[Terryl]

I am looking at a new PC with Vista home premium. There are two types of processors AMD Athlon or Intel to choose from.
Is there anyone who has an experience of both ? I would be grateful for any feedback.
I know Intel is more expensive, so price is not the issue.
Thanks
Terryl

[nycmoonstar]

I only have experiences with Intel myself, but this debate of AMD vs Intel has been going on as long as they have coexisted and people cannot say which is better. It depends on who you ask, and to an extent, what you use it for as well, as some CPUs come attached on motherboards with onboard graphics cards.

If you want to use two NVidia graphics cards (instead of one) to do SLI, you need an AMD processor and AMD processor board, if you get an Intel processor with an Intel board then you could put two ATI Radeon for XFire. So, if you already have a video card and think there's a chance you wanna add a secondary video card on the same mothoerboard, then, the maker of the video card you have will determine your choice between AMD and Intel, though I think Intel i7 processors are compatible with both SLI of NVidia cards and XFire of ATI cards. Well, please check the details of this claim as it's been a while since I delt with this.

Some people are into overclocking so they go by the best overclocked speed for the buck at the moment.

[lawson_jl]

I have to make a correct what nycmoonstar said. SLI and ATI crossfire are motherboard dependent not CPU dependent. Meaning that both SLI and ATI crossfire will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs. A simple search on any online retailer will comfirm this.

The fact of the matter is that in a blind test it's impossible to tell AMD and Intel chips of the same speed apart. AMD chips of the same speed do tend to be cheaper then comparable Intel chips. This has more to do with the brand name then anything. Yes at some point someone has the best (i.e. fastest chip) but this changes monthly as new chips are released.

[nycmoonstar]

Yes, that's right Lawson, it depends on the motherboard, but since the motherboards are made for either Intel or AMD processors, whether you SLI (two or more NVidia GPUs) or XFire (two or mroe ATI GPUs) ends up being coupled with an AMD or Intel processor though there are exceptions (such as X58 boards with Intel i7 processors). Let's say you have an Nvidia card that is not great, not up to date, but not too bad, then, choosing an AMD processor (that gets on an SLI capable AMD motherboard) would give you the option to reuse the card, and add one more for SLI to get better / more up to date GPU performance, whereas if you get an Intel CPU, you can only use the NVidia card that you have (or buy a new one), and cannot add another in addition to the card for SLI beause there's no Intel mobo that has no onboard graphics and SLI ready...

Is that correct? Or am I wrong in assuming that there's not SLI compatible mobo that does not have an onboard graphics AND accepts Intel processors and vice verse??

[lawson_jl]

Both Nvidia and ATI now have hybrid versions of their SLI and XFire respectively. This allows you to purchase a mobo with built in graphics and then add graphics card later and run them together in SLI/XFire. For models of motherboards check the manufactures webpages.

I actually think this a really go way for graphics card manufactures to go. You want a system but really can't afford that $200 GPU right off hand, so you buy a system with on board grpahics (which aren't too bad now thanks to Vista) and get the add on card later when that hot new game comes out that your on board GPU can't handle. Plus as an added bonus you still get to keep the processing power of the on-board GPU and it to the add on card.

[nycmoonstar]

Originally Posted by lawson_jl

Both Nvidia and ATI now have hybrid versions of their SLI and XFire respectively. This allows you to purchase a mobo with built in graphics and then add graphics card later and run them together in SLI/XFire. For models of motherboards check the manufactures webpages.

I actually think this a really go way for graphics card manufactures to go. You want a system but really can't afford that $200 GPU right off hand, so you buy a system with on board grpahics (which aren't too bad now thanks to Vista) and get the add on card later when that hot new game comes out that your on board GPU can't handle. Plus as an added bonus you still get to keep the processing power of the on-board GPU and it to the add on card.

A good point, in general a mobo with onboard graphics is cheaper than a mobo plus an equivalent performance graphics. It makes financial sense to do it that way if you don't have a graphics card you want to recycle. I have seen SLI /Xfire ready boards with one graphics on board. When you choose those boards, the 2nd card you add, does it have to be a specific type / class whether it's Nvidia or AMD or you can couple pretty much anything you like with the onboard?

[Terryl]

Thanks guys for an interesting debate but I may not go down that line because I do not intend to change cards or motherboard in the future. Although the 22 inch screen is HD, I may play around with the video card. The PC's I am looking at are 64-bit.
Thanks
Terryl

[nycmoonstar]

Originally Posted by Terryl

Thanks guys for an interesting debate but I may not go down that line because I do not intend to change cards or motherboard in the future. Although the 22 inch screen is HD, I may play around with the video card. The PC's I am looking at are 64-bit.
Thanks
Terryl

In that case, and given the fact your question is simply AMD or Intel (as opposed to two specific models), I have to say it's up to your taste.... The newest and in general best processor among the enthusiasts, as of a couple of months ago, was Intel's i7 processor (the highest speed of i7).