go for the Intel Core 2 Quad 9400 or stick with my Phenom X4 9950?

my friend gave me his Core 2 Quad 9400. i'd like to use that but that means i have to buy a new mobo for it. so.. i would like to know your opinions if it's worth it and would i see a huge difference especially in gaming if i switch to C2Q9400 from my PhenomX4 9950. i'm gaming on 1440x900 btw since that's my lcd native res. so it's definitely low res :D

so. that's a no go for the c2q9400? i've spotted a $58 mobo that supports the processor btw (i live in singapore)

so. that's a no go for the c2q9400? i've spotted a $58 mobo that supports the processor btw (i live in singapore)

iamthe1ne

Well if you got it as a gift you can keep it or sell it, but changing 9950 BE to it is unnecessary. But if you can get a mobo for that price get it and keep both systems.

do you have a core 2 board? if not I would not recommend buying into a dead socket. The q9400 is significantly faster but will make no difference in games and not worth buying a dead socket for. If he has given you the board as well then it is worth the switch if not I'd sell it and keep your current cpu. imprezawrx500

no insulting the 775 socket they have given all of us intel folk a long and happy life and without them we would never have seen the megalith that was the pentium 4

[QUOTE="imprezawrx500"]do you have a core 2 board? if not I would not recommend buying into a dead socket. The q9400 is significantly faster but will make no difference in games and not worth buying a dead socket for. If he has given you the board as well then it is worth the switch if not I'd sell it and keep your current cpu. aura_enchanted

no insulting the 775 socket they have given all of us intel folk a long and happy life and without them we would never have seen the megalith that was the pentium 4

the core 2s were great, just not wise spending money on a platform that is now dead when he has something which is almost the same performance. imprezawrx500

This is sound advice. If you are going to upgrade at all, you should upgrade to something that has the potential for further upgrads in the future. An LGA775 mobo is not it regardless of how cheap you can get it.

If you really must upgrade you should sell the Q9400 sell your motherboard and upgrade to a AM3, LGA1156/LGA1366. Either an AMD/Intel upgrade path will give you fair performance boosts but the AMD route will be kinder to your wallet!

My personal opinion is that Intel offers a slightly better performance increase looking at the benchmarks, for a hefty fee, without factoring in OC'ing potential of AMD's Phenom II range of course, in which case Phenom II's can match them. There are issues with OC'ing as well though in that some apps/games don't like it but that's a whole other debate.

thanks for the replies guys. i think im gonna stick with my board and sell my phenom and the c2q9400 and buy a phenom2 since my mobo supports it