Which would be better AMD or Intel?

[Zankes]

AMD or Intel? I could possibly to get Phenomen 6x or Intel i5 4x, but dunno which would better.... For intel I would get the 2500k and not overlock it, but it's just 10 euro for the overlocking version, so it really doesn't matter

[AceHigh]

An answer to the question in your title, the answer is simple: Intel makes the best CPU's at the present time.

The question to which mid-range CPU you should get depends on many things. Hell, there may be several shops that have a sale right now after Christmas.

[pantywraith]

It depends on what you want to do with it, and how much you want to spend.

On the higher end, go intel if you have the cash. On the mid to low end AMD is competitive in certain cases. I really like the A-series apu's for basic use and gaming. If you need more that they can put out, you need to look to intel.

[nstgc]

Actually Intel holds the middle as well. Bar specific deals from the equation, unless you want something that just plays videos and acts as a word processor / email mechine, get an Intel.

[kitamesume]

simple answer:

Pentium sandy bridge or Llano or athlon II for the lower tier

i3 sandy bridge or phenom II for middle tier

i5 sandy bridge for middle-high tier

i7 sandy bridge for high tier

i7 sandy bridge [E] for enthusiast tier

Edit: actually intel holds all tiers =D

[nstgc]

Nah, I would still go with their APUs over Intels.

[pantywraith]

Depending on tasks, with Llano you can get 90% or better performance than anything intel has in it's price range for 2/3rds the cost. If you are playing games or doing anything video heavy and do not have the 800+ to get a i3 setup that is as good as Llano in video, then AMD is the way to go. You can get a very nice system for less than 600. 500 if you are willing to make a few compromises in quality components or overall speed.

[fohfoh]

IIRC, intel wins hands down. the issue lies that intel is in many prebuilts. However, if building from the ground up, then intel wins straight up, but AMD on price vs performance on occasion can match intel after an overclock.

[Freedom Kira]

AMD or Intel? I could possibly to get [Phenom] 6x or Intel i5 4x, but dunno which would better.... For intel I would get the 2500k and not overlock it, but it's just 10 euro for the overlocking version, so it really doesn't matter

For performance of a hex Phenom vs. a quad i5, the i5 wins pretty much everywhere, especially if you are looking at Sandy Bridge CPUs. Ivy Bridge CPUs (to be released early 2012) are expected to increase efficiency even further while keeping performance the same or slightly better.

There is no point in buying the K version of an Intel processor if you won't overclock (in fact, you lose out on Intel Virtualization Technology, which is included in the regular chip but not the K chip IIRC). A penny saved is a penny earned.

By the way, it's better to say x6 and x4 instead of 6x and 4x. The former refers to a core count, while the latter usually refers to a model range; i.e. 60-69 and 40-49.

[AnimeJanai]

Or you can say that all the performance after a certain point is "wasted" because at a certain point (which differs for each user of course), any extra speed is not noticeable.  Then, one could say that either AMD or Intel is good enough.  But really, the graphics card is the real bottleneck for most people playing games (not the CPU).

Exceptions are people that are going to continuously peg their CPU at 100% because they are grining 24/7 on those CPU (and electric power bill) distributed computing projects.  I wish distributed computing projects would also keep track of the COST of the project to planet earth by also allowing users to enter the approximate wattage used by the PC with the CPU at 100% as well as the kilowatt/hour cost of the electricity.  Then the cost for each user could be added to the running total cost of the project. 

Usopp:  Hey, this item A displays results in 0.000000000001 of a second!   But this this other thing gives results in 0.00000000001 of a second which is TEN TIMES faster!   These specs are great!  It's a big difference!

Nami:  Usopp, do you really notice the difference between 0.000000000001 seconds and 0.00000000001 seconds? 

Usopp:  ??
Luffy:  ??
Zoro: ??

Nami:   Okay, okay, it's one of those mystery things that they are more or less the same because they are both good enough.

Crew:  Yes!

Horo:  *reaches for item A*   That's an Apple product.  I prefer Apple products because they are premium and because I am Horo the Intelligent wolf.

Nami:  You mean sage wolf, don't you?
Horo:  *wrinkling her nose*  No, sage is a herb used for making sausages.

[nstgc]

I am disappointed Janai. You really think Apple products are 10 times faster? (a joke)

[kitamesume]

gonna hijack this a little bit, but not off-topic.

ivy bridge's release date is announced as april 08, at that date, that is until AMD comes up with a better counter, intel will have all fields covered from top to bottom.
to note, since i3-ivy bridge will be delayed slightly than the appointed date, the bottom will be covered by the price dropped sandy bridges. unless AMD thinks twice of halting the phenom II line and drop it's price by a ridiculous amount then we can still hope for a little "AMD" goodies to be a viable option.

imho performance/watt is the leading factor when performance is negligible, also does price/performance but since lower wattage = more savings then thats abit covered.

[nstgc]

I don't understand why AMD doesn't just shrink their Phonom chips circuits and sell those. They out preform the Bulldozer core. I understand that they are making the Bulldozer architecture because Intel patented everything else (according to Janai), but the desktop market doesn't need more than 4 cores at this time.

Also, I agree with Kitamesume that once ivy comes out, even the low end will go to Intel unless AMD can haul ass and put out something new and respectable fast.

[Lupin]

I don't understand why AMD doesn't just shrink their Phonom chips circuits and sell those. They out preform the Bulldozer core.

AMD squeezed out every bit of performance from the architecture in Llano. There's very little more to gain going forward with that architecture. Phenom 2 doesn't support the newer instructions (AVX, FMA, etc).

I understand that they are making the Bulldozer architecture because Intel patented everything else (according to Janai), but the desktop market doesn't need more than 4 cores at this time.

AMD owns the x86-64 license. Intel cannot build 64bit chips without it. AMD can implement most of the Intel instructions. So no, it's not because of the patents. They simply have to start from scratch. Also, bulldozer was designed for servers in mind, not desktops so more cores does matter.

[nstgc]

Even under server loads, Intel's current line out performs AMD's and with the added incentive of using less power/producing less heat.

[GoGeTa006]

yup, sadly intel started pwning AMD after core2

[metro.]

Performance = Intel

Otherwise = AMD


AMD isn't that much worse tbh, and quite a bit cheaper. But Intel is just on another level. If money is no object, get an Intel, but if you are on a budget, getting a comparable AMD chip isn't blasphemy. My sister runs an AMD and has had no problems with it, not lifespan or performance.

[nstgc]

I agree that currently AMD is better for low end desktops, but for laptops (at any end), servers, and supercomputers its Intel all the way. Once the Ivy bridge hits shelves, I can't imagine AMD holding on to even that. Their newest product falls short of Intel's which was released months before AMD's.

[per]

Nah, I would still go with their APUs over Intels.

For games, possibly, even though the CPU performance is too low for most games, but for movies/HTPC an i3 uses much less power and is more than good enough.

AMD isn't that much worse tbh, and quite a bit cheaper. But Intel is just on another level. If money is no object, get an Intel, but if you are on a budget, getting a comparable AMD chip isn't blasphemy.

Actually.. An AMD HTPC will use more power, and as such cost more per day.

In fact, if you do not turn it off when not in use the Intel i3 based one will be cheaper after about 250 days of idling.

[per]

Accidental post.. How to delete posts?