Technology Intel Vs. AMD

[harrypotter]

Hi all! I'm in the market for a new computer and upon visiting a bunch of stores, (Circuit City, Fry's, Best Buy, etc) many salespeople have recommended AMD over Intel. They told me that when programs switch over to 64 bit, AMD chips such as AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core, will run those programs faster than an Intel, which has yet to release a 64 chip.

Granted I am a total computer newbie so there is a pretty good chance I misunderstood the spiel above.

Experts, what are your thoughts?

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[deleted59964]

Hi all! I'm in the market for a new computer and upon visiting a bunch of stores, (Circuit City, Fry's, Best Buy, etc) many salespeople have recommended AMD over Intel. They told me that when programs switch over to 64 bit, AMD chips such as AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core, will run those programs faster than an Intel, which has yet to release a 64 chip.

Granted I am a total computer newbie so there is a pretty good chance I misunderstood the spiel above.

Experts, what are your thoughts?

the sales people are either trying to con you or are poorly informed themselves.

AMD has had the lead in the performance per dollar stakes for a while, but intel has just released a new line of products called core 2 duo. These smoke AMD, and for the forseeable future the pendulum has swung back in intels favor. Intels newest chips Core 2 duo, havent hit the shops in numbers yet - if you can hold off even for a month!

64 bit programs will offer modest gains in speed, and it will be a LONG time (longer than the life of a PC) before applications are mainly let alone exclusively 64bit. dont worry about 64 bit, oh and core 2 duo is 64 bit anyway

 

[tncekm]

the sales people are either trying to con you or are poorly informed themselves.

AMD has had the lead in the performance per dollar stakes for a while, but intel has just released a new line of products called core 2 duo. These smoke AMD, and for the forseeable future the pendulum has swung back in intels favor. Intels newest chips Core 2 duo, havent hit the shops in numbers yet - if you can hold off even for a month!

64 bit programs will offer modest gains in speed, and it will be a LONG time (longer than the life of a PC) before applications are mainly let alone exclusively 64bit. dont worry about 64 bit, oh and core 2 duo is 64 bit anyway

Ditto! However, if you're just looking for a basic word processing and internet comp, get whatever you can get for the lowest price. Just make sure its got a gig of ram and all of your applications will run great.

And, if you're getting a laptop, DEFINITELY go Intel! Ther performance and batter life always seem to be much better on comparable Intel chips than AMD.

 

[southerndoc]

A recent review suggsted that AMD handles 64-bit executions better than the new Intel Core 2 Duo chips.

Windows applications have yet to be written in 64-bit code. However, if you are a Macintosh user, the Mac OS X and many of its high-end programs are optimized for 64-bit and have been so for a few years now (since the introduction of the G5).

Finally, what do you plan to use the computer for? If you're into high-end games, then fine... but if you are just using it for word processing, email, and web surfing, then you don't need a superfast 64-bit chip. It's like if you need to get from city A to city B, you can do so in a car instead of a double decker turbo-charged bus.

 

[harrypotter]

Thank you all for your opinions! I so appreciate it. I'm not going to do anything fancy, but I like gizmos and can't help it when technology is involved. I suppose I'm just looking for a computer that could hold me through the next 5 years and the saleperson mentioned all programs changing to 64 bit, so that spooked me a bit.

Regarding the new Intel chip...

You know how the first cars off the assemly line tend to be buggy, are chips like that too?

Also, are there are any websites for newbies like me in plain ol language?

Gorgot one more thing, the salesperson was telling me that AMD uses to 64 bit chip things while Intel uses 2 32's so when running a program AMD will have a free 64. On the other hand, Intel will be using both its 32 and won't have anything left over. Is there any truth to that?

Thank you!

 

[southerndoc]

Both chips are now 64-bit (AMD and Intel's Core 2 Duo). Both chips come as a dual core chip. So both allocate workload between the two 64-bit CPU's.

However, very few programs -- especially on Windows -- have been written to take advantage of BOTH CPU's at the same time.

New CPU's don't tend to be buggy, but new computers adapting that technology can be buggy. I never buy the first generation of anything, whether it's a car or a computer. I'm a huge Mac fan (as most people on here know), but I haven't made the transition to a MacBook yet, and likely will not until the second generation comes out. The first ones have shown their own problems, as to be expected.

However, with PC's it's a little different. Macs are new to Intel chips, whereas PC's have been using them for years. So there are less bugs when changing chips in a PC than when changing CPU's in a Mac from a G5 to an Intel x86 architecture.

If you must have a computer, you must have a computer and cannot wait for the next generation to come out.

 

[deleted59964]

A recent review suggsted that AMD handles 64-bit executions better than the new Intel Core 2 Duo chips.
.

I'd be interested to see your source on that southerndoc. Not that 64bit apps are common or really worth swaying the OPs buying decision.

From what I've seen, core2duo is an awesome chip - I cant wait for one in a mac!

Here's some links with benchmarks for intels core2duo vs AMD



http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=14

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=5692&page=3


Of course all this is irrelevant if you just want something to take notes on

 

[southerndoc]

Not sure where I read that. Perhaps it was at Tom's Hardware or Sharky Extreme? I do not read anandtech.com anymore. Completely unreliable.

Please note that this was NOT about overall chip performance, but about handling 64-bit extensions. If I remember correctly, AMD handled it about 15% better than Intel chips.

 

[SRK85]

I have an AMD64 processor it works great. However I hear that the new Intel Core duos are better processors right now. AMD will probably release a new processor thats better than Intels. Gotta hate technology its only good for about 6months.

 

[southerndoc]

I have an AMD64 processor it works great. However I hear that the new Intel Core duos are better processors right now. AMD will probably release a new processor thats better than Intels. Gotta hate technology its only good for about 6months.

Most of us neither need 64-bit or need the speed of the new processors. For most of my computing needs, my computer is way overpowered. Most of what I do is surf the internet, listen to music, burn CD's, sync my iPod, get email, etc. For that, my computer is way too powerful for what I do.

For designing webpages, Photoshop work, and video editing, I can't get enough speed.

 

[deleted59964]

Most of us neither need 64-bit or need the speed of the new processors. For most of my computing needs, my computer is way overpowered. Most of what I do is surf the internet, listen to music, burn CD's, sync my iPod, get email, etc. For that, my computer is way too powerful for what I do.

For designing webpages, Photoshop work, and video editing, I can't get enough speed.

yeah i think that soon most people will no longer have a need for more speed in computers, just like top speed in a car is a pointless piece of information for 99.9999% of people.

People need to focus on what they can do with the computer, if the new model doesnt let you do something you couldnt do before - why upgrade. the mobile version of core2duo will have better battery life than the current core duo's - that will be a nice improvement. 10% more speed - bah who cares

 

[southerndoc]

yeah i think that soon most people will no longer have a need for more speed in computers, just like top speed in a car is a pointless piece of information for 99.9999% of people.

People need to focus on what they can do with the computer, if the new model doesnt let you do something you couldnt do before - why upgrade. the mobile version of core2duo will have better battery life than the current core duo's - that will be a nice improvement. 10% more speed - bah who cares

I wonder how much longer before we see 8-12 hour battery time out of computers?

 

[tncekm]

No kiddin...that'd be great!

 

[Audio]

I found a laptop that I LOVE but it has a AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core processor. This laptop is perfect in everyway (after I upgrade the memory). The price is also excellent and about $300 cheaper than the same exact laptop with a Intel Core Duo processor. I just want this laptop for school, downloading music, surfing the web, etc. no gaming or website design. Should I stick with the AMD and save $300? That's what I'm leaning towars right now.