I'm pondering getting a new computer... As always, everyone has their opinion why something is better. I asked the salesman at STAPLES what he recommends and he said a Pentium is like a Corvette and an AMD is like a souped up Honda with a fart can muffler.

Any thoughts? I really don't have any opinion other than I have always owned Pentiums.

Thanks
KC-10 FE out...

 

5 years ago, I would've said AMD without question (and I worked at Staples about 10 years ago)...

I'd have to say P4 now.

 

I think P4 stinks.... PIII is alright...I've heard a lot of good about Intel Xenon not sure what the diff is between it and regular P4. last AMD that I had was the K6 but it is still running strong and has always been reliable... I can't say that for the P's that I've had/have.

 

I've had both and my last 3 computers have been AMD.

 

AMD's are Cheaper, perform better, run cooler, and are more software and game compatable. then intel based chipsets. intel is good for one thing graphics designing due to their increased memory bandwidth on the FSB. but hey intel still hasnt perfected their 64bit chip yet and AMD's had theirs out for over a year... so that will tell u there who has better technology in thier chipset. i'd think of it more like this AMD is a SVT cobra cheaper and faster. and P4 is a corvette Expensive!!!! currently my XP 2400 2.0ghz CPU. my FSB is at 390mhz and my clock speed is 2.29ghz and according to sandra i perform a tad bit faster then a P4 3.2ghz 533fsb. if u want me to explain why AMD is better with lower frezuencies they have nearly 3 times the pipelines accross the chip enabling it to flow more data at a lower speed it like P4 uses stock manifolds and AMD uses Long tubes.... understand?

 

Pentium IV.
I would also say build your own versus buying.
(But that depends on your comfort zone.)
I built my own, and I am pleased as peach with it.

WWW.PCMECH.COM
WWW.HARDFORUMS.COM
WWW.ANANDTECH.COM
WWW.NEWEGG.COM

I did a lot of research on the above forums, and they were more than helpful. My PC is coming up on a year old. Ne'er a hiccup.

ASUS P4C800E-DELUXE | P4 3.2C | XP PRO SP1A | 2 X Maxtor 6Y120M0 120GB S-ATA HDD RAID 0 | 2 x OCZ 512MB DDR400 Gold Edition Rev.2 Enhanced Latency PC3700 | Plextor PX-708A/SW-BL | Plextor PX-Premium/SW-BL | Enermax EG475P-VE-SFMA | ATI RADEON 9800XT | Lian-Li PC-65B | Logitech Elite | MX510 | Linksys BEFSX41 | APC UPS BE725BB | VS G90FB | Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1

 

Are you a serious gamer? If the answer is yes, get the AMD. It has a superior multimeadia instruction set and many games/programmers take advantage of it. Now, this doesn't mean games fly on an AMD and poke along on a P4. It just means those gamers that want the absolute best game performance and blow $400-500 on graphics & audio cards should get it. In most other business-related tasks the P4 has been shown to have the edge.

If you a semi-gamer or just using it for web, e-mail, simple office stuff & online games & crap... it really doesn't matter what you get. Get what fits your budget.


Actually... now that I think about it. Your not a serious gamer.. if you were, you wouldn't be getting a PC from Staples... anywho, the pimply-faced sales puke at Staples is an idiot, get whatever you wish.

 

BS...

Cheaper yes, better is your opinion, run cooler compared to what?
More software and game compatible is complete BS. The 64 bit comment means little since almost NO user operating systems or applications take advantage of 64 bit processing.

An analogy for the 64 bit process or that is truck related, would be saying that Bigfoot is a bigger better more powerful truck than my F150. Yes in some peoples opinion bogfoot has advantages over my truck. However since its not road legal - the differences mean NOTHING to me.

Here is quote from AMD

Do I want to buy my processor from a company who's CEO sees himself as a low value clone vendor.. NO

Here is more feedback and comparison about AMD processors

http://www.overclockers.com/articles667/
Overclockers are typically BIG fans of AMD in general so to make these comments is surprising

Doug

 

Well put D

 

The heat situation with the P4's is actually a big deal...My brother was proad of his when he first got his and he brought it out to my house to do some work on it. When we were done we pluged him in to my network and were going to play some NFS. The room temp. was 74 degrees and 3-5 minutes into the game the P4 over heated and shut down, my PIII was still going strong. I won't have a P4 now he has since switched to a dual Xenon processors and an A-Open board. He seems to like it better.

 

Sounds like a ****-poor case design. With proper ventilation will let you run any P4 at any speed in nearly any weather conditions. It's like blaming your engine for shutting down because you didn't add coolant..

 

He did not have his side on so it wasn't premium air flow threw the case. He is big on airflow and has over vented his case with exhaust and intake fans in my oppinion. But I have never ran with my side on. Actually I don't even know were my side panel is. My power supply is the only exhaust fan I have ever had and a small heat sink with SC fan on the processor. Those 2 are more than noisy enough for my taste. His sounds like a jet plane firing up all the time, that's just annoying to me.

 

Yeah, he screwed up big time running without the case assembled. All a P4 needs is a simple heatsink (fan attached), an a fan to push the hot air out. That's it. An intake fan (fan used to pull air into the case) is just stupid. Tell him to turn off the PC and step away from the desk... he doesn't dzerv to use it.

 

LOL
Like I said though my case is never assembled... I dont even know where all of it is anymore... I am always upgrading so is a time saver step for me... But the P3 doesnt shut off if it over heats. If it does over heat then it will just burn up! Then darn it I have to upgrade...

PS I can handle the noise if there is a benefit like a 10,000 RPM hard drive or something....

 

This could be debated to death and back however,

I prefer the Pentium.