AMD. Intel. Help me!

[ccd1]

This is honeslty too hard for me. Here's the situation.

Those AMD processors seem a lot more cheap then their Pentium counterparts, and according to benchmark testing, they preform equally as good (with their weird numbering system) as the Pentiums.

If it is the case that the AMD's are just as good and so much cheaper, why are Intel CPU's known as being "better" and are bought a lot more?

Which should I go for? I'm not really on a tight budget, but if I spend less on the CPU, I can spend more on RAM, HDD and RAID.

No links. Please no links. I've been looking at pages about this for months.

[JB007]

AMD Processors are more efficient because they do more work in a single clock cycle ( 9 IPC ). While P4 does ( 6 IPC ). Anyway, the negative thing about AMD Athlon XP is that it conducts more heat than P4. But if you have a good heatsink + good case this shouldn't be a problem.

I advice you to go with AMD Athlon XP w/Thoroughbred core and a KT333 based motherboard ( MSI KT3 Ultra here ).

[Jake Bunce]

i am partial to intel. the amd platform has crappy motherboards, and amd knows it. that's why they just implemented their new motherboard certification thing.

asus and intel, you can't go wrong. my new 2.53P4 system is a dream.

[JB007]

Well, ASUS and MSI ain't crappy
However, I do agree that the overall stability goes for Intel.

[iBlaze]

well..

I have an Athlon XP 2000 , and with all the testing, questions, and comparing i've been doing, before I bought it, came out that the Athlon 1800 ran better than the Pentium 4 2.0 gig processor..

So I went higher and got the 2000

I'll say go with the ADM Athlon... Its better , Techtv says so also

[JamesUS]

I would definitely go for the Intel. My curent PC has a P4 1.6GHz, but I had little choice as it's a laptop and I was only happy with certain manufacturers, none of whom used AMD processors. If I was getting a normal computer, I would have gone with an AMD.

Intel have the reputation that AMD do not have yet. It's like IBM - you can't really go far wrong by using them.

However, when you think about it, your choice of processor will make virtually no difference to your computer. When I got this laptop a few months ago, I was upgrading from an AMD Athlon 800MHz - but despite having double the megahertz and being an entirely new class of processor, I can barely notice the difference in my day-to-day work. In reality, both AMD and Intel make great processors and either will be just fine for pretty much whatever you care to throw at it.

[rylin]

Originally posted by JamesUS
It's like IBM - you can't really go far wrong by using them.

I have a bunch of IBM HD's.. wanna buy them?
thought not

[filburt1]

Intel: reliable
AMD: cheaper and usually overclocked (by end-users, of course) making it unreliable. Also requires a hefty power supply.

[Radon3k]

Originally posted by filburt1
Intel: reliable
AMD: cheaper and usually overclocked (by end-users, of course) making it unreliable. Also requires a hefty power supply.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you over-clock it, then it's your choice and you assume the risks that go with it. AMD's are great for over clocking..I have an AMD Athlon XP 1900+ right now and I'm just waiting for the AMD Athlon XP 2800+ to come out and I'll get that along with a new mobo and some more RAM.

I prefer AMD's over Intel. I haven't had an Intel since I had a PIII 733MHz. The only thing that's lacking with AMD is the fact that they are a bit behind in processors, however, they are starting to catch up...

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...4_3734,00.html

[JamesUS]

Originally posted by okidoki
I have a bunch of IBM HD's.. wanna buy them?
thought not

True, but they still have the reputation like Intel - a corporate IT department would buy IBM being confident that they've just bought some fairly reliable kit that is likely to still work in a couple of years and likely to still have a decent support team at IBM to help if there are any problems.

While they have gone slightly wrong with their GXP hard drives, and they're not my personal choice for any computing items at all (I always go with Dell for desktops, Sony for laptops and Compaq/HP for PDA's), they still have the reputation that they built up years ago.

Even lots of computing novices know the term 'Intel', but I'd be surprised if many know 'AMD'.

Having said that though, my personal choice still rests firmly with AMD

[filburt1]

Originally posted by JamesUS
Even lots of computing novices know the term 'Intel', but I'd be surprised if many know 'AMD'.

Right: the n00bs say I have a Pentium 4 so I can send e-mail, surf teh intarweb, edit my photos, and listen to MP3s...all at once!

[ccd1]

Okay, so I should have no trouble if I go for an Athlon with a good cooling system? If I don't overclock or anything, should I not expect to see problems with my processor frying, etc?

Seems like it's all about reputation? Well, there's a reason why I only by Sony electronics (except for sound systems where I use Bose and maybe Nakamichi)

I've been looking around, and it seems that Intel likes to make extra bucks by integrating LAN, Sound and Video on their chipset (which is bad for me since I like to replace components a lot on Linux). AMD seems to have a lot more just "plain" motherboards.

My newest laptop (getting it soon) will have a Transmeta processor. It's a Fujitsu The laptop I'm currently on has a P4 1.4 GHz and my server has an AMD K-6 at 450 MHz (but I didn't put that one together).

Thanks.

[JamesUS]

If you don't overclock your Athlon you'll be absolutely fine. To be safe, don't get the cheapest heatsink and fan - but the fact that you're not overclocking means you'll most likely be fine with all fans. I think AMD either make or 'approve' certain fans so see if you can get one of those.

[filburt1]

At last check they also approved power supplies so you might want to get an AMD-certified one.

[Jake Bunce]

i have an Antec TruPower 420W PSU. there are many positive reviews about the TruPower PSUs. i like mine fine... it's very heavy too which is usually the sign of quality in a PSU i am told.