Not sure what to choose: AMD or Intel

[guitarplyrstevo]

Hi, I am a new member here and I am having a lot of trouble choosing whether to go with the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ ($287) or the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz ($309). I did read the sticky about the differences between AMD and Intel, but I still do not know what to choose. This is how I see it:

AMD
Pipeline: 12
Execution units: 3
HyperThreading: 2000MHz


Intel
Pipeline: 14
Execution units: 4
HyperThreading: No



From my knowledge, thats how I see it (I'm not sure if that is all exactly right).

I will need a high performing processor because I am going to be using the computer for games, watching DVD's, video/photo editing, professional audio recording (the software uses a lot of memory and CPU) and also for basic computer use.

Thanks

 

[RalliArt882]

Core 2 Duo e6600. If you go on tomshardware.com and read benchmarks, you will notice that the e6600 will be faster than the FX-62 in just about everything, that that's AMDs best CPU.

 

[dewitt88]

AMD FTW

 

[The General]

AMD FTW

Just another fanboy who likes paying more for slower performance.

Nothing to see here folks, you can go about your business.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

i gotta say intel, they is whoopin amd currently...

 

[MurdaX]

I have to agree with the others and say get the intel, and take it from me I am a big amd fan. But for better performance go with intel ok dude.

 

[spartan1121]

Go with a core2duo, they're the best on the market right now. You'll run circles around an AMD processor with an e6600.

 

[guitarplyrstevo]

Thanks guys. I guess Intel is the way to go..for now

 

[TriEclipse]

Why the negative attitude towards Intel, guitarplyr?

Neither company has Hyperthreading technology in these CPUs. The 2000Mhz you're seeing is AMD's HyperTransport Bus. This is comparable to the FSB in Intel systems. HT (HyperThreading) is a completely Intel technology, and AMD hasn't made any attempts to copy it. Its not that great of a tech anyway.

You can't simply look at the specs and decide that way, processors are seldom like videocards. I suggest you look up some benchmarks on Anandtech or another review website like that (but NOT Tom's Hardware Guide!). The benchmarks will show you how the processors fare against eachother, and I believe you'll find that the Core 2 Duos are in a comfortable lead. The A64 X2 5200+ is hardly a competitor to the Core 2 Duo. Also, if you're at all interested in overclocking, the Core 2 Duos will overclock past 3.0Ghz. If a 2.4Ghz C2D is tough to handle for AMD's top 3.0Ghz processor, then imagine how a 3.0Ghz+ A64 would compare.

Again, you can't just look at the specs. A Pentium 4 had 31 stages and a 3-issue core, but it was certainly not very much better than the Athlon 64. When looking at pipelines, its important to consider the complexity of the stages as well as the number of stages.

 

[Waphlez]

E6600 baby, for sure. Mine smokes anything I throw at it.