AMD OR INTEL

[alkelab]

I have been thinking of building my first computer with an AMD chip. Have built all others with Intel. After reading through this forum, maybe this is not a good idea. See lots of problem posts with AMD and hardly any with Intel. Is the AMD processor just a pain compared to Intel???? Have 2 computer shops in this small town, both with very knowledgeable techs and one says he won't even work on Amd-equipped systems and the other says that I wouldn't be satisfied with Amd performance compared to Intel. What's the deal?????

[eagle1]

First... If you see more AMD problems in these forums it is because most people (probably) own AMD chips. They are dependable, cheap and offer a great performance (better than intel chips at same speeds).

Check http://www.sharkyextreme.com
for some reviews.

I think that if you go with AMD you should be ok. You just have to watch for the cooling and make sure that you have at least a 300w PS.

AMD is beating the hell out of intel in the cpu war and it's because these chips are great, couple a 1.2AMD thunderbird with a good mobo and it beats a 1.7Pentium4 in business apps.! Now, if you want to have the mos FPS on any game, go for a Pentium4.!

[Spanky]

Both shops probly would rather sell intel because it costs more and that means they make more profit off an intel chip.

Just a thought.

I agree with juniorp94 on the aspect that if they knew there stuff they wouldn't refuse to work on an amd system.

The shop that said you woudn't be happy with the performance is probly living in the old k6 days when intels performed way better then the AMDs.

[MrBaseball]

Go with an AMD chip, the 1.4 should do just fine.

[juniorp94]

First of all if these techs were as good as you say they wouldn't have a problem working on any system. Second IMHO AMD processors are more stable than intel procc's. I just built my first AMD system in January of this year and it is the best running and stable computer I have ever owned. I am thinking of getting a P4 for next computer because I love to play games and am looking for the most FPS that I can get.
Junior

[Madcap]

I say go for AMD. I just built a 1.2 TBird system it's the most stable system I have had. Most of the problems I've seen are not AMD problems but problems with the VIA chipsets.

[Hellmund]

This question comes up very often, try good reviewing site like Tom's Hardware or Anandtech and decide for yourself. AMD processors are
A:cheaper
B:faster at equivalent clock speeds
C:As stable as a PIII and more stable than a P4

[nick1]

i have 3 comp, thinking about putting a dual server. Obviously, only gono use AMD!!.

[alkelab]

Thanks a lot for all your help everyone. Guess I will go ahead with the AMD. Thinking of using the ASUS A7V133 with 1.2 Athlon. Don't know for sure which video card yet, but probably something with the Nvidia chip unless I hear about incompatabilities between it and the VIA chip. Trying to stay around 100 bucks for the vid card.
Thanks again,
Al

[eagle1]

The KyroII cards are very good too.!!

[moregolf]

I would suggest getting an Enermax 431 PS. Then you won't have to upgrade later with additional stuff. They aren't that expensive.

[Comage]

Hello alkelab. I'm using the A7V133-C with a 1.2 GHz (266 MHz) TB.

A friendly reminder: Do not get the -C version of the board, as it has only 2 IDE/ATA controllers. Get the original version with the Promise RAID controller; you won't regret it.

Also, I had some problems with BSODs appearing frequently. Manually assigning the IRQ didn't help, and it turned out that I had to disable IRQ steering (Win98SE) to solve the repeating BSODs.

Hope it helps. Have fun setting up your computer. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[alkelab]

Thanks for the input. Was kind of surprised to see your replies as I originally posted this on 6-27. Anyway, ended up with the Asus A7V-133 with raid support. 1.2gig Athlon @266. Put in the Kyro2 and it's a stable screamin' machine. Had a few problems with screen adjustments with the Kyro as a lot of the screens were off-center, but went through each resolution at each frequency that I use and turned out fine. Although the Kyro is the first video card that I have ever had to do that with. Usually one adjustment on the desktop screen and everything else is fine, but this one took a little more patience.