Upgrading on LGA775: Q9650 or Xeon mods?

[belgian93]

So yeah, as the title says..

I currently have an E8400 running at 4.0GHz 24/7 OC, on a Gigabyte P45-UD3P.
The dual core is just not cutting it for me, some newer games are crying for a few extra cores it seems. Also general multitasking is becoming more difficult.
The E8400 was a great chip, but now I am looking for a quad core.

As I am a student, I'm pretty short on budget. Of course if i really want to improve my rig. I'd spend a couple of hundreds on a new mobo and a 4th gen i5/i7. But as I said, money is the issue (also just bought a new gpu) So I am looking to get myself the best cpu possible on my current mobo.

When browsing Intel's Ark website, the best (non-extreme) cpu for me would be the Q9650. 3GHz/12M Cache/1333 MHz FSB. Looking around for second hand Q9650's, brings me little luck. Browsing ebay delivers chips over 100$/€ which I think would not be worth it (or maybe?).
While searching the webs, alot of people advertise modded E5450's as being better than Q9650, fitting the LGA775. At first I'm not to sure about this little mod, messing with bios that much to get it to work. So I need some advice, please.

I have a few questions:
- Is the LGA 771 to 775 mod, trustworthy? stability wise, can the adapter 'break'?
- Overclocking wise, will they overclock (pretty much) the same? they have different TDP, max temp
- If I'd go with a 771 cpu, would there be any other chip that would even be better? for example the X5492 or so?

So confused about this mod... Please assist, are there any guys with experience on this mod?

Regards,
Alex

 

[Saif Uv]

Dont go for this modding . q9650 is one of the top of the line quad cores for LGA 775 socket. Dont try modding or anything because you may destroy your motherboard.And only modding i`ve heard of is from core 2 extreme LGA 771 to LGA 775[i dont know about e5450]. Even if you succeed modding core 2 extreme qx9770 or anything i dont believe that there would be difference in performance . So go for the safer and better option i.e q9650

 

[Saif Uv]

And i doubt that a Xeon processor is overclockable.

 

[GhislainG]

Depending on your GPU, a CPU upgrade may not provide as much improvement as you expect.

The Xeon doesn't need an adapter; it needs a couple modifications to pins and the socket has to be modified: http://www.overclock.net/t/1431723/mod-lga775-support-for-lga771-xeon-cpus You may also need a modded BIOS.

 

[belgian93]

Not a vast difference in games from q6600 to q9650 and the q6600 is cheap. It also overclocks in the region of FIFTY PERCENT! Though at stock clocks the 9650 is 30% faster they fetch a lot of money. I would not invest in a pricey cpu for that platform; better to pick up the G0 stepping q6600 and clock it to the hilt.
You would get a lot more performance per $..

Hmm this one looks interesting indeed, would Q6700 do better, this fella has a multiplier of 10 😱
Also very noobish question, the FSB spec given with many cpu's in case of Q9650 being 1333 MHz (same as my E8400). what does it mean exactly, is it the maximum front side bus speed for this processor? Why would fsb ever get so high?
I'm asking cuz the Q6700/6600 has 1033 MHz FSB

I've found a Q6700 for 62 Euros atm, and looks good. Easy clocking to 4.0Ghz?

 

[belgian93]

And i doubt that a Xeon processor is overclockable.

QX9770 is a LGA775 cpu?
No, the mod actually lets you put in LGA771 Xeon's in your LGA775 socket.
And I get you, don't mess with the mobo you might break it, just get a Q9650..
But they are so damn hard to find, and they are also alot more expensive than the Xeon version.
Which are basically the same if you look up Q9650/E5450.
Just have to pay attention I get the right E0 stepping E5450.

As tea urchin said, don't spend more than 50 on this little project.. E5450 go for less than 50!!
And only way for me to do that is probably to go with the Xeon E5450 and get Q9650 performance.
Or go with a LGA775 native and lower my demand of specs.

So for you who haven't seen the mod: http://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/

So let's wrap up some pros and cons of modding the E5450 to LGA775 socket:
Pro's:
- Cheap
- Same specs as Q9650
- Availability

Con's:
- Small chance of damaging the socket while modding
- Probably harder to overclock (max temp is also lower)
- Bios troubles, might need to add Xeon microcode to bios for it to work

So yeah, what do you think?

 

[GhislainG]

Go for it; just make sure you don't damage the socket.

 

[belgian93]

I would say if you have to flash the bios dont bother.
If you dont need to flash the bios,hell yeah, I would take the xeon,they are only £30 in the u.k.

Well first step in the modding is: update to latest BIOS... ugh
I never flashed my BIOS before, but I'll make sure to do my research for sure.
How dangerous is it really, what can go so wrong it reall fucks up my system.
My mobo also has dual bios, so if flashing main bios would fail i think it will still boot but on the reserve bios?

 

[GhislainG]

I would say if you have to flash the bios dont bother.
If you dont need to flash the bios,hell yeah, I would take the xeon,they are only £30 in the u.k.

I haven't found a definitive answer if the BIOS supports it without adding the Xeon microcode and I'm not yet ready to test it on my motherboard.

 

[belgian93]

I would say if you have to flash the bios dont bother.
If you dont need to flash the bios,hell yeah, I would take the xeon,they are only £30 in the u.k.

I haven't found a definitive answer if the BIOS supports it without adding the Xeon microcode and I'm not yet ready to test it on my motherboard.

My current mobo supports all LGA775 processors, I've looked up Q9650 and E5450 and they have pretty much same instruction sets it seems. So I might not even be needed to add microcodes to bios.

I think I will flash my BIOS now, and hope for the best

 

[GhislainG]

Let us know if it works fine.

 

[belgian93]

Might have already found myself an E5450 E0 stepping nearby.
Also looking for an extra set of DDR2 to get to 8GB total
If anyone has this kit: khx6400d2llk2/4g I'm interested

 

[lynx1021]

I have the Gigabyte P43T-ES3G and I upgraded from a E8400 to a modified Xeon X5472 120 Watt 1600Mhz bus that was already modified and even had notches cut on the chip board so it dropped right in to my 775 socket . Wish I had researched it more and got the E5472 80 Watt model so it would run cooler. Put a CM 212 Evo on it, 40C idle , 60C max load . found the Xeon here http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Intel-Xeon-Works-on-775/1856202_503262747.html
Make sure it says "NO NEED Adapter" unless you want to do the mod your self.

 

[azraaell]

And i doubt that a Xeon processor is overclockable.

You can clock the bejesus out of them , the multiplayer on my x5470 goes from 6 to 60. Mine at 4gz and rising

 

[azraaell]

X5470 xeon12mb cache, I got one for about £50, it's in 790I ultra well worth it. I upgraded from a q9400, overclocks very very well