Does anyone know of a website that compares AMD/Intel chips ?
I have always been a Intel man but some reviews I have read say that AMD is faster.
So I want to compare what “bang for the buck” I get, but don’t know how to compare them.
These are both in the price range I was considering, but how do I know which has the better performance ?
The basic difference between the two processors is that the AMD’s consist of a 10 step cycle execution process, has a lower clock speed but is capable of doing more operations per clock cycle. Intels have a 20 step cycle, thus having a higher clock speed but doing less cycles per clock. Meaning that an AMD 2.08ghz can perform at the level of a Intel P4 2.8 ghz and since AMDs are cheaper its better worth for money. Another thing, AMD’s are favs for overclockers. A small tweak to the FSB mulitplier and it can be unlocked while the Intels cannot. Intel also have a difference where it has an L3 2mb cache while the AMD has only 1mb.
So AMDs or Intels?
Let me out an example of the XP 3200. It only goes up to 2.2ghz. On the other hand the P4 goes up to 3.2ghz and over. ok more ghz, im happy.
Unforuntely, no. the Intel does only 6 floating points per cycle meaning that it can only carry out 6 operations per cycle. The AMD does 3 more so it can do 9 points.
Maths Lession:
3.2ghz x 6 = 19.2 (Intel)
2.2ghz x 9 = 19.8 (AMD)
So essentially, even though the Intel has more ghz, its less points per cycle gives the AMD a very miniscule advantage, only outplacing the Intel with an extra 0.6.
In terms of technical know-how, AMDs can perform at the rate of a high Intel processor can and has the advantage of being cheaper.
Whats doing:
AMD - ideal for games --> more processing per cycle.
Intel - using numerous applications at one time --> extensive clockspeed and bandwidth.
Don’t forget the 64Bit advantage - if you’re looking to use large amounts of memory (>4GB) then you need a 64Bit processor.
That provides another advantage: you’re future proof… personally I would have preferred for there to be a whole new architecture for 64 bit processors… x86 is extremely ugly (it was originally 16bit… now people have managed to hack it all the way up) but meh, looks like they are going to go the way of extending x86 :-/
Thanks for that minimalistik, it goes a loooong way to further my understanding.
By your math’s those to work out at
2.0ghz x 9 = 18.0 (AMD)
2.8ghz x 6 = 16.8 (Intel)
So even though the Intel cost $15 more it is not as fast as the AMD.
The price of an 800FSB board to suite the Intel 2.8G is** $89.00**
The only 754 board they have is $230.00
This way even though the AMD chip is faster and $15 less, it would cost me $125 more for a little performance gain.
Can this be right ? or am I not putting it together right.
Also although the boards will support my current DDR266 RAM, will this be a bottle neck ? Will my current Ram be fine until I am ready to upgrade it, or will I need to upgrade it at the same time to get the full performance from the new CPU ?
Current
x2 256 DDR266 PC 2100
go to**
$299.00**
x2 512/1GB KIT DDR PC3200 400Mhz Kingston
That ITwarehouse site has a number of stores that I have found to be cheaper than others, take the latest p4 extreme, they have it for $300 less than another chain of computer stores here in Adelaide.
I will check out that site, even though they are in Sydney they have free delivery for orders over $300 so that is ok.
Or since you have pointed out, obviously there are other boards, I get get the name of the one I want, and as long as they can match the price get them to order it in.
So what about the RAM, do you know if the DDR266 and DDR400 will make a huge difference ?
P4 $275.00 ITwarehouse
P4 $313.00 PC market ($27 more)
AMD $259.00 ITwarehouse
AMD $279.00 PC market ($20 more)
I think it will be better for me to find the board I want and get it here in Adelaide.
I am under the asumption that Gigabite is a good brand, that MSI is a cheaper brand. I have however had plenty of MSI stuff and I have never had a problem with any of it, hence why I prefer it. They also have a good website with all the pdf’s/drivers there.
I haven’t heard of AUS or Gigabite, but used to own a MSI motherboard for one of my older comps back in the day. I don’t think I’ve ever had any problems with it
It surely couldn’t do any harm though, so if you can persuade yourself to part with the cool, hard cash, go for it
I was once young and dumb, lets say I once waited 2 weeks 2 buy a computer because I knew in 2 weeks time the P200 was coming out. You bet your arse I paid top dollar for that.
I also went out and bought a 32mb 3DFX card the day it came out…
Now I just can’t justify buying the latest stuff… I mean I am happy to pay another $100 to go from a P2.8 to P3, but I won’t to know that I am going to see a difference, and I just dont think I will.
I know that for $260 I will be a big difference between my 1.8 and 2.8 so I am happy spend that…
But I dont want to spend $300 on ram, turn on the computer, try a game and have 1-2 fps difference. If I am going to spend $300 I want 10-20fps differnce atleast.
I did some searching for you, and was able to find this: 
