Intel vs AMD CPUs?

[#1]

I think it's time for a new computer, and have minimal, if any need, for gaming potential. Is there any significant differecne in performance of the two brands given equal speed rating in conjunction with similar RAM memory?

[#2]

Speaking from personal experience - a long time ago I used to build and repair computers on a daily basis. At that time I would go for the AMD & ATi combo for CPU and Graphics card respectively. This was when I didn't have all that much money and getting just a mid range spec machine was quite expensive. One of my bosses used to use AMD exclusively for their computer shop sales because the cost was low and profit was high. So the price was right and the performance was... ok.. for the time it was ok and for the budget. I used to have a lot of issues with the CPU and I think I replaced it about 3 times in a few years. Can't recall why but I remember the CPU had a lot of issues (AMD 2000, AMD 2400+ and finally an AMD 4000+ 64bit). This was back in 2003 mind you... things may have got better since then.

A few years ago (2009) I switched up and went for an intel i7 and nVidia graphics card after I left University and was finally earning a bit more than peanuts. It cost a little bit more but the CPU never failed in the 6 years I have had it. My father in law now has that PC and it still runs really fast.

Personally.. I would suggest an intel processor because of the reliability and my personal experience of AMD chips going pop.

As I said though.. times might have changed and others experiences may be more positive than mine.

The new AMD Ryzen CPUs are coming out in a few days if you're after more power for a lower price. A lot of people are saying that it could be a good contender for the intel i7:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product/pc-components/amd-zen-processor-release-date-price-specs-feat...

[#3]

Since my first self-build in 2002 I have exclusively used AMD CPU & ATI graphics and the only time anything went pop was when a cheap (lesson learnt) PSU gave up the ghost.

My current PC was built in April 2012:

AMD FX-6100

Radeon HD6700

16GB DDR3 667MHz

2 x SSDs

Still nips along nicely for my usage including video editing.

But like @jaread83 I think my next build will be Intel/Nvidia combos.

[#4]

Intel and nVidia.

[#5]

Price wise you have to go for AMD , The Intel is better but the price difference 

performance wise they are close

[#6]

Me too + Seagate disks.

inxi -F -p
System:    Host: hector Kernel: 3.16.0-4-amd64 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Cinnamon 3.2.7  Distro: LinuxMint 2 betsy
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A97 LE R2.0 v: Rev 1.xx Bios: American Megatrends v: 2501 date: 04/09/2014
CPU:       Quad core AMD FX-4350 (-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
           Clock Speeds: 1: 4100 MHz 2: 4200 MHz 3: 4200 MHz 4: 4200 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK208 [GeForce GT 730]
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: GeForce GT 730/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 340.101
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA Device 0e0f driver: snd_hda_intel Sound: ALSA v: k3.16.0-4-amd64
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: snd_hda_intel
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: r8169
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 78:24:af:d7:38:fe
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 2000.4GB (39.6% used) ID-1: /dev/sdb model: ST1000DM003 size: 1000.2GB
           ID-2: /dev/sda model: ST1000DM003 size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 20G used: 8.8G (49%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: /boot/efi size: 1022M used: 132K (1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-3: /home size: 148G used: 73G (52%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4
           ID-4: /mnt/video size: 577G used: 366G (67%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-5: /mnt/backup size: 257G used: 106G (44%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
           ID-6: /mnt/filestore size: 419G used: 183G (46%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb3
           ID-7: swap-1 size: 4.29GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0C mobo: 20.0C gpu: 30C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 2922 fan-2: 1363 fan-3: 0
Info:      Processes: 202 Uptime: 11:13 Memory: 1446.2/7905.1MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.1.28

When working out the "real" CPU speed per £ you need to include RAM speed, cache size, advertised speed & number of cores. If your application can't really use 8 cores, then less might be better. As I'm finding out to my cost, a high powered CPU needs a decent PSU - and decent ones aren't cheap!

[#7]

@VileReynard,

I am far from being an expert but have usually been able to carry out my own builds, upgrades and repairs.
For what it's worth, I have always understood that whatever CPU you decide to use it is meaningless unless you avoid bottlenecks elsewhere in the build such as North/South Bridge, optimised memory and as has been said a capable PSU.

If gaming is not required then the on-board (motherboard) graphics from Intel have advanced light years to what they could cope with just a few years ago.
The reality of the situation for most of us is that we keep chasing a budget and consequently are never truly satisfied.

I recently refurbished all the fans, maxed the memory, new 1TB hard drive, and brought back into use an old Asus Terminator II. (Running Win 7 but when support runs out I may switch to Ubuntu)

It was the bees knees back when it was built in 2004 and is still perfectly serviceable 13 years later, but if I tried to sell it on eBay I doubt I'd hardly get my refurbishment money back despite it being quiet, reliable and perfectly suited for browsing, and office work or even as a server.

Computers in my experience are like green houses, you buy the biggest and the best you can afford and 12 months later you are lusting after something else.

I agree AMD produce some very competitive CPUs but the 'best in class' trophy has been frequently lost and won between AMD and Intel.

With the rise of tablets and the laptop markets still bringing out new models it is no longer just a question of speed but also battery life. In this area the Chinese have made significant progress and may become a future contender.

Personally, I feel that Intel currently hold the crown but you need a degree in order to understand the capabilities and performance variables of so many contenders, knowing all the time that the one CPU that you really want is the one they developed last year but are not releasing until next year. 😊

[#8]

For me 2 core, 4 at the outside, so i7 is not really in picture!

Point about PSU is interesting, I t looks to me that Dell's are 300W. whilst HP and others are around 180W for the level of machine I'll be punting for. That seems a fair difference.

Something else is, whether to stick with MT or go  SFF; might be able to avoid under- desk groping.

[#9]

When building entire systems I use this to build it up to my budget and requirements:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/

You can adjust everything on the searches to find exactly what you need and the tool will even warn you if parts are not compatible or if your PSU is not enough. Also handy that you can do price comparisons for all parts too 

[#10]

@jaread83 O to be young and skillful! I'm afraid that for me, it'll have to be ready made from a seller

[#11]

Me too.

But I've got a replacement PSU to plug in.

It looks like an Octopus.

[#12]

Going back to the original question

You won't need a separate graphics card so you want a reasonable built in GPU and all the Intel ones have that (I assume AMD have as well although I haven't checked) So the fundamental questions I would consider are

Do you want to run anything earlier than Win 10 as the latest CPU's from AMD and Intel won't

Do you want as quiet a machine as possible - check reported sound levels with included coolers

Look at CPU temperatures with the default cooler - low is better

[#13]

Define latest.

[#14]

look it up yourself as it has been discussed at length

[#15]

?

Never heard of Linux not working properly on any PC, with the exception of some distros not supporting some 32 bit CPU's.