AMD or Intel?

[ThePatriot]

Now, im not gonna post a poll because people have the habit of not posting any words because its easier to click and vote. Now the quesion is, which is your favorite? Also, which do you think is better?

I prefer AMD myself, and i think AMD is better, intel just increases their FSB and claims they have a new products, example...the new 2.53ghz p4 has a FSB of 533...

Also i have seen data showing that the 2.53ghz p4 only gets 10 more fps in games than the 1.73 ghz Athlon 2100+. The prices are a HUGE difference also, while the 2100+ ranges around maybe $160 per processor chip, the 2.53ghz p4 is something like $620 per chip. Just think, 800 mhz difference...10 fps more, also 350 dollar difference...10 fps....

[FeelTheRT]

Well if all your comparing is games, then AMD Athlon XP CPUs are the best. AMD believes that clock speed isn't everything. The AMD Athlon XP 2000+, which is really only 1.67 Ghz, smokes P4 at 2Ghz in gamming benchmarks. However if you look at benchmarks for applications, you'll notice P4 is king due to higher clock speed and FSB (depends on mobo).

[Miscue]

Clock for clock, AMDs are better. For some reason it seems like AMD is having a hard time kicking up their clock speed lately. It's getting to the point where Intels are outpacing the AMDs with sheer clockspeed. Intels also have a cache advantage, which is very important.

It's my advice not to stick to one or the other like a religion. If you got the money, a top end Intel is a great way to go. But I'd say the top AMD is a much better value.

[paintbattler]

i like Intel better. but i have an AMD right now and they run just as smoothe and fast as Intel...

[Blennidae]

Has AMD fixed their heat issues? I remember seeing a test on tomshardware.com where they removed the heatsink from an Athlon and it proceded to meltdown in a matter of seconds. The P4 just slowed down.

[Gotenks]

I've already had 2 motherboards capacitors melt.

But then again it was also a crappy motherboard :p

[FrAuStY]

AMD is for Gamers, Intel is for businesses.
AMD brought out their CPU's with 3d rendering (gaming) in mind. I will give it to them.. they are definately quick when it comes to pipelining and rendering vertices etc. BUT Intel will always be used by backbones of business i.e. servers/routers/workstations etc because (as mentioned by Miscue about the cache)of the large cache sizes ON the CPU this allows more of a buffer for the processor to work with when handling multiple tasks. I personally stand by intel as I do a lot of multitasking and ripping/burning while browsing etc. I've never had lag from my intel (PIII450 with 512K cache) like my bro gets on his 3x as fast AMD(1.6g) If he tried to have adobe photoshop, couple instances of I.E. plus burn a cd.. lol the CD comes out Garbled and missing parts, adobe sometimes will lock up etc. Its all about how much you NEED and how much you have to spend :D

[slateman]

AMD is better for gaming. The 3D Now technology is pretty slick. AMD is also cheaper, quite a bit cheaper when compared to a P4. Athlon's also have higher Cache Memory, a friinge benefit, but a useful one.
Intel is more for buisness. Mainly Linux, Oracle, Unix, and database management. It's also really good on dedicated server boxes (I can't remember the reason why). Intel's P4 take up a little less space than an Athlon does. Consequently, it's easier to put into a laptop.

My advice: Get an AMD Athlon. Their cheaper and better for gaming, which is probably what you really want to use it for anyway. Unless you feel like messing with Oracle 8.1a:D

[windigossak]

Well...depending on what you want to do on your PC/MAC, this is a toough question. Mostly:

A basic Processor...at home needs: intel
Gaming and Graphics: AMD
Word processing...Computing Power:intel

But then again...whether you use a windows operating System, versus a unix operating system can totally change things. Anyways...with windows its best to go with an Intel

even though prefer OS x over all...id still say intel unless you are constantly using gaming as the sole purpose of your computer

[Miscue]

Most reasons mentioned for going one side or the other are total BS reasons... but not important since it doesn't matter too much which path you choose. :)

[Hemlock86]

I have an AMD 1333... I like alot better then my Intel! Seems more reliable to me.

peace

[dave_p]

i thought the intels shined in the multimedia encoding area compared with amd. as for business apps, thats where amd made their inroads to the speed war starting with the k6II 400. amd is the better value for sure. i use both, like both. i bought my last box a year or so ago, an amd 1300. i bought it cuz it was cheaper than a p4 1500 that it also out benchmarked. thats the only reason. it was the better bang for the buck. its a dopey battle if you ask me, all the geeks on toms flaming eachother is just as sad as all the mag/cocker cocker/angel angel/impulse flame wars on pb nation. buy what suits your purposes and budget. forget the benchmarks, in a month you fall off the top of the heap anyhow.
hell, i have a pentium 2 266 with a voodoo2 that i use all the time still. the net is smooth and fast(cable), it still plays a few cool games does mp3's and all that crap. i run oracle 8i on it no problem. i can run the database, surf the web and have an open telnet session all at once!!!

[ICOM]

AMDS run faster then intel. Their bus speed is even faster. If you think amd clock speed is low just turn it up but make sure you don't turn it to far up or you will blow it.

[Tbone]

Originally posted by ICOM
AMDS run faster then intel. Their bus speed is even faster. If you think amd clock speed is low just turn it up but make sure you don't turn it to far up or you will blow it.

To the best of my knowledge P4's can hit a 533Mhz FSB while AMD only has the ability for 333Mhz.

[Havoc_online]

IMHO AMD is way more "user friendly" if your going to overclock it:)

I think AMD is under rated, intel sells more because ppl think a p4 2gig will crush an AMD 1.5gig which is not true. AMD chips have better overall performance to even faster intel chips.

[ICOM]

Only reason intel is more popular cause it gets ad. better.

[ThePatriot]

Well, not only that, but i would say at least 75% of America is computer uneducated, they buy brand name computers(Dell, compaq etc...) and those all have deals going with Intel. Most people never even use AMD products, they use a pentium or a celeron and figure it works so why try something new, plus to use an AMD most likely they would have to built it themselves or find a no name computer company to put it together for them. Most people dont want to risk that and stick with the big names.

[Tbone]

I run an XP 1700 and it rocks :)

[Mossman]

I've got a place in my heart for AMD.....But I think Intel is winning the race right now. The P4 1.6a chip with 512kb cache for 120 bucks is a frikken steal, they generally get to 1.9gigs or so. Also i think the new P4 mobos are more refined.

HOWEVER...When the hammer's come out (pretty soon i believe, but i'm not really up at tech stuff at the moment)
anyhow, when the hammers come out its gunna be all over! I think they tested a 700ish mhz clawhammer or one of the hammers against some 1.8ghz CPU's and they were about even, and the hammers are starting at 1.5ghz or so...

LOL, what a garble of insubstantial facts...lemme go study up :)

[clanger]

goto pricewatch.com and compare the prices of both processors and motherboards. Then open up your wallet and compare that to how much you have in there. If your willing to shell out extra money for a slight( and i mean slight benefit) then buy the northwood processors that intel makes. Otherwise buy an Amd, I recommend the duron :) because you can get a 1+ghz for under 60 bucks I believe!

[paintbattler]

is there any difference between AMD and Intel? i dont think there is much of one

[ThePatriot]

Those words you just spoke, where I come from, those words are considered heresy. YES there is a difference between the two, considering the Athlon 1.73 ghz beat out the 2.4 ghz @ 400 FSB in almost every test, however the new stupid 2.53ghz at 533 FSB beat out the Athlon, finally :( So yes, i would say there is a difference.

[zads27]

http://www.anandtech.com

I used to live here, but have fallen off the ball in recent months.

[mykroft]

Remember that while Intel's FSB is 533MHz, it's not as wide as AMD's FSB at 333MHz, so effective speed is about the same, or slightly biased to AMD on low-end chipsets,as Intels high-end, multibank chipsets are stupid fast.

Personally, on the Desktop, AMD is king, it owns, bang for buck wise. For music creation, go Intel or Mac, for Multimedia PowerMac G4 is king.

Server side, go Intel, for the much more stable chipsets, if you want real stability, Sun or Apple XServe is the way to go, x86 just will never be there, do to design kludges necessary to keep a 21 year old architecture running.