Building First Computer - Progress and Help Log

[Pinhas]

So the Q9300 is still out of stock, and im getting tired of waiting, so I decided to look into other CPU's.

What are you reccomendations? What is the difference between the Q9300 and Q9400 or Q9550.

here is the rest of my build:

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail


BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail


EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail


CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail


G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail


Update Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM


Acer X223Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail


SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM


Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler

Any suggestions on what I should do, I hear that the Q6600 are not that great and had a few bad batches, so il stay away from them.

Thanks

 

[hikaricloud]

Sounds like a solid build. The 9400 would be a nice bang for buck situation. I don't think you'd need the 9550 for the cost.

 

[Pinhas]

I found the Q9300 on tigerdirect, but they have 2 types, one of which is out of stock.


What is the difference between them

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor BX80580Q9300 - 2.50GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Yorkfield, Quad Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan at TigerDirect.com

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor EU80580PJ0606M - 2.50GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Yorkfield, Quad Core, OEM, Socket 775, Processor at TigerDirect.com

Also, can you expalin to me please the differences between the Q9300 and Q9400, i hear great things about the Q9300, is it worth waiting for a bit more or just go with the 9400?

Thanks

 

[hikaricloud]

Don't get either of those. The differences? Right now, the 9400 is cheaper. like, 223 on newegg? And the only other real difference is it has a slightly high multiplier than the 9300 I believe.

9400 is your guy.

 

[theorigamist]

I found the Q9300 on tigerdirect, but they have 2 types, one of which is out of stock.


What is the difference between them

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor BX80580Q9300 - 2.50GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Yorkfield, Quad Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan at TigerDirect.com

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor EU80580PJ0606M - 2.50GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Yorkfield, Quad Core, OEM, Socket 775, Processor at TigerDirect.com

Also, can you expalin to me please the differences between the Q9300 and Q9400, i hear great things about the Q9300, is it worth waiting for a bit more or just go with the 9400?

Thanks

1. The difference between the two items that you posted is that the first item is retail and the second is OEM. This means that the first comes with the normal 3-year warranty and included CPU fan, whereas the second item is just the processor with only a 1-year warranty. On Tigerdirect, I think they tend to charge about $10 extra for the retail version, and I think it's definitely worth it.

2. There are two differences, as far as I can tell, between the Q9300 and the Q9400. The first is that the Q9400 is faster (2.66GHz vs. 2.5GHz). The second is that the Q9300 costs more than the Q9400 ($245 vs. $230 on newegg). You should definitely get the Q9400.


Also, you seem to have chosen unnecessarily expensive RAM. Take advantage of frequent mail-in-rebate offers to get cheaper memory. Also take advantage of the motherboard you chose to get faster memory (your mobo supports 1066Mhz memory, whereas the memory you chose is only 800MHz). For example, these are $46 after MIR:

Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

And the same $80 gets you an extra 110GB of space with this hard drive:

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives