purchase?
 
Going to purchase one of these 2 HP desktop computers this week at Circuit City and would like to know what everyone thinks would be the better machine?
 
 
HP Pavilion Desktop PC (A1730N)  
 
•AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
•320GB hard drive
•LightScribe-enabled •2GB of DDR2 memory
•Burns DVDs and CDs
•Windows Vista Home Premium  
 
Or
 
HP Pavilion Media Center Desktop PC (A1740N)  
 
•Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
•320GB hard drive
•LightScribe-enabled •2GB of DDR2 memory
•Burns DVDs and CDs
•Windows Vista Home Premium  
 
Having trouble deciding between the AMD or Intel machine.
 
Please give me your opinions as to which would be the better computer?
 
Thank You..

The E6300 machine will perform better in most any task.  Please uninstall all the bloatware the moment you get it...or even a clean install if you can...I'll sleep better.

Well, if (as it seems since you have chosen a HP), you're not interested in overclocking, those CPUs perform pretty much the same way so you can ask for further opinions, flip a coin or throw dice; whichever you get will make a robust home PC. I am sitting on a 4600+ clocked 4200+ and it feels like nothing before, especiallyy if you never had a dual core before

 
The AMD is listed at 2.4 GHz and the Intel is listed at 1.9GHz.
 
Will the Intel will still be faster then the 2.4 AMD?

I disagree.
The 4600+ will outperform the E6300 in most benchmarks and real-world apps.
The C2D are 20% faster in average, than the K8.  
1866MHz * 1.2 = 2239MHz
2400MHz > 2239MHz
 
Here is a list of Core2 Duo benchmarks, and a comparison of C2D vs K8:
AnandTech- http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] spx?i=2795
Bit Tech - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2 [...] ors/1.html
ByteSector - http://www.bytesector.com/data/bs-article.asp?id=661
Chile Hardware - http://www.chilehardware.com/modul [...] =200607131
Club IC - http://www.clubic.com/article-3635 [...] 2-duo.html
Computer Base - http://www.computerbase.de/artikel [...] eme_x6800/
Digit Life - http://www.digit-life.com/articles [...] e6600.html
Extreme Tech - http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 036,00.asp
Firing Squad - http://www.firingsquad.com/hardwar [...] rformance/
GD Hardware - http://www.gdhardware.com/hardware [...] 00/001.htm
GotFrag - http://hardware.gotfrag.com/portal/story/33492/
Guru3D - http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=185555
HardOCP - http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/arti [...] VzaWFzdA==
Hardware Secrets - http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/348
HardwareZone - http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/art [...] =2&id=1980
Hardware.fr - http://www.hardware.fr/articles/63 [...] i975x.html
Hexus - http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6184
Hot Hardware - http://www.hothardware.com/viewart [...] =845&cid=1
Legion Hardware - http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=569
Legit Reviews - http://www.legitreviews.com/article/362/1/
MadBox PC - http://www.madboxpc.com/contenido.php?id=2394
Mad Shrimps - http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=g [...] rticID=470
Maximo PC - http://www.maximopc.org/articulos/ [...] rte_1.html
NeoSeeker - http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/ [...] duo_e6700/
OCAU - http://www.overclockers.com.au/article.php?id=489587
OC Workbench - http://www.ocworkbench.com/2006/intel/core2duo/g1.htm
PC Perspective - http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=272
Phoronix - http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?p [...] =512&num=1
Planet X64 - http://www.planetx64.com/index.php [...] &Itemid=14
Sharky Extreme - http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardw [...] hp/3620036
Sim HQ - http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_090a.html
Tech Report - http://techreport.com/reviews/2006 [...] dex.x?pg=1
Tom's Hardware - http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/0 [...] athlon_64/
Trusted Reviews - http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=3161
TweakTown - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/923/
Xbit Labs - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/c [...] e6300.html
 
You'll find there E6300 vs 4600 benchmarks for sure. Also you can check out TG interactive CPU charts.

Well he could check toms hardware cpu chart but there is no 6300 on there. But I would suggest getting the 6300 machine as you can always upgrade it later.

Ajfink---Great suggestion.  When ever a friend or family member gets a name brand computer I always go through and get rid of all the crap that is running in the backround.

My opinion would be to get whichever is cheapest. The AMD one would probably be a bit faster in stock form. I've got a couple friends who own HP's, and so can say from experince that they are a pain to upgrade at best, and not upgradeable at all in many cases. Unless they've changed the way they design their BIOS, no overclocking is possible, so don't count on that helping the Intel psu..

 
Did you say toss a coin? Prepare for flames even though you're right.

Yeah.....the A64 will be faster in that case....as a plus side hps run cool and verrrry quiet....as long as the hard drive is not churning away....
 
also take into consideration the video difference....
 
and YES....uninstall all the extra stuff you get with it.....

If you look at it that way, you'll lose your mind when you see what gODJO recommended.      

No one's going to flame him... the two processors are very close, and overclocking is out of the question.  The system prices are probably identical, too.
 
The difference between right and wrong here is a matter of fact regarding what the benchmarks say.
 
Some will suggest to support the underdog and go with AMD when it's a close call, so that we have more balanced competition.  That's an opinion, of course.

I'd go for the cheaper since basically there's no way to really improve either machine's CPU performance.
 
From what I saw on Froggle - Curcuit City:
 
A1740N
 
Intel setup: 899
 
A1730N
 
Amd setup: 799

The AMD is cheaper this week (CC's website is showing $100 spread).
 
All things considered, $ talks, and performance wise neither unit is going to run away from the other.  IF performance is nearly the same (or within 10%) then cost versus performance must be considered at which point the AMD is a better bang for the lower buck.
 
So buy the AMD.
 
Or, better yet, buy the Intel and help the value of my mutual fund grow.

You can upgrade the 4600+ sAM2 machine also.

Bottom Line, which of these two processors is the better one?
 
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+  
 
or
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
 
What Ya Think?

I have two dell computers in my house. One just normal one used for email work etc.. since it was quiet I bought an XPS which is their top of the line gaming line computers.
 
If hp is anything like dell you'll find that you cannot upgrade the computer very much leading to you being forced to buying a new computer next time you wish to upgrade.
 
For cheap low end computers you can't bet Dell or HP but for around 900-1200 you can build one much better than what they offer for half of what they ask.

Overall, the 4600+ has a slight edge over the E6300 and potentially a longer and beter upgrade path with K10 CPUs to come.

 
Depends.
 
If your using the CPU on a MB that can not Over clock, the X2 4600+ is a better buy.
 
If your running a MB that has good OC'ing abilities, with the right parts, the E6300 can reach speeds of the E6800, or surpass FX60-62 performance.  Then the E6300 would be a better buy.

I'd recommend getting the C2D if you plan to upgrade down the road to say maybe a E6600 or 6700 once the price goes down.
 
And like the other said, HP (and all those guys) load a slew of "Craplets" I just ordered and setup one for a friend's mom and I'm suprised at the amount of crap they load up that's suppose to be a "Value added" service.
 
Who the F88K needs a link to ebay and vonage loaded on their system ? On boot I had 58 processes running, when a clean install of vista will have about 35-38. And I couldn't find anything worth keeping, so I removed it all.  
 
Here's a screenshotof a new HP system on boot. I don't hate HP or anything, as they all do it. I just want to kill the people in charge who somehow think this is a value added service.
 
On another side note, I just read an article by Alex St John in CPU magazine where he is hating on Microsoft and defending the OEMs who do this. Microsoft referred to it has loading crap