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difference between Q9550 and I7 920
So i want to upgrade my AMD 5600+ for a Quad Core, mostly because of GTA 4, as the processor is my bottleneck, it's on 98% load while my GPU is on 30% ( HD4870 1gb on 1920x1200)
But then i've heard that the i7's are really good gaming CPU's, the costs of both processors are €270 so i really need to know which one is best, and the thing i dont understand is the following
The Q9550 has: 2,8ghz, 2x 6144kb Cache, and 1333mhz Quadpumped (dont know what this is btw)
The i7 920 has: 2,66ghz, 4x 256kb Cache( pretty low?) and 4800 MT/s (dont know what this is btw) b
Also, i dont know how to overclock i know where i can do it, but never done it before. So how comes the Q9550 seems to have better specs then the i7 920 has, what makes the i7 a better gaming CPU i always hear people saying that if you buy a quad the Cache mb has to be 4 minimum, so i think that 2x6mb is quite awesome.
Comments
The Intel Core i7 is a better gaming processor on modern games. The difference in performance is typically around 1%. If you were getting intel don't bother with the Q9550, its an obsolete part both the competition and Intel have better parts for. The Core i7 920 is the way to go.
The L2 cache doesn't matter for a Core i7, it acts more like a L1 cache on its architecture and just passes the operation onto the shared L3 cache. Explaining the cache differences between a Core 2 Quad and Core i7 would take too long. Just know that using a Core 2 Quad makes poor use of its cache when it comes to n-core processing. Its highly redundant and wasteful.
With the i7 you'll pay about $100 more for the motherboard, I think, but the i7 is easily the better CPU. I'd say go AMD and get an X4 955 BE (AM3) with AM3 motherboard and save the cash but get similar performance.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
Alright, well i've been using AMD for a pretty long time, and i want to go Intel now, same like i want to go Nvidia next year mainly due to Nvidia and Intel getting more support ingame (like Crysis prefer Nvidia cards and such)
So what i will be buying is a
Intel i7-920 : €270, Corsair 6gb (3 pieces for Tri channel right?) €109, and a MSI X58 Pro (cheapest i've found, and it has 3 Pci-E slots, for three videocards) for €180