Customer Reviews

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9550 2.83GHz 1333MHz 12 MB LGA775 EM64T CPU BX80569Q9550

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This processor is excellent. I have it overclocked to 3.4ghz on standard voltage thanks to a small fsb bump. I have it watercooled and it never exceeds 50c even with heavy use. I have had a million (exaggeration obviously) programs open and running and have never seen this processor utilized more than 50-60%.

This is still by far the best bang for buck processor you can get.
Out the box its at 2.8 so which is more than enough to run pretty much anything faster than any Dual core, yes even the E8400 4Ghz.

The Core is easily overclockable to 3.5Ghz at which point it becomes a whole new level of awesomeness, it'll handle any game like Crysis and run them with no problems or hiccups.

I use my processor mainly for console emulation, to put things into perspective i was running a 4Ghz E8400 and the Q9 clocks out 60fps solid where the E8400 would clock 40-55 unstable.

Testing this versus the i7, the gains from the i7 are negligable as they clock the same times with any programs on the market right now, so dont bother going i7 when till much much later.

Q9 is the processor for you.

Wonderful that the i7 has arrived - prices for this great processor, the Q9550, are dropping. This is one amazing processor. I might be the best judge because I went from a Pentium 4 3GHz to this quad core at 2.83GHz. I just haven't been able to get this processor to peg at 100% usage on all four cores yet. The number of programs I can run at once is incredible. Where I would wait and wait on the old P4, software has loaded and done it's work already.

The stock cooler is really good. It comes pre coated with thermal compound. It's the newer round cooler with decent sized fins. Inside my Antec P182 the processor under load ran 35 degrees C, within 30 seconds of that load dropped off, it was down to idle no load 25 degrees C. I'd say the cooler is working rather well.

Have read that this processor overclocks really well. I have not tried my hand at that yet.

Works great with Vista 64, an Asus P5Q Pro, OCZ 1066 4Gb of memory, and a BFG 8800GT OC.

Glad I spent the money on this one. When the i7 motherboards get less expensive, this processor will be obsolete. Until then, I'm computing really fast.

At $250 it's still a good option to upgrade your older C2D, especially a 65nm part like an E6850 or lower.

I got mine to replace an E8600 C2D I had overclocked at 4ghz. With this quad overclocked to 4ghz it's a nice new level. Paid $200 at the time which is a fairer price. I went from C2D/4gb to C2Quad/8gb for not too much dough and won't need a new PC for another few years.

Took a bit of tweaking to get stable 4ghz 1.38v overclock (Gigabyte EP45-UD3P and 8gb G.Skill ddr2 1066). Using Noctua NH-U12P cooler. Very happy now that I have it dialed in. System is quiet and fast.

Runs great, stays below 60C. 8800GT screams. No CPU bottleneck here. MW2 runs smooth at 1900x1080 maxed out graphics. I sold my GTX280 and don't really miss it, now that I have this cpu to push the 8800GT.

buy an aftermarket cooler if you overclock beyond 3.4ghz (which is easy at stock voltages).

Most people won't need to overclock though.

Make sure your motherboard is good with the 45nm CPU's. Just because it's socket 775 doesn't mean it will work.

If I were doing a new budget build I'd probably choose the i5-750 or a Phenom X4 on AM3 platform.

I have been used to an older Intel 550 with 4GB of DDR2. This Quad runs circles around it. I have it clocked a 3.2GHz and it runs stable with stock volts. This chip is less than the Q9450 and it's faster so, don't buy the slow one thinking the price is less than a faster model. Best bang for your dollar is the E8400 or the Q9550. Love it!

I beat up my CPU regularly because it can take it. This is the most beastly thing I've ever purchased for my computer and it is well worth it. I burn discs regularly and it's considered a bad thing to run any programs whilst burning a disc, but with a processor as beastly as this one you can run just about anything you want while burning a disc without the disc failing. Granted, I have 4 gigabytes of RAM to accompany it, which might make all the difference.

Burn discs, extract/pack .rars, play video games, browse Firefox with 50+ tabs, and play music all at the same time--do whatever you want with this thing. It can take it.

THIS CPU IS BY FAR THE BEST I'VE OWED. IT IS OFF THE START A GREAT PIECE OF INNOVATIVE TECH. ITS RATED @ 2.83 BUT OF COURSE NOW A DAYS THATS DOESNT STAY THE SAME FOR LONG. SO TO SATISFY MY NEED TO KNOW I OC'D IT TO 4.19 GHZ AS A TEST AND THE DARN THING IS STILL RUNNING UNDER 70C UNDER 100% EVGA FOLDING@HOME LOAD, THEN AGAIN A GOOD CPU COOLER IS WHAT MAKES THE CAKE. I WILL SAY THAT IFFFF YOU ARE LOOKING INTO SOMETHING GOOD AND NOT HAVE TO PAY YOUR WHOLE MONTHS WORTH SALARY THIS IS DEFINITELY A GREAT CPU. WOULD I RECOMEND IT? YES!

The chip I received has the E0 Stepping.

This chip is a huge improvement over my e8400 that was overclocked to 3.6 ghz. The difference is immediate in games like GTA4 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 where the games are optimized to run on more than 2 cores. By upgrading to this chip, I've been able to alleviate the bottleneck on my GTX 470 SLI setup. If you have a good motherboard and don't feel like doing a complete overhaul on a system that is still awesome for gaming - buying one of these processors is still a GREAT option.

I currently run BFBC2 1920x1080 with only 1 overclocked GTX 470 (my sli bridge is broken) and I get, on average 50 - 60 frames per second with all settings Maxed (AA, Anisotropic Filtering, etc).

I have my processor overclocked OCCT / Prime95 Stable at 3.825 ghz - (1800 FSB in Bios)

My current system:

EVGA 750i SLI FTW Motherboard
Q9550 @ 3.825
4 GB OCZ DDR 2 1066 @ 5-5-5-15 (1064mhz)
MSI Twin Frozer GTX 470 (soon to be SLI once my new EVGA bridge comes in)
850 Watt Corsair Power supply

My specs in Bios for achieving this overclock with stability:

Vcore: 1.368 (In CPU-Z)
FSB: 1.40

Max temperatures after 2 hours of OCCT stress test are not any higher than 63 degrees on any one core. The average temperature is 58.9. I use an Arctic Freezer II cooler with Arctic Silver Paste.

Both the Voltage and the Temp's that I am seeing are within the "safe-zone" by Intel.

Bottom line...games still have dual core listed as "recommended setups" for the most part. If you don't have any video encoding or other super serious needs beyond gaming requiring the absolute fastest processor around - this chip is amazing. I plan on using it for the next couple years. Once games start recommending pure quad cores, I'll jump to the next platform with hyperthreading...until then - I'm definitely not budging from LGA 775.

I have had a Q9550 for 10 months and used it in a variety of applications. This thing just handles stuff without choking. I mean, there are easy ways you can freeze it up; but for any typical home or work users, there is nothing to worry about when you are operating your computer.
This thing also runs cool at 50c when 100% and room temp when idle, with an average aftermarket cooler. A typical 45nm 95w quad core. Gorgeous 12m L2 cache. Clocked to 3.6g at stock voltage.
Price wise, $289 is too much. Even in early 2009 there were deals for less than $250 and at some point it was a little over $200, making its performance/price ratio almost perfect.
Compared to i7/5, I think the reason (if any) that would make you choose the newer generation is not the performance of the CPU themselves but other consideration in terms of the whole system. In many cases Q9550/9650 are hardly out-performed by their class.

This thing is extremely quick. I just wish there was more 64bit software so I could use it to it's full potential.