Processor chip – AMD vs Intel. Anyone know the difference?
waterlily asked:
I want to buy a new computer but the one with the AMD chip is $200 less than the one with the Intel chip. Does anyone know if the chip makes a big difference? What does the chip do anyway?
I want to buy a new computer but the one with the AMD chip is $200 less than the one with the Intel chip. Does anyone know if the chip makes a big difference? What does the chip do anyway?
Unless you are a gamer, you wont notice a difference.
The CPU processes everything your computer does, from Word docs, to music you are playing. The faster the CPU, the faster your PC. But, todays computers are already WAY fast. Games are getting more demanding, so the CPU matters, but email, IM, Myspace, music, movies, etc will be fine on a simpler machine.
Go with the cheapest.
no you will not notice that much of a diffrence. when you are buying the intel one you are mostly paying for the name. i have an amd processer and i love it. its an amd antholon 64
There is no difference except price.
AMD tends to be more cheaper than Intel. CHEAPER DOES NOT MEAN WORSER! Trust me, AMD and Intel are the exact same thing (for exanple: Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Turion 64 X2)
I’m guessing some people are Intel fans and they just get Intel. I’m neither a fan of Intel or AMD, I just want the cheapest one, yet superior preformance, so I just choose AMD.
There is hardly any difference between AMD and Intel processors. The processor is the heart of the hardware but will be transparent to the user unless you are one of the gamers that has to have the latest and greatest piece of equipment. If you were given two computers equal in all respects except for the processor you could not tell the AMD from the Intel. Bottom line–buy the cheaper one. Just make sure the rest of the system is the same i.e. same size monitor, same type and amount of ram, same size hard drive etc. so that the price difference you mentioned is due to the brand of processor instead of some other factor. I have built 3 computers(it is easier to do than you would think) and all of them are AMDs and I have no regrets. Also, AMDs are almost always slightly cheaper than Intels.
frakla12345
Historically, AMD has been the cheap alternative to Intel. (by historically I mean all the way back to the 80’s..)
Also historically, Intel has shown a slightly higher degree of “compatibility” (maybe the better word is capability) to run Windows. And it has usually been AMD following Intel’s technological leadership because Intel is so much larger. (and only because they’re so much larger)
There is usually little or no difference between the two brands’ cpu’s except in terms of raw speed.. and usually the speed differences are not large.. except maybe in gaming, where the speed can mean the difference between you seeing a missile coming towards you in the distance (giving you a chance to dodge), or seeing “you’re dead” on the screen. (this is exaggerated … but you get the idea..)
Of course, speed also makes a difference in server environments, but you would not be asking with regards to that, more than likely.
cpu means “central processing unit”. It does all the math and performs all the actions needed to make things happen on the computer.
The cpu chip is a ‘motor’. If you had a V-8 engine it’s faster and stronger than a v-4, right? that’s the CPU.. The speed you see is affected by other things too, but the CPU is ultimate limiting factor. It doesn’t matter if you have 1000 gig of RAM if you have a 100 Mhz cpu.. it’s going to be Ssssllllooowwww… But too little RAM is also a bad thing. (megahertz is slower than gigahertz.. mega is 1 million, giga is 1 billion)
Other things limiting the speed of the computer — RAM, hard drive speed, type of internet connection (more of a perceptive speed limiter than actual..). There are other limiting factors, but you will do well if you get your “CPU Ghz”, “RAM GB”, and “HDD Gigabytes” right. (there’re also “dual core” cpu’s this means they have 2 cpu’s in one cpu chip…)
You should probably have at least 2Ghz for your CPU, 1G for your RAM, and 200 GB for your hard drive.
More RAM is better, I suggest you get as much as you can afford, 2G would probably be good for 5 years or more for a casual user, then you’ll want more.. The reason being that software is constantly getting larger and larger and people buy and install more and more programs. Eventually you start up one day and there’s 30 icons in your system tray (that area where the time is located) and you have so many programs installed that you have to scroll your “All Programs” list.. (I say this with tounge in cheek..) The icons in the system tray represent some (not all) of the programs that are loaded and running at all times and are filling up your RAM.
Which brings us to your hard drive… you should get as large of a hard drive as you can for your budget. The benefits of larger? You can put more on it. (more mp3’s more programs, more video, more everything..) Larger hard drives tend to be faster as well as larger. I’ve had more than a few clients who have never filled up their hard drives, but this is changing.
Hope I’ve helped you!
Regards,
Roger Tiedemann, Jr.
roger at rogertdj.com