AMD vs Intel

[Displaced Flames fan]

Any serious quality concerns with AMD vs Intel? I've always shied away, but there are some nice prices right now that I'm considering pulling the trigger on.

AMD Phenom X4 9750 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 4MB) QUAD-CORE

vs

Intel® Pentium® dual-core E5200 (2MB L2, 2.5GHz, 800FSB)

Virtually the same price.

[photon]

No real difference in quality. AMD has lost the performance and heat crown to Intel in recent years, and while AMD is improving lately the Intel is probably a better bet for better performance overall.

If you heavily do things like video encoding, Photoshop, or other things that can leverage the additional 2 processors of the Phenom then the AMD might be a better buy, but it would have to be pretty significant.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by photon

No real difference in quality. AMD has lost the performance and heat crown to Intel in recent years, and while AMD is improving lately the Intel is probably a better bet for better performance overall.

If you heavily do things like video encoding, Photoshop, or other things that can leverage the additional 2 processors of the Phenom then the AMD might be a better buy, but it would have to be pretty significant.

Thanks Photon. Exactly the kind of information I was looking for. Much appreciated.

[sclitheroe]

Personally, at that price point, if you have the choice between dual or quad core, I'd go quad. The per-core performance is going to be close, almost certainly the Intel is going to be a little faster, but you are doubling up the number of cores.

I'm running a tri-core Phenom right now, and they are good solid CPU's. Maybe they run hotter, but really, we're talking about one computer in a house here, not a datacenter. I use the stock cooler, and the CPU never reports temps above 55-60 celsius.