AMD vs. Intel, beyond value and performance

[markanini]

I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade my s478 system to a current AMD or Intel system.

As a poor student I want to keep my expenses down so AMD is a bit more interesting as they are simply cheaper systems. But I'm not sure what I'd lose in stability and otherwise going with AMD, as nVidia seems to have a habit of unleashing unfinished products to the public. Intel makes their own chipsets and they obviously work fine.

I'm not into overclocking and SLI is no of interest for me.

Are other chipset manufacturers even worth considering for keeping prices down?

I'm looking for any information on what AMD and Intel have to offer that the other doesn't besides value and performance. I already looked in to the topic of power consumption, and as both offer 65nm and 65W it doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[m25]

I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade my s478 system to a current AMD or Intel system.

As a poor student I want to keep my expenses down so AMD is a bit more interesting as they are simply cheaper systems. But I'm not sure what I'd lose in stability and otherwise going with AMD, as nVidia seems to have a habit of unleashing unfinished products to the public. Intel makes their own chipsets and they obviously work fine.

I'm not into overclocking and SLI is no of interest for me.

Are other chipset manufacturers even worth considering for keeping prices down?

I'm looking for any information on what AMD and Intel have to offer that the other doesn't besides value and performance. I already looked in to the topic of power consumption, and as both offer 65nm and 65W it doesn't seem to matter much.

Staying on the cheap side you've got VIA chipsest. The K8M890 series makes the cheapest AM2 motherboards and it has even integrated graphics. If you don't overclock at all, there's not that much difference between the best and the worst chipset there is, really. Staying on the AM2, after a $50-60 board, an AM2 X2 3800+ is around $125 now, a good starting option.
.. the only problem is if you start to like overclocking; that's how I found myself cursed with an excellent CPU and a motherboard that won't let it go from 1.8GHz to 2.8

 

[markanini]

I guess I should mention that I intend to use my upgraded system as a DAW.

So my plan is to get a future safe system with PCIe, Dual channel DDR2 and NCQ, which means that I wouldn't save that much money on AM2 atleast compared to a 945P conroe board.

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

 

[CaptRobertApril]

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

1) Time machine
2) Rob a Fry's
3) Get an E4300. Killer CPU, amazing price. So cheap you can switch chips later.

 

[markanini]

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

1) Time machine
2) Rob a Fry's
3) Get an E4300. Killer CPU, amazing price. So cheap you can switch chips later.

Cool. I'll consider

 

[djplanet]

Don't mention Fry's, I'm still pissed they refuse to build one in my city of 1/2 million people. Otherwise, I like the way you think.

 

[endyen]

The e4300 will arrive next month. It's projected price tag of $163 seems a little steep though.

 

[BaronMatrix]

I guess I should mention that I intend to use my upgraded system as a DAW.

So my plan is to get a future safe system with PCIe, Dual channel DDR2 and NCQ, which means that I wouldn't save that much money on AM2 atleast compared to a 945P conroe board.

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

I'm using a Turion X2 laptop for my DAW (SOnar) and it does 8 simultaneous 24bit96 tracks with FX, so a 3800+ will do a little better (not that you'd really need it to).

 

[markanini]

I guess I should mention that I intend to use my upgraded system as a DAW.

So my plan is to get a future safe system with PCIe, Dual channel DDR2 and NCQ, which means that I wouldn't save that much money on AM2 atleast compared to a 945P conroe board.

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

I'm using a Turion X2 laptop for my DAW (SOnar) and it does 8 simultaneous 24bit96 tracks with FX, so a 3800+ will do a little better (not that you'd really need it to).

Cool!


How about integrated graphics? Any disadvantages?

 

[shinigamiX]

But I'm not sure what I'd lose in stability and otherwise going with AMD, as nVidia seems to have a habit of unleashing unfinished products to the public.

Stability is not a worry. Unstable CPUs are a thing of the past.

 

[r0x0r]

How about integrated graphics? Any disadvantages?

If you try to run something more graphically intensive than a spreadsheet you system will hate you.

I hear that a company called Palit makes excellent video cards (which, I hear, overclock very well on stock coolers) at an excellent price.

 

[halbhh]

I recommend read the "Rules of Thumb for Great Performance at Low Prices" post in the hardware--Homebuilt forum. It should tell you a couple of things worth considering. While it's more for people spending above $800, the principles are still useful for cheaper systems.

 

[epsilon84]

I guess I should mention that I intend to use my upgraded system as a DAW.

So my plan is to get a future safe system with PCIe, Dual channel DDR2 and NCQ, which means that I wouldn't save that much money on AM2 atleast compared to a 945P conroe board.

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

Yeah --- get the board you want, or better yet the 965 FOXConn is a good option, cheap, nice feature set.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2898

Wait until first or second week in January when the E4300's are released (as cheap as the 3800+, within 15 bucks anyway -- but will run faster than a 3800+) and enjoy.... you can upgrade later after saving up some money to a higher class CPU and use the E4300 as a key chain.

Jack

Or just overclock the E4300 to 3GHz+.

 

[turpit]

I guess I should mention that I intend to use my upgraded system as a DAW.

So my plan is to get a future safe system with PCIe, Dual channel DDR2 and NCQ, which means that I wouldn't save that much money on AM2 atleast compared to a 945P conroe board.

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

Did anyone notice he said "future safe"?

AM2 is a great way to save money, but if you want "future safe" as you stated(there is no such thing) , AM2 may not be the best way to go. If you're OK upgrading to an AM2+ CPU just for higher clock speed down the road, AM2 is still a good choice, but if you want the added features AM2+ or AM3 will bring, It will mean a new mobo and RAM as well as the CPU.

It looks like you have to decide whats more important to you: If you want dirt cheap, AM2 is the best option, but youre going to forfit long term upgradability. If you want longevity/upgradeability over cheap, socket 775 will suit you better.

 

[halbhh]

*that* idea about am2+ and am3, is just the situation that the thread on am2 upgrades addresses.

As I just posted there, actually you can have your cake and eat it too, with a beautiful upgrade path, with low costs and nice upgrades!

You can transistion to an am3 board with 1 motherboard upgrade years from now, and never be really out of date.

You go from your current am2 chip to a quad am2+ drop-in upgrade, and eventually to an all am3 system, on the cheap, and easy upgrades, just 1 new motherboard in 3 years.

Suggest if you wish to discuss it, add the response to that thread.

 

[levicki]

It's not very good time for purchasing right now.

Cheaper CPUs are around the corner (this month already), board prices are likely to go down too and next generation low-end video cards are also about to surface soon so if I were you I would lay it off for a while.

Thinking of some minimum, 945 chipset will work fine, DDR2-667 4-4-4-12 will also work fine if you don't intend to overclock. I would skip on integrated graphics though because it really sucks compared to even the cheapest PCI-E card.

 

[Guest]

What is your budget?

 

[markanini]

The E4300 looks like an interesting option but looking at early prices it's too close to the E6300.

The cheapest discrete graphics cards use system RAM anyway and I wont be in need of good 3D performance. Would it still be a bad idea?

I haven't really thought so much about what kind of clock speed and latency I should aim at for memory.
This article shows that a conroe system wont benefit from DDR2-667 over DDR2-533 memory.
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=1965&articID=472
Whats the situation with AM2?

 

[epsilon84]

The E4300 looks like an interesting option but looking at early prices it's too close to the E6300.

The cheapest discrete graphics cards use system RAM anyway and I wont be in need of good 3D performance. Would it still be a bad idea?

I haven't really thought so much about what kind of clock speed and latency I should aim at for memory.
This article shows that a conroe system wont benefit from DDR2-667 over DDR2-533 memory.
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=4&artpage=1965&articID=472
Whats the situation with AM2?

Unfortunately AM2 does not perform well with DDR2-533. You need at least DDR2-667, or preferably DDR2-800, in order to get optimal performance from the platform.

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2800&p=7

C2D does benefit slightly from faster memory, but not to the extent of AM2.

If you are after performance on a budget then an E4300 with DDR2-533 (or heck, even DDR2-400 since it's an 800FSB chip) will be adequate if you don't intend to overclock. Then again, IMO it's kind of foolish (from an enthusiasts POV) to not overclock the E4300 because early samples have shown these chips can overclock to 3 - 3.5GHz on air cooling - that's a cool 80% overclock and puts it above the levels of a $1000 X6800 chip.

Of course, you'll require DDR2-667 if you intend to seriously overclock the E4300, although DDR2-533 will suffice for moderate sub 3GHz overclocks.

 

[markanini]

Cool, the smaller need for high cost memory balances the price for a C2D system even more.

 

[m25]

Not exactly, because, however you put it, you'd always be better with high quality RAM in mant cases.

 

[epsilon84]

Not exactly, because, however you put it, you'd always be better with high quality RAM in mant cases.

Why spend $100 more on RAM when the slower stuff is almost as fast?

 

[m25]

Yes, but it's not that price balancing, that's the same for an AMD system; it's a bit more sensitive to RAM but it's still peanuts.

 

[jjw]

Emphasis added:

I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade my s478 system to a current AMD or Intel system.

As a poor student I want to keep my expenses down so ...

Does your current system do the job at hand. Eating is much better for your spirit than a faster computer.

As for who is 'more stable' that will depend more upon the motherboard and other components than the CPU. The flaws in the nForce 3/4 based chipsets is what kept me from upgrading until now. (To the naysayers: Active Armor and IDE drivers)

As noted above you haven't mentioned your budget, but additionally what is your current processor clock? What kind of performance bump are you looking for?

 

[tmac]

Too bad Intels price cuts wont be until Q2 07 :roll:

Any suggestions?

1) Time machine
2) Rob a Fry's
3) Get an E4300. Killer CPU, amazing price. So cheap you can switch chips later.

You love your Big Boobs - an observation