Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz Review

Good Points
Blisteringly fast, easy to install the cpu.

Bad Points
Hot, Hot, Hot. It runs REALLY hot! I didnt like the way the intel fan and heatsink are attached to the motherboard.

General Comments
Yesterday I built my first PC for years and years. In fact the last machine I built was so long it used a 233mhz AMD CPU!



I loved the socket 775 method of attaching the CPU to the motherboard, but I found the intel CPU heatsink and fan a little fiddly to install, I hate having to press down hard onto a motherboard that cost me 130 pounds!



I built the machine and after updating the Asus motherboard bios so it would accept the CPU I thought all was well. I was wrong! After an hour or so of running the machine would cut out. I went into the bios and checked the CPU temp, it was running at 78 degrees!

I went out and bought some thermal paste, scraped all the intel thermal goop from the CPU and heatsink, spread the new thermal paste on the cpu and reinstalled the fan. I then checked the temp and it was runing at a far cooler 52 degrees, not perfect but much better.



To sum it all up the performance of the four 2.8 CPUs was amazing, but ensure that your CPU cooling is top notch, or you are going to get problems.