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Desktop processors comparison – Intel Quad Core Q8200 vs Q9400 vs Q9550

Name

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200 (4M Cache, 2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9550 (12M Cache, 2.83 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9400 (6M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)

Status

Launched

Launched

Launched

Launch Date

Q3’08

Q1’08

Q3’08

Embedded

 N

N

Y

Supplemental SKU

 N

N

N

Lithography

45 nm

45 nm

45 nm

Max TDP

95 W

95 W

95 W

1ku Bulk Budgetary Price

$163.00

$266.00

$213.00

Processor Number

Q8200

Q9550

Q9400

# of Cores

4

4

4

Clock Speed

2.33 GHz

2.83 GHz

2.66 GHz

Cache

4 MB L2 Cache

12 MB L2 Cache

6 MB L2 Cache

Bus Type

FSB

FSB

FSB

System Bus

1333 MHz

1333 MHz

1333 MHz

Instruction Set

64-bit

64-bit

64-bit

Core Voltage

0.8625V-1.237V

0.850v – 1.3625v

Intel® Demand Based Switching

N

N

N

Intel® Dynamic Speed Technology

N

N

N

Intel® 64

Y

Y

Y

Execute Disable Bit

Y

Y

Y

Halt State

Y

N

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology

N

N

N

Enhanced Intel® Speedstep Technology

Y

Y

Y

Intel® Trusted Execution Technology

N

Y

Y

Intel® VT-x

N

Y

Y

Package Specifications

Tcase

71.4°C

71.4°C

71.4°C

Package Size

37.5mm x 37.5mm

37.5mm x 37.5mm

37.5mm x 37.5mm

Die Size

164 mm2

214 mm2

164 mm2

# of Transistors

456 million

820 million

456 million

FSB Parity

N

Y

N

Sockets Supported

LGA775

LGA775

LGA775

Halogen Free Options Available

Y

Y

Y

The three processors Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550, are the three options most Desktop buyers would be looking to choose between (Sorry for the AMD users, we will come back to AMD comparison soon) if they are looking for Quad Cores. All these processors have four cores and are in the entry to mid level of the Quad Core segment (All in premium end of overall processors). Price wise all of them fall in medium to premium segment costing between $150-$260 on their own ( Rs 9000.00 to Rs 15000.00 INR )
The highlights of these three processors are they all follow 45nm architecture, 95W power consumption and all are supported in LGA775 socket. So you can choose your motherboard and decide between these three procesors. All these processors use 1333 MHZ System Bus.
The main difference is the processor speed at 2.33GHZ, 2.66GHz and 2.83 GHz respectively which isn’t a big difference for the cost. Other significant difference in terms of technical details is the Cache which is 4MB L2, 6MB L2 and 12 MB L2 for processors Intel® Core 2 Quad Processor Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550 respectively. But the performance improvement of the increased cache can be hardly felt as most hardware experts say beyond 2MB L2 cache the difference in performance is minimal.
When we check the performance of the processor as per CPU benchmark results the results are very much progressive.

See the price vs performance ratio of the Quad Core desktop processors here.

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Intel vs AMD – Desktop Quad Core Processors comparison – Price vs Performance ratio

 

The performance/Price ratio is the third column and the bigger the number means you are getting better value for your money.The AMD processors show a reasonably better value than Intel. Intel’s  Q8200 is a good value for money chip. These values are based on current retail prices  ( May 29 2009) in the assembled computer market.

Processor Name                             CPU Benchmark value     Performance/Price (bigger the better)

Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q9550 –          4179                                 – 0.28 (Performance / Price ratio , Bigger the better)
Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q9400 –          3643                                 – 0.29
Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q8200 –           3183                                 – 0.36
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 –                       1852                                  – 0.31
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (laptop) –      1699                                   – NA
Dual Core E5400 –                                     1606                                  – 0.47 (Best Performance/Price ratio)

To put things into perspective let me give some more common numbers

the top of the line laptop processor Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 has benchmark value of 1699.So its not giving half the performance of its desktop counterparts.

Now lets look at AMD lineup for reference

AMD Phenom X4 9650                       – 2615               – 0.39
AMD Phenom X4 9850                         – 2790             – 0.33
AMD Phenom X4 9950                      – 3016                – 0.35
AMD Phenom X4 920                         – 3290               – 0.31
AMD Phenom X4 940                         – 3788               – 0.35

The price vs Performance ratio comparisions show AMD X4 9650, AMD Phenom X4 9850 are doing good. But the best numbers are there for Intel Quad Core Q8200.