So, my uncle asked me while I was in San Francisco to do some research on a computer. He wanted a relatively powerful one to run some engineering software (for his profession), and I found a computer with the perfect specs and price for him. But, only one thing: AMD vs. Intel Obviously, Intel has a big reputation, but what is the real difference between these two that has to do with the price? I was assuming overclocking abilities, heating issues, etc. If it is overclocking and stuff like that, he isn't into all that stuff: he just wants a computer that is relatively cheap and nice(r) specs. Also, I had trouble deciding if the $100 difference would really be worth it here: $599 (3.0 GHz Processor, 8GB memory) Spoiler Processor & Memory: * AMD Phenom™ II X4 Processor 945 (3.0GHz) * AMD 780V / SB700 chipset * 8GB DDR2 SDRAM memory (4 x 2GB, shared) Drives: * 1TB (7,200RPM) SATA Hard Drive * 22x max DVD±RW optical drive * Front panel 19-in-1 multimedia card reader Graphics & Video: * Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 3100 graphics with DVI Communications: * 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Audio: * 8-channel capable audio with Jack Sensing Keyboard & Mouse: * ZT 104-Key Desktop Keyboard * ZT Optical Mouse Expandability (total bays): * 2 x 5.25" external (1 occupied) * 2 x 3.5" external (1 occupied) * 4 x 3.5" internal (1 occupied) * 1 x PCIe x16 * 1 x PCIe x1 * 2 x PCI Ports and Slots: * DVI port * VGA port (15-pin) * 6 x USB 2.0 * 2 x PS/2 * 6 in 1 Audio-out port * RJ-45 (LAN) Operating System & Software: * Microsoft® Windows 7 Premium - 64 bit * Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 (90-day trial) $499 (2.8 GHz Processor, 6GB memory) Spoiler Processor & Memory: * AMD Athlon™ II X2 Processor 240 (2.80GHz) * AMD 780V / SB700 chipset * 6GB DDR2 SDRAM memory (3 x 2GB, shared) Drives: * 1TB (7,200RPM) SATA Hard Drive * 22x max DVD±RW optical drive * Front panel 19-in-1 multimedia card reader Graphics & Video: * Integrated Radeon™ HD 3100 graphics Communications: * 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Audio: * 8-channel capable audio with Jack Sensing Keyboard & Mouse: * ZT 104-Key Desktop Keyboard * ZT Optical Mouse Expandability (total bays): * 2 x 5.25" external (1 occupied) * 2 x 3.5" external (1 occupied) * 4 x 3.5" internal (1 occupied) * 1 x PCIe x16 * 1 x PCIe x1 * 2 x PCI Ports and Slots: * DVI port * VGA port (15-pin) * 6 x USB 2.0 * 2 x PS/2 * 6 in 1 Audio-out port * RJ-45 (LAN) Operating System & Software: * Microsoft® Windows 7 Premium - 64 bit My two questions are: 1. AMD vs Intel: For a user that browses the internet and runs a high-demand (memory) application, how does AMD compare to Intel for him? 2. Is the $100 worth 2GB of memory and .2 GHz?
OKAY MENTIONING FIRST >_< I'm not an expert but I had at least 5-6 computers in my life. I'll say the difference between them isn't substantial. Though In my mind is a debate concerning this "engineering software" And to answer your questions : 1. I'd say Intel is the handles a bit more than AMD. 2. Not worth. But you need at least 4 opinions regarding this issue. I'm not an expert :tehe:
1. Great site for CPU benchmarks: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ (<- You can find other benchmarks there too) As you can see, Intel far outperforms AMD. Take a look at the numbers and make a decision for yourself. AMD computer are a lot cheaper (for both the CPU and mobo) but they don't perform as well for the same Ghz. 2. It's not a 0.2 Ghz difference. The first one is a quad-core while the second one is a dual-core. So in theory, the first one is over twice as fast as the second one. Of course, that's not true in practice. Applications don't necessarily scale well with more cores. But I would still get the 1st one over the 2nd. And if you look at that CPU benchmarking site, you'll see that the Phenom has a score twice that of the Athlon.