Q9400, Q9550 or i7 920

i am getting a computer for a graduation present. i am not going to build one myself and i am not going to overclock. i am looking at an HP computer now all systems right now i can upgrade to 6 gb of ram and a 640 gb hard drive, also i am going to get a gts 250 as my graphics card. i will be running simple applications such as word and such but mainly i want it to be good for games. now i cant really find out which processor i should get out of those 3 (Q9400 2.66, Q9500 2.83 or i7 920 2.66) also i dont know how big of a difference are between theQ9400 and Q9550 to spend another $100. so can you help me, and keep it simple please.

if you want it good for games get the Q9400 and put more money into your graphics card GTS250 is a good card but you could snag probly a GTX275 with another 100$

if you want it good for games get the Q9400 and put more money into your graphics card GTS250 is a good card but you could snag probly a GTX275 with another 100$

mechwarrior_bob

Exactly this, buy a cheaper processor and get a bigger video card

i would get the best processor you can now because you can always install a newer graphic card in the future

[QUOTE="mechwarrior_bob"]

if you want it good for games get the Q9400 and put more money into your graphics card GTS250 is a good card but you could snag probly a GTX275 with another 100$

Exactly this, buy a cheaper processor and get a bigger video card

go i7

any more help would be great :? :)

if they are only chargeing $10 more for an i7 then thats a no brainer.

ok these are my specs just to let you guys know (dont have much more money to spend now)

- i7 920 2.66 ghz

- 6 gb DDR3-1066 mhz

- 640 gb HDD

- 1 gb NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

- 21.5 in. full hd monitor

- Blu-ray player & light scribe supermultiDVD burner

+ printer w/ ink and cables. and speakers and keyboard and mouse. all at $1353.95

Nice system but ull need a 64 bit operating system to utilise all that RAM. The GTS250 is a good card, its the same as a 9800GTX+ which i own. Chris_53

I would get an i7 or a phenom II 955 because they are both based on a new and upgradable platform. LGA 775 has pretty much gone to its limit. Also, don't get a gts 250, the 4850 is quite a bit cheaper now on newegg and is just as good.

I would get an i7 or a phenom II 955 because they are both based on a new and upgradable platform. LGA 775 has pretty much gone to its limit. Also, don't get a gts 250, the 4850 is quite a bit cheaper now on newegg and is just as good.

goleafsguy