Hopefully in the next few weeks I will embark on an epic journey to build a new PC. However, I've come to a fork in the road. You see: A fork in the road. There is a sign post with two signs on it. One points to the north road and say 'Intel'. The other points down the NE road and says 'AMD'. I was wondering if there is any really difference between the two. I've noticed AMD is consistantly cheaper, but I've used Pentiums all my life and been pleased with their performance. Any help would be appreciated, it's kind of a big decision (motherboard choice comes to mind)
Computer Buildan: Intel vs. AMD
- Thread starter M-26-7
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I assume you'll be using this for gaming, so GPU's are probably relevant as well.
I'd venture a guess that AMD coupled with ATI or Intel coupled with nVidia is the real question you should be asking.
I can't help you much though. I've never used AMD and the last ATI card I had was a x700.
I'd venture a guess that AMD coupled with ATI or Intel coupled with nVidia is the real question you should be asking.
I can't help you much though. I've never used AMD and the last ATI card I had was a x700.
Paul_cz
Mildly Dipped
If I was building new PC now, I would go with Intel (at least quadcore 6600, but more likely the 9xxx series...) and ATI (4700 512MB). But the new nVidia GTX 260 (216sp) is good too.So here you can choose whatever and the choice will be good.
But when it comes to processors, Intel is the way to go now (and that comes from someone who prefers AMD...but their processors unfortunately suck now).
But when it comes to processors, Intel is the way to go now (and that comes from someone who prefers AMD...but their processors unfortunately suck now).
TheWesDude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
intel is faster/more powerful
amd is cheaper
depends on how much you are willing to spend in the cpu area for your performance
amd is cheaper
depends on how much you are willing to spend in the cpu area for your performance
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I've been thinking about building a PC as well and this was the same advice I got. I believe that AMD owns ATI so they mesh really well together but that nVidia tends to work better (some slightly, some notably) with games because of being developed on their cards or something like that. I'm planning on making my next computer a AMD-ATI myself, simply because, last time I checked, I could save a few hundred dollars on a system with the same specs. I'm no expert or guru, that's just what I was advised and what I saw.PlanHex said:
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll probably go with Pentium just because I'm pretty loyal to them and they seem to make the highest quality processors. But do you really think Quad Core is worth it? It certainly future proofing, but isn't anything even optimized for four cores yet?
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
UncannyGarlic said:
ATI and AMD don't "work better together". You won't get higher performance by combining and AMD cpu and ATI gpu.
Oh, and the reason Nvidia trumps ATI at gaming is because ATI's drivers are trash, and have been getting progressively worse.
Paul_cz
Mildly Dipped
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude said:
Agreed, there is no difference between amd processor + ati card and intel processor + ati card , other than having lower performance with AMD because their processors suck now.
Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude said:
Don't agree, because it is not true. I have ATi for 4 years, I update my drivers every month, and the only game I remember having problems is Mass Effect where I had to disable Depth of Field to have sharp picture. Every other game runs flawlessly.On the other hand, nVidia has mostly good drivers as well.
Intel still rules the desktop market.
AMD has a nice entry coming up, but it doesn't look like it'll totally defeat Intel.
AMD has a nice entry coming up, but it doesn't look like it'll totally defeat Intel.
I keep having driver crashes for my nVidia card in Source games for some driver versions, so it's not like nVidia's drivers are flawless either.
agris
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
I'm going to toss my hat into the ATI ring. I use a 4850 and get good framerates in fo3 with almost everything cranked up to max at 1280x1024 on an OC'd AMD Opteron @ 2.6ghz.
I can't really complain about ATI's drivers because I've rarely had an issue with them. But I play older games most often, so I guess my experience probably doesn't help you. For the CPU I would say Intel all the way, and depending on the games you want to play (and settings) consult anandtech.com's graphics card reviews and see if ATI or nVidia is doing the best for your games of choice. The Gamebryo engine (oblivion, fo3) is nvidia optimized, along with assassin's creed and some others; while GRID, and a lot of other games run slightly faster on the 4xxx series of ATI cards than the nVidia offerings. If you're going multi card I would say nVidia, but the 4870x2 is a beast and doesn't have the crossfire problems.
hope that helps!
I can't really complain about ATI's drivers because I've rarely had an issue with them. But I play older games most often, so I guess my experience probably doesn't help you. For the CPU I would say Intel all the way, and depending on the games you want to play (and settings) consult anandtech.com's graphics card reviews and see if ATI or nVidia is doing the best for your games of choice. The Gamebryo engine (oblivion, fo3) is nvidia optimized, along with assassin's creed and some others; while GRID, and a lot of other games run slightly faster on the 4xxx series of ATI cards than the nVidia offerings. If you're going multi card I would say nVidia, but the 4870x2 is a beast and doesn't have the crossfire problems.
hope that helps!
Rev. Layle
A Smooth-Skin
While the CPU can be a bottleneck - even if you get X2 2.5+ Ghz CPU from AMD, it will serve you well for gaming IMNSHO. Graphic cards however.... ahh that a whole discussion in its own right.
Personally, CPU/GPU affinity seems to be a non-issue as it really doesn't make much of a difference.
Personally, CPU/GPU affinity seems to be a non-issue as it really doesn't make much of a difference.
The 4850 is great value for money. At the resolution most people are playing at (1280x1024 is very common), most of the latest cards like the 4850 can max out pretty much any game. It's only when you want to max Crysis, ArmA, or STALKER: SoC that you run into trouble with these cards. Crysis is just a freakish monster of a game. I remember FEAR in 2005 and Oblivion in 2006 were real tough tests, but Crysis is like the big brother or those two, but on a daily cocktail of HGH and Anabolic Steroids.