Desktops forum: Intel vs. AMD CPU in desktop: Does it matter?

Buy a decent AMD dual core and spend the saved $ on Ram,as it's dirt cheap these days.
I would avoid the new E series APU's,as their design is aimed at graphics as opposed to raw processing power.
I strongly disagree with the "generalization" that AMD uses more power and runs hotter.With my 20+ years of benchtech experience,I can say that some use less wattage and run cooler than their Intel counterparts.
In the case where they (AMD) do use more and run hotter,it is by design,and the proper cooling is in place to insure they run within acceptable operating temperatures.Don't be scared off by the whole power/heat concerns voiced here.
The links for the passmark/benchmark are of great help.Anything that benches over a grand will work just fine for your needs.
Lastely,why does almost everyone here seem to think that the i Series is the only chip Intel buids these days?
The Pentium B Series puts up some very respectable numbers.

I much preferred the days when Intel was the "standard" and then one had the choice of AMD or Cyrix pin-for-pin compatible CPUs. Once Intel pulled the stunt of "Proprietarization" of pin-out, meaning that board manufacturers had to produce two different boards depending on CPU choice (and Cyrix had disappeared), I felt cheated as a consumer.

Intel got a big kick in the teeth from me, when I built a highly specialized machine for an agricultural company: Intel CPU, Intel Motherboard, Intel Memory--all top of the line at the time. The machine wasn't worth a damn. It could only find half its memory (if lucky) and in the end the problem was resolved by replacements due to an inherent incompatibility between the memory and the CPU, and it was ALL Intel. Now if one company cannot produce its own compatible products, what does one expect when deliberate incompatibilities have been introduced by the pin-out?

Now that CPUs have meaningless names instead of comparison numbers, it makes it tougher to get even a simple machine together quickly. To me, "Celeron" when introduced meant "watered-down Pentium".

I think AMD is the more innovative of the two companies but, when it comes to the actual purchase of product, I now let the newer younger nerds advise me on the "best bang per buck".

I heartily agree with other posts suggesting that, "The more memory, the better."

My systems are a mix of Intel and AMD, and as I'm not a gamer, I don't perceive much of a difference between any two machines (except a certain NetBook that makes a TRS-80 model 1 look fast).

Note: I still have a genuine IBM AT (286) loaded with DOS 3.3 and Word 5.5 that does get used. Why power up a 600 Watt machine, or 100 Watt laptop when a 60 Watt DOS machine can keep up with 100+ words per minute?

I have been playing with and using AMD exclusively for about 12 years now, and cannot say anything negative about them. I get good performance and reliability from all the AMD's that I have had...from an old K6 up to my current Opteron Dual Quad's in my home server machine. I also use 2 stand alone machines both with AMD's as well. The only deviant that I have is an older Intel Pentium 3 that I received free from a friend, and I used that to build a home firewall/router with PfSense/BSD that also works remarkably well. So I would say that it really boils down to a matter of personal preference with respect to CPU choice, and if you watch your prices/choices, I think that they both pretty much would equal each other as rivals. It, of course, also depends on the use for your particular applications, but in my case my personal preference still is AMD.

Right now in this household we have 6 desktops and 4 laptops. It's split down the middle. One laptop is AMD (poor single core 2650e Athlon in an eMachines), the other three are Intel (Acer T4300, Acer i3-370M, Dell i7-620M). Two desktops are Intel (Acer i3-540, custom build i7-950), the other four are AMD (my Dell with Athlon II X4 630 and the three new Acer's with A6-3620's we bought today)

I could have just as easily bought the other $398 computers at Wal-Mart with the Pentium G630's in them. But the Acers with that A6 APU would have better graphics and use less power overall. So the kids got their new school computers powered by AMD Fusion.

If I could have spent my original budget of $600 on each computer today they would have been i5 Intels, no doubt at all. But spending $400 per desktop (I already had a brace of 20" LCD monitors I got on sale for $69 each last month, and I have a stack of wireless adapters and wireless mice and all that) saved me $600, $100 of that going to a nice i7-840QM processor for my wife's laptop and $150 for a 120GB SSD for my Acer laptop. The other $350 will be spent on gas, Gatorade, and t-shirts for Hot Rod Power Tour in June. WOOOOOOOO!!!!!

If you are an average user and you don't want to break the bank AMD probably wins on price. It's just a less expensive platform. However ... and I cannot emphasize this enough ... do your research on the rest of the system. I'd suggest educating yourself at places like Tomshardware and Newegg. Read not only the ratings at TH but the customer reviews at the 'egg. The 'egg is hands down the best place to build your PC.

http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/

Buy a good motherboard - build around that. Lots of memory - 6gb minimum. Ram is cheap, I'd recommend G-skill or Corsair although others are decent as well.

Multiple hard drives. The SSD (get one at least 100GB - anything less is too small) idea is good for speed but in any case having another place to store a RECENTLY UPDATED system image means even if you main boot drive goes kablooey you can restore quickly.

You can not have too much cooling - upgrade your cpu cooler from the stock one and get a case with plenty of ventilation (and keep it clean!!). Serious gamers are using liquid cooling systems but that is for people with lots of bucks.

For those who don't game but don't want to have to replace their systems often ...good gear generally means longevity.

Also, if you have a newer TV you can use it a monitor so your pc can sub as a movie player as well.

There are also TV tuner cards out there that will turn your pc into a TiVo unit and Windows 7 will allow you to share your recorded programs on pcs around the house.

Video cards - you don't need a killer one but at least 1gb of video ram is best. AMD video cards are slightly cheaper and a bit faster but less stable and the software has always been buggy as compared to Nvidia Geforce. If you are not gaming, don't buy anything that costs more than $150 [AMD (6850 or 7850) or an Nvidia (450,550,650) as you'll be wasting money on capability you don't need. Again research to find the most reliable brands.

Apevia Case
Core i7 920 DO CPU
Asus P6X58D Premium Motherboard
12GB G-skill DDR3 1600 RAM
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
OCZ Gamextreme 700 Watt PSU
OCZ Agility 2 128GB SSD
WD Caviar Black 640 GB and 1.5 TB HDD's
EVGA Geforce 560ti 1gb OC 900 MHZ GPU
Samsung and Acer 22" monitors
Happuage 2250 HDTV tuner
Samsung DVD
Windows 7 Home Premium

Get the Intel G530 dual core cpu for $50 or so and pair it with the most affordable but well rated board you can find from Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock then get the cheapest ram you can find from reliable names such as Kingston, Mushkin, G. Skill and Corsair. In terms of choosing a power supply look at Antec, Seasonic, and XFX (rebranded Seasonic that is at good prices quite often). A reliable psu is very important when building a pc.

Bottom line is that as soon as you mentioned Dell I cringed. Dell often has garbage parts and if you were ever looking to sell the computer it will not be as easily sold due to the limitations of some of the hardware inside. Also with computer built by yourself or assembled for you by a more user caring store you will get more for your money.

Honestly I build myself and I price match everything through a store called NCIX. They also have discounted shipping deals and they also have a point system where you can end up with shipping being entirely free. A very good company.

Most of their parts are proprietary and can't be used in another build and you do not get the best value for your money. If you think otherwise you obviously haven't been educated in pc hardware enough.

I work in investment banking where speed matters. In applications where processes are single threaded Intel scores much better. In the application testing I have been involved in Intel are up to 5 times quicker versus a comparable AMD equivalent. Single threaded processes occur in the execution of many complex mathematical equations which are not confined to mathematics but also is underlying in manipulation of graphics/video. It is in this area Intel score significantly better than AMD and therefore the preferred choice for the applications used in the companies I work for.

Rgds C.

I have an i7 bought in mid 2009 and it still runs all games at a decent solution. But if I didn't play any games and had chosen a Phenom II, I'm sure I'd be satisfied. After all, those are the machines I use for word processing at work and they are faster than the other basic Intel machines installed there.

as AMD has 64 bits processor and except Win7 other OS support only 32 bits

I've been in the computer business for more than 25 years now. I have installed and repaired and built many systems. Most home user are like you, i.e.; they have basic needs. They don't have large networked computers and are not gamers. Gamers basically drive the industry. Gamers need speed. They need speed for video processing, 3d, and very fast computer response times. New games come out all the time and they push the limits of technology.
You don't have a local area network and you are not a gamer and for this reason, you don't need such processing power. Basically any off-the-shelf computer with Intel or AMD will more than satisfy all your computing needs. So in my opinion, buy the cheapest one. Ignore the name brand, just buy any of them as they are all good. This wasn't always the case just a few years ago, but today, buy the cheapest!
Any that you find will have more processing power than you will ever need unless your needs change. Internet speed and response times will all be more than satisfactory.

Intel is better than AMD CPU, I build computer and in my travels i have found that AMD processor run very hot in comparison to Intel processor. The intel processor, if the CPU fan fails will shut down imidiately the AMD will not. I had a situation that when I finish a computer that i was buiding, on my final test the CPU fan disconected from the CPU and within seconds the CPU burned, this is because the AMD processor has to be torque down I belive that is about 15ft pound. if is not you can kiss it good bye, Not so with intel . I hope this is helpful.

Dear Mel,

A definite vote for AMD. But stay away from the Sempron series.

-CH

I have used Intel and AMD machines at work and at home for 30+ years. I also did equipment with embedded Intel and AMD micros. In my opinion there is mo difference in machine performance due to different manufacturers. So for me decision is based on what come with microprocessors.
I am a developer, so for me is important that AMD provides a free profiler for its micros. Also there is a lot of help in organization of cooperation between CPU and GPU. On other hand, intel has optimized math libraries.
But for general user only price is impotant. So I recommend AMD. Not any AMD machine. Choose good PC manufacturer. I prefer HP.

For all intensive purposes, there is no difference in performance; however, for a teckie, Intel is superior to AMD any day of the week. I say this, because if you follow releases of processors and motherboards, you find that AMD just matches Intel, it never exceeds it. Intel will put a faster CPU on the market. AMD eventually matches it, then Intel says, "Oh, by the way, we have a faster or better one!" and AMD is back trying to match Intel. they never beat Intel. You never hear Intel is trying to match AMD's new chip, the beat it! AMD cannot beat Intel because it lacks the financial clout Intel has. If your criteria is price, it's AMD all the way. If it's status, you want Intel. It's like Cadilac vs Chevy. Both look nice, peform nice and are even made by the same company, but Caddys carry status a Chevy can't get.