Most people have always leaned on Intel being the top of the two.
Not true at all. Some, yes. But not most - and not always.
In the beginning, it was only Intel. Then AMD, a company formed exclusively to make
Intel processors under license from Intel so IBM could have a second supply source for Intel CPUs, eventually leap-frogged past Intel by developing their own better and cheaper CPU. This totally embarrassed the heck out of the smug and cocky Intel. It took years for Intel to regroup, only overtaking AMD again with the Core 2 Duos. Since then, Intel has learned their lesson, is no longer sitting on their laurels, and remained on top. And with their deep pockets, and vows of never to be embarrassed like that again, has continued to expand the gap by developing better and better CPUs.
But I know that is completely stereo-typing
That is also not true, for the reasons I said above. Yes, there are many die-hard fans of both camps, but those folks don't have open minds. It is important to note that neither company made bad CPUs - so no stereotyping is allowed!
If you hear someone say AMDs are bad or Intels are bad, avoid those people. They don't know what they are talking about.
I know amd's have great stuff out there.
Now this is VERY true! And has always been true. In fact, speaking of stereotyping, AMD was the gamer's CPU of choice for years because Intel CPUs just did not compete with games. So AMDs became known as the gamers CPU of choice, and Intel (and Macs) were used by professionals for serious graphics and engineering design. And it was the gamers who drove the self-build industry, so we have much to thank AMD for. But just because Intel now sits at the top of the heap in just about every category and price break, AMD CPUs are
excellent CPUs and, along with a good graphics card, a decent amount of RAM, and good PSU to feed them, an AMD CPU based computer will make an excellent computer, MORE than capable of meeting any user's needs for years to come.
It is not likely AMD will ever take the crown again. There will be one or two exceptions in a category here and there, but unless shattered by some corporate scandal, Intel learned their lesson.
BUT, this is still most excellent for us, the consumers. AMD is an ever charging bull and Intel will forever be striving to stay ahead. This forces both companies to fund R&D to advance the technologies, and keep prices attractive.
It is important to remember that today's computing environment is more graphics oriented and intensive than ever before. You can have the best CPU in the world, but if the system is bottle-necked by a less-capable graphics solution, you will be in a wait-state as much as your CPU. The more capable the graphics solution, the more tasks the CPU can hand off to the graphics solution, and it takes very little CPU horsepower to hand off tasks. So in many cases, the graphics solution is a more critical decision than the CPU.
Edited by Digerati, 14 April 2010 - 06:58 AM.