Who offers the best cpu? AMD vs Intel

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Ah, the good old rivalry between Intel and AMD. As consumers, we benefit from this competition. This ensures that both companies work hard to produce the best cpus, at a good price that we are willing to pay. Of course, the price that someone is willing to pay will be adjusted depending on the person concerned. While $300 may be pocket change for someone with a high income job, it’s usually a lot for a student.

However, you’ll agree with me that everyone wants the best cpu currently available, at the price that they want to spend, whatever that price is. You could spend countless hours, reading full cpu reviews and comparing specs, which are great to read, if you want to spend to spend that much time that is. In the end, what you want to know is what the best cpu within your budget is.

So if you don’t have the time to do that, or just don’t care to do it, don’t worry. I did the research for you; I spent several days writing this article for you. As a matter of a fact, I’m writing this very paragraph at 1:50AM, before taking a nap, waking up at 6AM and heading out for work, for a contract.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you read this list:

• This list is for anyone who wants the best bang for the buck on their next cpu
• Prices and availability change everyday. I can’t keep up with accurate pricing everyday, but I can suggest to you great cpus that you won’t regret buying at the price ranges that I list.
• This list is based on the best U.S. prices from NewEgg. In other countries or in a retail stores, things might be different. All prices are based on new retail cpu prices, no used or open box cards are listed; they might be a good deal, but they come with trade offs, such as limited return policy, limited warranty, etc.
• Intel’s Bus Speed (FSB) and AMD’s Hyper Transport are quite different, so do not rely yourself on that spec to compare cpus from both company. Instead, this spec should be used to compare cpus within the same company.

If you want to upgrade, here’s what you need, depending on where you come from:

AMD
Socket A: Cpu, motherboard, ram and video card.
Socket 754: Cpu, motherboard, ram and possibly video card.
Socket 939: Cpu, motherboard, ram and possibly video card.
Socket AM2: Cpu only, possibly motherboard to support higher thermal dissipation.

Intel
Socket 478 Cpu, motherboard, ram and possibly video card.
Socket 775 Cpu, possibly motherboard (depending on chipset), possibly ram (if it’s too slow) and possibly video card.

Let me explain the specs and ratings:
Here’s an example:
Specs:
Core: The name of the core(s) used in the cpu.
Number of cores: That’s pretty straight-forward.
FSB/Hyper Transport speed: The speed that the cpu communicates with the Northbridge (Intel FSB) or the memory(AMD).
Core clock: The maximum default speed at which the core(s) runs.
L2 Cache Size: The quantity of L2 cache memory.
Manufacturing Tech: 45nm or 65nm. Smaller is better.
Thermal Dissipation: The maximum thermal dissipation under default speed. Less is better.

Comparison:
Performance: All rated on a scale of 1 to 10:

• Gaming: How will the cpu perform in video games?
• Audio/Photo/Video Editing: How will the cpu perform with larger files and demanding applications for audio/photo/video editing?
• Single thread: How will the cpu perform with a single program that is not optimized for multiple cores?
• Multiple threads/Multithreaded: How will the cpu perform with various applications open at once or with a multi-threaded application?
• Overclocking potential: How well this particular cpu will overclock?
• Performance value for the price: How well does the cpu perform considering the price asked for me?
• Power usage: How much power (electricity) does it use? A higher note means that it uses less power.

Overall: x.x/10 : Add the seven individual notes and divide them by seven to get the overall note.

Under $50: Celeron E1200 vs. Athlon LE-1660:
Tie – Depends on the application(s)
For the first face-off, we have in the blue corner the Intel Celeron E1200 and in the green corner the Athlon LE-1660. The Celeron have the advantage with audio/photo/video editing, multithreaded applications and overclocking performance due to its dual-core, with nearly 100%(+1.6GHz) overclocking reported. The Athlon have the edge in gaming, single threaded performance and power usage, due to its fast and cool 2.8GHz single core. Which one is better? That depends on what you intend to do with your cpu. In the end, they are both very inexpensive cpus, with limited performance, which are designed to answer specific needs.

Under $70: Pentium E2180 vs X2 5200+: Slight advantage AMD.
While the Intel’s cpu has a more efficient architecture, that alone won’t let it catch up the X2 5200+ which runs 700MHz faster than the E2180. AMD wins, by a slight margin though, as it’s crippled by an aged architecture which is desperately due for a refresh. When overclocking is involved, Intel does take back the crown though because their cpus overclock easily by 50% and more, which is way more than the AMD cpu will.

Under $100: Pentium E5200 vs. X2 6000+:
Slight advantage Intel: While AMD’s Brisbane core can still compete and win against the Allendale core, it hits a wall vs a faster E5200, based on the Wolfdale core. With the X2 6000+, the Brisbane core is reaching its limits, offering similar performance to the E5200, but with much less overclocking potential and higher thermal dissipation.

Under $120: E7200 vs Phenom 9600 BE: Depends on your applications.
The E7200 has the edge when it comes to gaming, single thread performance, overclocking potential and power usage, but the Phenom 9600 BE is in lead for Audio/Photo/Video Editing and multiple threads/multithreaded performance. Pick your cpu depending on what you will be doing with it.

Under $175: E8400 vs. Phenom 9950 140W

Once again, this will depend on the applications used. This is similar to the $120 comparison, but it involves much faster cpus. Stick to the E8400 for gaming, single thread performance, overclocking potential and power usage. Go with the Phenom 9950 for Audio/Photo/Video editing, heavy multi-tasking or a well multi-threaded program.

Under $190: Q6600 vs Phenom 9950 BE 125W vs E8500:

Gaming, single thread performance and power usage: E8500 hands down
For those of you who focus on Audio/Photo/Video editing and multiple threads/multithread performance, here’s a question: Are you going to overclock? If yes, go with the Q6600. If not, the Q6600 and the Phenom 9950 are both great contender. The latter uses more electricity though.

Under $270: E8600 vs Q9400:

Running at 3.33GHz, the E8600 is the best cpu for gaming  and single threaded performance. While the Q9400 is knowned for its superior performance for editing and multitasking/multithreaded, the E8600 isn’t that far behind, due to its speed advantage. This round goes to the E8600, unless you focus strictly on editing or multitasking.

Under $320: Q9550

Under $550: Q9650

In conclusion, you can see that AMD is still competitive in the lower end of the market with their X2. They are doing pretty well with their Phenom too, although they aren’t making much money out of it.

Intel’s Nehalem, known as Core i7 , will change everything in the higher end of the market in just a few weeks. AMD will then need something and quick. The X2 line-up needs a much needed refresh, same goes for Phenom.

I invite you to let me know what you think of this. Do you believe that some ratings are unjustified? Do you think that a particular cpu should have featured? Have any questions? Leave a comment and participate in the conversation with the community here!

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