PS: OMG I've been looking at DDR3, and it's ridiculous how cheap it is!!! Flood!

[RS-Dolph]

Rom: Should I buy this for $300?

Me: No, buy this.  It's much better and only $60 more than what you were willing to spend on an older, slower architecture.

Rom: Yeah, my stuff's still pretty good in my eyes.  I'll wait.


WTF.



More info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html

Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitechture is undeniably fast. Test data suggests that the Core i5-2400 can stand toe-to-toe with Core i7-900-series processors when it comes to gaming performance. We're not talking about the entry-level models, either. This affordable processor has the chops to compete with Intel's thousand-dollar Extreme Edition chips.

As great as the Core i5-700-series chips are, the Core i5-2000 processors hit the afterburners and fly right by. Plus, the LGA 1156 interface is essentially dead, so it seems silly to sink any money into it at this point.

They're saying that the socket AFTER 1366 is dead...

[Rom]

Haha, sorry mang. I wasn't clear. I was having issues parting with $300, and $360 makes it that much harder. That GPU was quite a bit; I will wait til it gets here, and see if that can get things to a level I'm good with.

I appreciate your posts. Definitely made me OK with passing that CL deal.

The whole thing was a bit of an impulse - glad I asked for opinions.


I'm really not gaming enough to justify financially, etc. for now.  I got that GPU because I was tired of just having such shitty graphics in my sim.
That said, if the GPU alone doesn't do it, I may buckle :D 

Basically, I dunno wtf I'm gonna decide yet. But again, appreciated!


PS: And then there's shruew's stuff...

PPS: Hmm, this is interesting as well. Shows different CPUs paired with one card, or SLI. The Q9550 shows up (S version, but same shit in terms of speed, etc). I think this may be useful to a few of you.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-gaming,2403-3.html

[RSshruew]

Rom, if you find a good deal that works for you grab it.  I'm not upgrading like in the next couple weeks.  It's something I'd like to do sometime this year.  But, I need to wait for LGA2011 stuff to become more readily available (and cheaper) before I do. 

[Rom]

Ok, cool, thanks!  Dibs!  lol