Q9550 vs. i7-920

[aevm]

The first config (with the i7 and the gaming video card) is worth a lot more than the second one (with the Q9550 and the home-theater video card).
That is, at those prices, and no other choices being available, I'd definitely go for the first option.

The problem is that the second config is very overpriced. You can build it with parts from Newegg for much less.

LOL, here I am quoting my own post to say I was an a$$ Nope, it's not very overpriced. I had forgotten to factor in the case, PSU and motherboard. It's actually a good price, all things considered.

 

[CrossfireSL600]

Wait a second, don't discount your earlier remarks so fast LOL. The prices I gave DO NOT include the monitor. So now you must look at it as $400-$500 more than building it myself. Again, I don't mind spending this money given my inexperience and lack of knowledge on how to build a system.

 

[geofelt]

Wait a second, don't discount your earlier remarks so fast LOL. The prices I gave DO NOT include the monitor. So now you must look at it as $400-$500 more than building it myself. Again, I don't mind spending this money given my inexperience and lack of knowledge on how to build a system.

If you know enough to ask these questions, you know enough to build it yourself.

If your use is for gaming, spend first on the vga card. A GTX280 or similar will run any game out there very well. A cpu capable of 3.0 or better will drive it appropriately.

The i7 920 at 2.66 will also do the job because it is faster, clock for clock, and can speed up some with turbo boost. All before any overclocking. The added price of the 940 is very steep for the small gain. If your game is multicore optimized, and CPU intensive, like FSX or supreme commander, The i7 with hiperthreading will shine.

Spend any savings on a very good monitor. You will be looking at it for several generations of PS.

Building it yourself, you still get the manufacturer's warranty.
You will get no pre-installed "bloatware"
Support from these forums is probably just as good as from Dell.

 

[ati7]

Antec 900 Black ATX Mid Tower..$109.99
GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 X58 Motherboard..$288.99
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Quad-Core..$294.99
G.SKILL PI 6GB(3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600..$249.99
Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA..$74.99
SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R Burner SATA Model..$27.99
HIS ATI HD4870 1GB 256bit video card..$224.99
CORSAIR ATX 12v 850W Power Supply..$139.99
Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit..$99.99

Total..$1,511.91 newegg.

minus keyboard mouse monitor.

 

[idic5]

what about a difference of $145 (for a 920 over a 9550) - we are now in mid '09, and the cost gap is closer between the two processors - is the I7 920 worht an extra 145 to a user of video editing applications?

 

[cjl]

I wouldn't be so quick to eliminate the older quads from consideration (or the Phenom II, for that matter). You can get a good 775 motherboard for fairly cheap, and the Q9550 is still $70 cheaper than a 920, give or take. That's a hell of a deal, considering how well the 9550 tends to overclock (~3.7-3.8GHz). Now, it won't keep up with i7, but it doesn't have to with that price advantage.

 

[saltyorange]

I am having the same video-editing question (i7 920 vs Core 2 Quad Q9550 or 9650). My camcorder uses AVCHD and software like Pinnacle Studio and Sony Vegas both seem to require a pretty beefy machine. I certainly do not want to buy a new computer and not have it powerful enough to edit the HD video I am taking.

 

[Wisecracker]

I am having the same video-editing question (i7 920 vs Core 2 Quad Q9550 or 9650). My camcorder uses AVCHD and software like Pinnacle Studio and Sony Vegas both seem to require a pretty beefy machine. I certainly do not want to buy a new computer and not have it powerful enough to edit the HD video I am taking.

Sony Vegas tends to favor AMD - not so sure about Pinnacle Studio. An i7 920 would be great but a Phenom with a nice little bump will get some work done

BUT your 'best practice' with AVCHD would be to minimize any conversion of the footage (which I believe is possible with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 and Vegas Pro 8 and up). You should be able to edit and output without a complete encode.

Any added menus, 'transitions' or 'effects' would be processed and encoded at output.

From Anand:

(Hint Hint 😛 )