Hardware GEEKS: need advice on new cpu
 

I have a q9300 in this machine. (2.5 gighz quad)

I was thinking about upgrading to q9650

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

question will I notice that much of a speed increase from the q9300?

Also, If I decide to go with an i7.

Intel Core i7 860 Processor - 2.80GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, Lynnfield, Retail

is it much different in speed than the q9650?

What should I upgrade too if at all.

You might with the i7, but it's hard to tell. It would be greatly dependent on what you're doing on your machine on all the time.

Personally, I would upgrade to a Xenon. Because Xenon's are Intel's best processor line. I would always start with a dual quad-core Xenon processors.

do you mean xeon?

xenon is a cpu used in xbox 360

The unnamed CPU is the Q9650. They only had the 9100 not the 9300 so I used that one for comparison.

Tom's Hardware - Benchmark SiSoftware Sandra 2009 SP3 Cryptography

Any particular reason you want to upgrade?

cpu speed alone, with such a small gap in upgrade will hardly make a diffference. Ram is key

Fris...

If you're going to be editing 1080p videos, I recommend the Core i7. It means the difference between being able to get it done, or not being able to get it done. :2 cents:

I work with the 920 processor. It's $9 more expensive from NewEgg, and consumes 130 watts versus 95 for the 860 variety. I believe this translates to a bit better performance.

For me, 6gigs of memory has been mostly fine... but I have run the machine out of memory stitching together massive 200+megapixel panoramas. :) That's the one situation where I wished I had more memory.