Intel VS AMD Clash

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

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
 
Mines coming in the next month to two months. I didn't know lynnfield was coming out so soon (i found out when i got the newegg email). Completely changed my hole system since I'm definitely going with the i5 over the Phenom II X4
 
edit: AMD Athlon II X4 is Propus not Regors which applies to the Athlon II X2.

Anyway, indeed, a great change is approaching us. Id also like to note that if you're a gambler of sorts, you can try getting either a dual-core AMD X2 7750 BE (Black Edition) for $70 or tri-core Phenom II X3 720 BE for $120 and pairing with either a 785 or 790 to unlock all 4 cores. Most have been lucky with the X3 unlocking and even being overclock stable. But knowing my luck, id save $20 and time and just get the Propus.

And another thing, there are some advtanges and disadvantages with going Lynnfield vs Bloomfield.

Bloomfield:
-More memory (tri-channel) and PCI-E (more lanes) bandwidth.
-Hexa-core will likely be on 1336.'

Lynnfield:
- ATM, faster "Turbo mode"
- Runs cooler
- Currently fastest PCI-E lanes.
 
edit: AMD Athlon II X4 is Propus not Regors which applies to the Athlon II X2.

Anyway, indeed, a great change is approaching us. Id also like to note that if you're a gambler of sorts, you can try getting either a dual-core AMD X2 7750 BE (Black Edition) for $70 or tri-core Phenom II X3 720 BE for $120 and pairing with either a 785 or 790 to unlock all 4 cores. Most have been lucky with the X3 unlocking and even being overclock stable. But knowing my luck, id save $20 and time and just get the Propus.

And another thing, there are some advtanges and disadvantages with going Lynnfield vs Bloomfield.

Bloomfield:
-More memory (tri-channel) and PCI-E (more lanes) bandwidth.
-Hexa-core will likely be on 1336.'

Lynnfield:
- ATM, faster "Turbo mode"
- Runs cooler
- Currently fastest PCI-E lanes.

cept there is nothing on this planet except pushing constant malloc that can utilize tri-channel ram. As for the more graphics bandwidth....i doubt that's needed either, but i cant source any research on that assumption (like i can for the tri-channel).
 
cept there is nothing on this planet except pushing constant malloc that can utilize tri-channel ram. As for the more graphics bandwidth....i doubt that's needed either, but i cant source any research on that assumption (like i can for the tri-channel).
Just what I was gonna ask, if the tri channel ram was even worth considering this early on. I was wondering if it might be better to go up to the i7 and be able to use more ram, but then I'd have to get another motherboard. Either that or else just upgrade my processor to a core 2 quad and be able to keep my P5Q pro board.
 
Back
Top