Value AMD or Intel?

**roosta21** · May 22nd, 2008, 01:34 PM

I hope this thread will not be labeled as another "AMD vs. Intel"...I know that both of them make good chips and I am not looking for someone to say AMD or Intel is better.

I have decided to build another computer. I currently am running an AMD 3500 939 64 CPU. I have been really satisfied with its performance over the past 4 years. I am ready to build something that will allow me to play the latest games on high settings as well as some HD video editing. I will want it to last me 5-6 years. The first major decision I must make is if I am going to stay with AMD or go with Intel. I will probably start construction towards the end of the year. I want to stay close to 250.00 for a CPU. Are there any technologies coming out by the end of the year that I should consider? Please just bring me up to speed a little. I have been out the loop for quite a while.

Thanks for your patients and expertise,
Scott

**roosta21** · May 22nd, 2008, 06:55 PM

How does the Athlon 64 X2 compare to the newer Phenom x3 & x4? Just because the Phenom chips are tri and quad core does it mean that they are that much faster? I guess the Intel xeon is comparabel to the AMD x4? Are those the fastest chips on the market now days?

**RicheemxX** · May 22nd, 2008, 07:12 PM

To be completely honest I'm surprised you even need to ask this question. Just read several of the on going threads and you'll see the common trend. Intel current owns the market! AMD is holding on but when you compare two cpu's of the same price point the Intel offering is typically much better.

tom's cpu charts
PassMark CPU Benchmark Charts

For your second question its the same as any other dual vs quad discussion. There aren't a lot of quad care optimized programs out there. So a faster clocked dual core in many case will perform as well or better than a quad.

X3's IMO are marketing hype, you can get a better dual or even a better quad for the price.

The single fastest chip in terms of benchmarks right now is the QX97xx series from intel

**qrs321** · May 22nd, 2008, 07:51 PM

Intel "nehalm" quad core chips are supposed to come out 3rd quarter. I'm not sure the price of these but considering current budget intel quad cores are just over $200 they should fit in your budget

**roosta21** · May 22nd, 2008, 08:00 PM

yea yea, i just discovered that thread. I will be doing some on going research for the upcoming months but i guess i will learn more as i go. I would assum that the the xeon chips should fall below 200 bucks toward the end of the year?

Richeemxx please expand on your statment concerning "There aren't a lot of quad care optimized programs out there." Do you mean that windows in general or it varies from program to program and game to game?

**KarmaKiller** · May 22nd, 2008, 08:11 PM

It varies from game to game and program to program.

And I'm not sure if your realize, but Xeons are pretty much the same chips as some of the current Exxxx, and Qxxxx line.
Like the Xeon 3110, is the same as a E8400. Same core and all..

But Intel is the better way to go right now. They are gonna be dropping prices soon, and the new line is gonna be coming out like grs321 said, in Q3.
So since your not building for a while longer, just keep an eye out and watch the prices.

**RicheemxX** · May 22nd, 2008, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by roosta21

Richeemxx please expand on your statment concerning "There aren't a lot of quad care optimized programs out there." Do you mean that windows in general or it varies from program to program and game to game?

It varies from program to program, and yes game to game. There are only a few games out now that are capable of fully utilizing multiple cores. Now obviously everything down the line will (or should) utilize more than one core.

Karma beat me to it!

Intel Desktop Processor Price Cuts Coming Later This Year

**KarmaKiller** · May 22nd, 2008, 08:19 PM

Who's the ninja now?

**pullmyfoot** · May 26th, 2008, 06:34 AM

i am :P

**roosta21** · May 27th, 2008, 03:25 PM

I have been reading up quite a bit and both of these seem to be good value processors now. As well as comparable in price and performance?

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

**RicheemxX** · May 27th, 2008, 04:06 PM

They are fairly comparable yeah, but at the price point you'd almost be better off with the 8400 or, the q6600, which is what everyone would probably say to get. The 8400 would run a bit cooler and performance would be a little better in some areas. The 6400x2 would be the weakest of the 4.

Tom's charts showing the comparison

**pullmyfoot** · May 28th, 2008, 01:09 AM

go with an 8XXX series C2D. its much more efficient (stays much cooler and uses less power) and is faster too

**roosta21** · May 28th, 2008, 10:30 AM

I think i have about made my mind up on the E8400. I have read that it can be easily oc to 3.6 and for just under 200 bucks it is right in my budget.

**pullmyfoot** · May 28th, 2008, 10:36 AM

no with the right motherboard its easily OCable to 4Ghz

and if your lucky youl get all that without having to even touch the voltages

**roosta21** · May 28th, 2008, 10:48 AM

I cannot seem to find a good article that suggests several mb's for overclocking the E8400.

I found this article
Fransa :: tech - What's News - Overclocking e8400 Wolfdale :: how to reach 4.3Ghz with*air

They used this MB
Newegg.com - DFI BloodIron P35-T2RL LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

**FatalException** · May 30th, 2008, 02:14 PM

Personal story here... I was looking to upgrade from a 3-year old, very tired Pentium 4 3.0GHz with Hyperthreading. Saw a deal in the Fry's advertisement in the paper. $119 for an AMD 64-bit X2 5600+ chip with a decent ECS motherboard. Picked that up, splurged on the video card, got 4GB of RAM for about $50 from Fry's also, got a decent case and power supply, built a new system for $400-ish. I was thinking I was going to spend $800+ on a system that could play Crysis and others. It's not needed, though. The one place where I would say the X2 5600+ falls short is in video compression. When I'm converting my DivX files for use on my Zune, it takes a fair amount of time. I'm sure a faster CPU would kick up the speed a bit, but for the price, the deal was hard to pass up. The CPU alone STILL sells for about $120 on NewEgg and other sites... and I got the board "for free."

It's all about what you're looking for. You want to spend your $$$ on getting the latest screamer that will cost 50% less in 6 months, go for it. I find it's better to buy just a little behind the curve. Save money, and your system is still plenty fast. After all, nobody knows what's under the hood but you - and if it does what you want when you really tax the system, does it matter if the chip is made by Intel or AMD?

**roosta21** · May 30th, 2008, 03:07 PM

I want to build a pc that will last at least 4 years. I have put a spreadsheet together and believe that i can do it for around 1200 bucks. Which i consider fairly reasonable for a pc that will last for several years. However you do you do have a very good point if you are on a very tight budget. thanks for sharing...

**FatalException** · May 30th, 2008, 05:56 PM

If you work for a retail chain like Best Buy, you could also do the Intel RetailEdge program and get a chip + board + Vista for a huge discount. The program's only open to electronics store retail chain employees, though... and yes, they do ask you for proof in the form of a pay-stub to show you work there, so don't think about faking it. I used to work at a Best Buy - years ago - and that's how I originally got the P4 3.0GHz chip. It was top of the line at the time - so yes, a top-notch computer WILL last 3 or more years (mine did!)

You can check it out at Retail Edge

AMD used to have a similar program called RetailPro, but now they outsource it to some other company and all you can get through them are T-shirts and other AMD-logo stuff. No chips and boards.