endlesszeal
Senior Member
Yet again, the two companies are clashing head to head for our hard earned dollars. Its great to be a consumer right now, especially for tech parts.
Just last week, Intel introduced their new line for processors with the Core i5 and the P55 chipset. Most notable changes are integrated PCI-E lanes onto the cpu die itself and improved "turbo mode." The cheapest Core i5 starts with the $199 750. And soon to replacing the i7 920 is the 860. The difference between the two chips is the 860 is clocked a tad higher and has HT (hyper threading)which can account up to 10-12% boost depending on app.
In most tests, the 850 processor outperformed the first batch of Nehalems except the $1000 Extreme Editions. And the 750 comes right next to the 920. However, most notable is the cheaper P55 boards, priced around $120. The first Nehalems only had X58 chipsets and that made the boards average $200.
Lastly, even though AMD cant outperform the new Core i5/i7 line, it has made an onslaught on the budget sector. Just today, they released their new Athlon II X4 quad core chips. And price start at an amazing low $99!! The new Regors are the same as the Phenom II X4, but at a lower clock speeds (2.6ghz vs 3.0ghz) and minus the L3 cache. Performance-wise, the new Athlons outclass Intel's old Q8xxx's, which start at $149.
So there you have it. Intel continues to dominate the high end and AMD is clawing its way for budget end. Most interesting is the mainstream from the $100-200 bracket. AMD's Phenom II are doing very well against Intel's old Q9xxx series. But anyone spending $160-170 on a processor might as well go up a few more dollars and gain access to the Bloomfield/Lynnfield processors, which outclass both Phenom II and Core 2 Quad by a healthy margin. Or if anyone is going to spend $140-150, might as well save extra cash and go for Athlon II X4.
What to buy, what to buy.
For more info and benchmarks, I like going to www.anandtech.com
Just last week, Intel introduced their new line for processors with the Core i5 and the P55 chipset. Most notable changes are integrated PCI-E lanes onto the cpu die itself and improved "turbo mode." The cheapest Core i5 starts with the $199 750. And soon to replacing the i7 920 is the 860. The difference between the two chips is the 860 is clocked a tad higher and has HT (hyper threading)which can account up to 10-12% boost depending on app.
In most tests, the 850 processor outperformed the first batch of Nehalems except the $1000 Extreme Editions. And the 750 comes right next to the 920. However, most notable is the cheaper P55 boards, priced around $120. The first Nehalems only had X58 chipsets and that made the boards average $200.
Lastly, even though AMD cant outperform the new Core i5/i7 line, it has made an onslaught on the budget sector. Just today, they released their new Athlon II X4 quad core chips. And price start at an amazing low $99!! The new Regors are the same as the Phenom II X4, but at a lower clock speeds (2.6ghz vs 3.0ghz) and minus the L3 cache. Performance-wise, the new Athlons outclass Intel's old Q8xxx's, which start at $149.
So there you have it. Intel continues to dominate the high end and AMD is clawing its way for budget end. Most interesting is the mainstream from the $100-200 bracket. AMD's Phenom II are doing very well against Intel's old Q9xxx series. But anyone spending $160-170 on a processor might as well go up a few more dollars and gain access to the Bloomfield/Lynnfield processors, which outclass both Phenom II and Core 2 Quad by a healthy margin. Or if anyone is going to spend $140-150, might as well save extra cash and go for Athlon II X4.
What to buy, what to buy.
For more info and benchmarks, I like going to www.anandtech.com