Are AMD processors really better than Intel??

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I seriously doubt it will make up for the 1billion US$ fine they are facing....

They weren't fined for Atom pricing. The fine is related to tactics they sued back in the netburst era.

Atom is Intel's product and imo they should able able to price it how they please. If the market wanted ION badly enough this pricing structure would hurt Intel's sales and force them to change it.

A while back nvida's ceo made the comment that they were going to open up a can of whoop *** on Intel. Sounds like he started fight he had no hope of winning.
 
I seriously doubt it will make up for the 1billion US$ fine they are facing....

$1billion is pocket change for intel, sure it will hurt but they have way more than that just sitting in cash anyway. and $1billion probably no where near covers the gains they have received over the last 10 years by freezing out other manufacturers esp. AMD.
 
Currently, AMD is losing the CPU war performance wise, but are winning price to performance wise,

Not so true anymore. Sure you can get Athlon X2's for dirt cheap, but when it comes to AMD's high end stuff, Intel rapes it.

For example, the Core i7 920 is like ~$50 more (at least the last time I looked) than the PII 940, and wipes the floor with it. The Q9400 is cheaper than the PII 940 (again, last time I looked) and in almost all tests, beat it at lower clocks.

And then the E8400 isn't all that expensive now either.

So I'd say Intel is pretty much winning on all fronts.
 
Not so true anymore. Sure you can get Athlon X2's for dirt cheap, but when it comes to AMD's high end stuff, Intel rapes it.

For example, the Core i7 920 is like ~$50 more (at least the last time I looked) than the PII 940, and wipes the floor with it. The Q9400 is cheaper than the PII 940 (again, last time I looked) and in almost all tests, beat it at lower clocks.

And then the E8400 isn't all that expensive now either.

So I'd say Intel is pretty much winning on all fronts.

$90 more, but then you also have to account for the prices of their boards, whereas with a Phenom II 940 you can always get a cheap 790gx board and it runs well..

Whereas you'd pay almost $500-$600 for just the CPU, board and RAM (and you'd be cheaping out on the board still), but almost all the rig for that much on the PII

I think your point will be true when the LGA 1166 or w/e it is comes out.. priced right in PII's price range and wipe the floor with it
 
Not so true anymore. Sure you can get Athlon X2's for dirt cheap, but when it comes to AMD's high end stuff, Intel rapes it.

For example, the Core i7 920 is like ~$50 more (at least the last time I looked) than the PII 940, and wipes the floor with it. The Q9400 is cheaper than the PII 940 (again, last time I looked) and in almost all tests, beat it at lower clocks.

And then the E8400 isn't all that expensive now either.

So I'd say Intel is pretty much winning on all fronts.
Actually, the 940 would on average fit between the Q9400 and Q9550, often matching or beating the Q9550 (especially in games).
*edit* and the Phenom II 940 is actually $25 cheaper than the Q9400 on newegg
And if you get an AM2+ board, you can upgrade to an AM3 CPU, too.

And like said, the cost of the i7 is not just in the CPU. You also have to use an x58 board, which costs about double what a 790GX board costs. And DDR3, which is more expensive than DDR2 (though they're getting closer in price now)

Phenom II 940 right now costs $189.99
Q9400 costs $214.99
i7 920 costs $279.99

Also, there is reason to say that the Phenom II's run smoother than the Core 2's (as in, they get more consistent performance).
When the CPU has to deal with processing that the prefetching algorithm's can't predict (such as things with a lot of user input that drasticaly alters results. Like games), the IMC gives them an advantage over the FSB.
I mean, average framerate is just total frames divided by total time. It doesn't tell you how it compares at every instant.
i7 removes the disadvantage that Core 2's have here. But again, they also cost more.
 
The stuttering issue isn't much more than a myth unless you believe millions of Core 2 users can't tell if their game is running smoothly.
 
Actually, the 940 would on average fit between the Q9400 and Q9550, often matching or beating the Q9550 (especially in games).
*edit* and the Phenom II 940 is actually $25 cheaper than the Q9400 on newegg
And if you get an AM2+ board, you can upgrade to an AM3 CPU, too.

And like said, the cost of the i7 is not just in the CPU. You also have to use an x58 board, which costs about double what a 790GX board costs. And DDR3, which is more expensive than DDR2 (though they're getting closer in price now)

Phenom II 940 right now costs $189.99
Q9400 costs $214.99
i7 920 costs $279.99

Also, there is reason to say that the Phenom II's run smoother than the Core 2's (as in, they get more consistent performance).
When the CPU has to deal with processing that the prefetching algorithm's can't predict (such as things with a lot of user input that drasticaly alters results. Like games), the IMC gives them an advantage over the FSB.
I mean, average framerate is just total frames divided by total time. It doesn't tell you how it compares at every instant.
i7 removes the disadvantage that Core 2's have here. But again, they also cost more.

Okay the 940's have dropped a bit in price since I last looked.

Also, I was talking about prices between CPU's...not the whole system. Yes, i7's cost a little more, but it's really not a huge amount more. You can get a i7 920, 3x2GB RAM, and a X58 for about $600 give or take. A PII 940, 2x2GB RAM, and a decent 790FX is going to be around $400 give or take (those were both off the top of my head, so ballpark figures).

Not as big of a difference as when i7 first came out. Still, it's $200 more, but that's a huge performance gain.

Also, according to these benchmarks, the PII 940 doesn't do any better at all in games.
 
I have heard that AMD cpu's are much better than Intel's and the only reason that Intel's are in most pre builds is because they are abusing their market position, is this true?

I find that AMD are better value for money.
Mind you, i find the motherboard for AMDs seem to have much better options at a lower price than the Intel equilivant.
 
Okay the 940's have dropped a bit in price since I last looked.

Also, I was talking about prices between CPU's...not the whole system. Yes, i7's cost a little more, but it's really not a huge amount more. You can get a i7 920, 3x2GB RAM, and a X58 for about $600 give or take. A PII 940, 2x2GB RAM, and a decent 790FX is going to be around $400 give or take (those were both off the top of my head, so ballpark figures).
a Phenom II 940 plus a 790GX board costs around $250-300 USD. Plus 4GB DDR2-1066 makes it $290-350, which is about half the cost of the i7.

The only differences between 790FX and 790GX are:
  • the IGP in the 790GX boards (which can do 8x/8x crossfire)
  • more PCI-E lanes with 790FX boards (which can do 16x/16x or 8x/8x/8x/8x crossfire)
Not as big of a difference as when i7 first came out. Still, it's $200 more, but that's a huge performance gain.
In a lot of benchmarks there's barely a few % difference. In some cases, the Phenom II's are ahead by a few % (though obviously i7 is ahead more often).
It depends on what programs you're using. But that's the same with any two CPU architectures.

Also, according to these benchmarks, the PII 940 doesn't do any better at all in games.
Anandtech's benchmarks show it ahead in the majority of programs, often beating the Q9550.
AnandTech: AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920: A True Return to Competition

Puddle Jumper said:
The stuttering issue isn't much more than a myth unless you believe millions of Core 2 users can't tell if their game is running smoothly.
There is a working theory behind it, and multiple independent instances of people saying it (including reputable sources such as Anandtech).
 
I knew this was going to be a long thread when I saw the title... ha

Boils down to -

If you have money - Intel is your friend for many reasons
If you have little money - AMD is what you want and does not under perform by no means
If you don't have money - then well... you're broke
 
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