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I was told by a salesperson at Best Buy to think of it as a Ford engine vs. a Chevy engine. Both will get you where you need to go and the average person could never tell the difference. That argument convinced me to go with AMD and it has been just fine.
Wait, a Best Buy salesperson gave you reasonable advice for your situation?
I am shocked there aren't Intel or AMD fanboys like there are PC and Mac ones.
Pleased to see most of you say "it really doesn't matter". Because it really doesn't. They are both excellent.
AMD's tend to be a tiny bit cheaper because they are trying to compete with Intel.
I think a lot of that has to do with how much smaller role the processor plays in a system nowadays. It's vital, but the end-game effect is much less than it used to be. Much more important is the system around it (MB), the memory, and the video system.
Hey, anybody remember Cyrix processors. A little squirrely, but cheap and pretty damn reliable.
I am shocked there aren't Intel or AMD fanboys like there are PC and Mac ones.
If the OP had posted that he needed to build the fastest possible H.264 encoding rig using the x264 encoder, I would have expressed a preference for one CPU vendor over the other. But it was clear the OP had much more modest performance requirements, so it really didn't matter.
I'm sure that within different price ranges one vendor or the other offers more bang for the buck, but the differences do not seem to be large these days.
Since you aren't a demanding user you should build your own computer with either an AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core or Intel i7 920 [faster]. Then you should get a video card that has dual DVI outputs so you can web browse on two 1920 x 1200 24" monitors like I do!
I think a lot of that has to do with how much smaller role the processor plays in a system nowadays. It's vital, but the end-game effect is much less than it used to be. Much more important is the system around it (MB), the memory, and the video system.
Hey, anybody remember Cyrix processors. A little squirrely, but cheap and pretty damn reliable.
You must be joking
No processor, no system. Everything else fails if the processor fails.
I am shocked there aren't Intel or AMD fanboys like there are PC and Mac ones.
Pleased to see most of you say "it really doesn't matter". Because it really doesn't. They are both excellent.
AMD's tend to be a tiny bit cheaper because they are trying to compete with Intel.
I call them "silent giants".
Both the companies rule the technology market. They are also mature in corporate affairs. Besides, they respect each other. It's more like they have their spheres of influence and have mutual respect.
The target audience for Intel and AMD always continues to remain. One will not be able to run the other out of business.
Even technology-wise, it's a totally different realm of engineering. They don't have to depend on marketing wars. They are needed for everything else to function.
That's not the case with pc makers.
Besides, pc makers have to suck up to the end users. Integrated Circuit companies just meet the pc makers and their job is done.
Back before the Core 2 Duo and Core i7 days AMD used to be faster than Intel. The X2 chips were faster and cheaper than Intel and AMD was grabbing market share as well as OEM accounts like Dell. Intel played dirty to survive by blacklisting sales to accounts that attempted to use AMD, and they did other dirty tricks. That's why AMD won a 1+ billion dollar settlement from Intel for unfair trade practices. But nowadays Intel clearly has the faster chips and upper end of the market, so they don't have to play dirty. AMD cpus are slower so AMD has to survive by being the "Bargain Buy."
Nowadays if you want a 6 core CPU you can get a $309 AMD one or the $1049 Intel 980X... I'm waiting till 2011 for cheaper Intel 6 cores to come out.
The Intel i7 Core 920 can be bought from MicroCenter for $179, and it would be better than any AMD processor in this price range.
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