AMD Athlon X2 or Intel Core 2 Duo

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 01:06:11

I'm in a bit of a dilemma; I recently decided to build a new computer as my main PC is getting a little tired. As I've always used AMD I decided to go with the AMD Athlon X2 6000+, but for various reasons a few days after the build the motherboard blew taking all the parts with it. I sent everything back to eBuyer and have been refunded, but I've been looking around and the Intel Core 2 Duo chips seem to be the better CPU these days.

So I did some research and found the Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66Ghz) is roughly equal to the AMD Athlon X2 6000+ (3Ghz), but often performs better in benchmarks. I've also read that the Intel can easily be overclocked without any special cooling requirements, which is obviously desirable to gain more performance for the cost. Though the Intel is around £30 more taking into account the chip and motherboard costs more.

I'm interested in finding out peoples opinions and recommendations of the two different options. I haven't built a new computer in a while and am just starting to notice that AMD is no longer making better chips for lower prices and Intel seems to be the way to go now. I look forward to your replies.

psp83 · Jan 25, 2008, 01:28:13

I've always gone with Intel to be honest.. Just find them much better than AMD..

Next few months i will be doing the same, My Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz cpu needs replacing in the other machine across the room and looking for a good price core duo chip.

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 01:36:17

Quote from: psp83 on Jan 25, 2008, 01:28:13
I've always gone with Intel to be honest.. Just find them much better than AMD..

In the past AMD have been better for my needs, starting with the K7. Before the K7 I used various Intel chips in my own builds. In my opinion, AMD has always made good quality CPUs at much lower pricing than Intel, but Intel's pricing looks OK now and the Core processors seem to be a real hit. My last build was during the time when Intel was making radiators (Pentium 4), so I went with AMD.

Quote from: psp83 on Jan 25, 2008, 01:28:13
Next few months i will be doing the same, My Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz cpu needs replacing in the other machine across the room and looking for a good price core duo chip.

After looking around and reading a few forums the E6750 and E6550 seem to offer the best performance for the price. That said, I'm no expert on Intel CPUs.

Arthix · Jan 25, 2008, 02:38:01

I have always gone with AMD as well but they seem pretty lacking at the moment.

Why not go for one of the new E8X00 Wolfdales? I think I'll be buying one of them and selling my Q6600 before the new Quads come out and mine is worth nothing. Not like I'm using any software that utilizes 4 cores anyway.... Why did I buy this...?

Always found the OcUK forum is full of information and helpful people.

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 03:42:43

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 02:38:01
I have always gone with AMD as well but they seem pretty lacking at the moment.

I agree, it's a shame as they have served me well in the past.

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 02:38:01
Why not go for one of the new E8X00 Wolfdales? I think I'll be buying one of them and selling my Q6600 before the new Quads come out and mine is worth nothing. Not like I'm using any software that utilizes 4 cores anyway.... Why did I buy this...?

Firstly, thank you! The sites I had been looking on don't even list the E8xxx series and I wasn't even aware they were available. I found the E8200 on Dabs for the same price as the E6750, though I'd prefer not to shop at Dabs. Do you know of any other e-tailers that sell the E8xxx series CPUs?

Secondly, I also see little purpose to quad-core CPUs at the moment. I looked at the AMD Phenom processors initially, but they don't perform as well as the Athlon X2 processors on single threaded, or dual threaded applications. So they went out the window.

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 02:38:01
Always found the OcUK forum is full of information and helpful people.

I'm checking the site out now.

Arthix · Jan 25, 2008, 04:05:18

OcUK have both the 8200 and the 8400 in stock at the moment, the 8500 is showing as "Pre-order - ETA: Overdue" (Doesn't look worth the money to me anyway.. for a .5 multiplier increase). Appears to be fairly nippy judging by their forums.. seen some nutters taking the E8400 to 4.5 - 5.0Ghz already.

I'll head for the E8400 I think, should hopefully be able to sell my Q6600 for about the same price. Should get a nice speed with that once I slap my Tuniq Tower on it.

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 04:15:51

I believe the MSI P35 Neo-F offers the option of changing the multiplier, or so searching from Google tells me. So it may be possible to get a 8500 for the price of a 8400.

I'd certainly try to pass the 4Ghz bar with a 8400, but from reviews that doesn't seem all that bad. I'm very thankful that you pointed the 8xxx series out as I would of been fairly annoyed if I had of got a E6750 now. Have a karma from me!

Arthix · Jan 25, 2008, 04:34:21

Quote from: Adam on Jan 25, 2008, 04:15:51
I believe the MSI P35 Neo-F offers the option of changing the multiplier, or so searching from Google tells me. So it may be possible to get a 8500 for the price of a 8400. I'd certainly try to pass the 4Ghz bar with a 8400, but from reviews that doesn't seem all that bad. I'm very thankful that you pointed the 8xxx series out as I would of been fairly annoyed if I had of got a E6750 now. Have a karma from me!

I'm no expert really but most decent motherboards will allow you to change the multiplier, only up to the maximum the CPU allows though, is that what you meant or is that board something funky?

In fact, when I Googled it I got this page which has an ominous "-" in the multiplier changeable box.

Thanks for the Karma.

Oh, and I hope your going to buy an aftermarket cooler if your going to try for > 4Ghz? My Q6600 gets pretty toasty at 3.4Ghz (1Ghz increase) even with a Tuniq Tower (Fan going full blast) instead of the naff little Intel heatsink.

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 04:41:54

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 04:34:21
I'm no expert really but most decent motherboards will allow you to change the multiplier, only up to the maximum the CPU allows though, is that what you meant or is that board something funky?

The article it was in was upping the 8400 from x9 to x9.5 on the board.

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 04:34:21
Oh, and I hope your going to buy an aftermarket cooler if your going to try for > 4Ghz? My Q6600 gets pretty toasty at 3.4Ghz (1Ghz increase) even with a Tuniq Tower instead of the naff little intel heatsink.

I probably will do, though just getting a system working would be a start. Another dead motherboard wouldn't be a good idea.

Arthix · Jan 25, 2008, 04:51:16

Hey, atleast you got a refund and a chance to move over to Intel. Fate?

I'd be interested in that article if you can link it?

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 05:04:58

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 04:51:16
Hey, atleast you got a refund and a chance to move over to Intel. Fate?

Could well be!

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 04:51:16
I'd be interested in that article if you can link it?

I'll have a quick look for it, but I'm being distracted by the search for a motherboard. The ASUS P5KC looks pretty nice.

Arthix · Jan 25, 2008, 05:34:17

Quote from: Adam on Jan 25, 2008, 05:04:58
The ASUS P5KC looks pretty nice.

Interesting, cheap too.

I just went ahead and ordered my E8400, its all your fault that I looked into it.

Adam · Jan 25, 2008, 08:32:36

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 05:34:17
Interesting, cheap too.

Yep, I'm deciding between the P5KC and plain P5K, though they are priced almost the same.

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 25, 2008, 05:34:17
I just went ahead and ordered my E8400, its all your fault that I looked into it.

I'm told eBuyer are getting some stock of these today, so I'll be waiting to see if that turns out to be true.

As for your ordering being my fault;

.

Sebby · Jan 25, 2008, 21:37:58

I went for AMD when I built my system a couple of months back. After doing a lot of research, I found it difficult to actually find a definite answer as there are Intel lovers and AMD lovers out there. I've tried to support AMD in the past, and the message I got from reading around is that in day-to-day operation, there wouldn't be a noticeable difference.

Something else that made me sway towards AMD is that I was building an ultra-small system and so I was always thinking about heat. I went for AMD's new Brisbane core (well, it was new at the time) and this thing runs almost cold! In my setup, it's perfect.

Simon · Jan 25, 2008, 21:51:08

Years ago, you always got more 'bang for your buck' with AMD, which is why I used it in my first home build, but I'm a bit out of touch with the state of play at the moment, so maybe prices have paralleled?

Sebby · Jan 25, 2008, 22:43:37

IIRC, they have, but like I say it was mainly for the new cool-running core than I went with AMD at the time. To be honest, there's probably not a lot in it these days. Some people say Intel are better for processor-intensive tasks, but I don't know for sure.

Adam · Jan 26, 2008, 21:42:35

Quote from: Sebby on Jan 25, 2008, 22:43:37
IIRC, they have, but like I say it was mainly for the new cool-running core than I went with AMD at the time. To be honest, there's probably not a lot in it these days. Some people say Intel are better for processor-intensive tasks, but I don't know for sure.

Based on the many reviews I've read the Intel Core 2 Duo line runs cooler and uses less power the majority of AMD CPUs. The new Intel E8xxx series is even cooler than the older Core 2 Duos, so I think AMD has lost the "Cool'n'Quiet" throne.

After looking at pricing I think it's fairly equal these days, in some cases Intel offering more bang for the buck. The E8200 performs slightly better than an AMD Athlon X2 6000+ and is only £10 more.

Quote
I just went ahead and ordered my E8400, its all your fault that I looked into it.

Out of interest how much did you pay for it? I've just secured an Intel E8400 from eBuyer for £125 (inc delivery), which is quite a bit lower than all the other e-tailers I've checked.

Arthix · Jan 27, 2008, 23:18:19

Quote from: Adam on Jan 26, 2008, 21:42:35
Out of interest how much did you pay for it? I've just secured an Intel E8400 from eBuyer for £125 (inc delivery), which is quite a bit lower than all the other e-tailers I've checked.

£140 without delivery, bought a few other things bumping the price up to £200 or so (All your fault still). Looks like Ebuyer didn't have many of them as I can't find them on their site now.

I try not to buy from Ebuyer as they won't let me have the free delivery or the next day/two day delivery, need to choose the three working days delivery with them.

Adam · Jan 28, 2008, 00:11:13

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 27, 2008, 23:18:19
£140 without delivery, bought a few other things bumping the price up to £200 or so (All your fault still). Looks like Ebuyer didn't have many of them as I can't find them on their site now.

They only got 31 in on the same day I bought it.

The total for the CPU and motherboard come to £200ish, which isn't bad considering the GPU is around £300 alone.

Quote from: Arthix on Jan 27, 2008, 23:18:19
I try not to buy from Ebuyer as they won't let me have the free delivery or the next day/two day delivery, need to choose the three working days delivery with them.

I didn't mind waiting as I'm also waiting on the other components.

mrapoc · Jan 28, 2008, 09:33:27

core 2 duo/quad tbh

AMD are still playing catchup in every aspect near enough

the core 2 duos overclock sweet too

I got a e6300 (£60 about) to 3.2ghz and can easily go further! (thats from 1.8ghz)

Arthix · Jan 29, 2008, 04:40:53

Quote from: Adam on Jan 28, 2008, 00:11:13GPU is around £300 alone.

I didn't mind waiting as I'm also waiting on the other components.

Which GPU? Thats a fairly high price, gone for one of the GTX's?

I don't mind waiting, sometimes I don't want to wait though and Ebuyer don't like my Postcode... It just makes me mad

. Overclockers/every other company i'v ever bought anything from online do next day delivery to my postcode

.

My E8400 came yesterday, i'll see what I can do with it later on today.