[Peptobismol165]

Hello!

I'm building a PC and I'm on a tight budget. I've looked at everything and I realized I MIGHT (Still deciding) try AMD. (Can't belive I just said that)

The problem is I'm not used to AMD's classifications. I know The Core I series is Intel's best, but what is AMD's? I'm building aa gaming rig, but I don't know Squat about AMD!!! Can somebody please fill me in on them or should I stick with Intel?

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Hey Peptobismol165!

You might try this webpage for starters. It has a good side-by-side comparison of the latest Intel and AMD processors.

Hope that helps! Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

[FNP]

Hey Peptobismol165!

You might try this webpage for starters. It has a good side-by-side comparison of the latest Intel and AMD processors.

Hope that helps! Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

[Peptobismol165]

That was pretty helpful. Thanks!

Also when an AMD motherboard says it supports Phenom II does it mean the whole series?

Edited by Peptobismol165, 13 July 2010 - 06:36 PM.

[FNP]

Glad the link works.

In answer to your question: in general yes. To what board are you referring?

[Peptobismol165]

I wasn't exacly pointing at a particular board. Newegg.com has something called Power Search and they refered to Phenom II, but nothing else. Thats why I was asking. The board I am looking at is the ASRock 890FX DELUXE3. I'm hoping to pair it with an AMD Phenom II X2 550 @3.1 Ghz. Sound good?

I was also wondering which company you prefer! So which is it Intel or AMD?

[FNP]

Ooh, ASRock! There's a name you don't see too often. I actually just repaired a custom build with an older ASRock system board in my shop today.

Looks like a solid combination. Any Phenom II processor (Phenom II X2 through X6) will work. And of course, they will have be AM3 socket processors; that's the other thing to check when pairing boards and chips.

As for brand preference... I can't say I have strong feelings one way or another. It really depends on the situation and the build for me. I can say that AMD processors tend to run a little bit cheaper and are marketed toward budget builders and gamers. If you're looking for absolute high-end performance, stick with the top-of-the-line Intel i7 builds- AMD's Phenom II X6 can't quite match Intel's latest offering.

My next build is a small, budget home server for my family, saving as much money as I could. The cheapest offering from AMD was only about $10 less than Intel's, and AMD's was an OEM chip, meaning I would have to find a heatsink and fan. I ended up saving money buying Intel's processor. So again, it comes down to the scenario and what you're tying to do with the system.

[MedStudent.003Hz]

The AMD Phenom II X2 550, 3.1 GHz processor you have picked out is supported by the ASRock 890FX DELUXE3 board based upon the board's Supported CPUs.

As an alternative, you might consider spending less on the motherboard and then splitting the difference by buying a CPU that has more cores; therefore, taking out the uncertainty on whether or not unlocking any disabled cores would work, and if it worked, if it would be stable.

In regards to the AMD versus Intel debate over which is better, I gave up my "fan-boyism" several years ago and traded it in for common sense, getting whatever processor was the best bang for my buck for my computing needs. Same goes with ATI versus nVidia, and any other computer hardware or software company you can think of; although, I am partial ot Lian-Li cases . Currently I have a desktop computer that I built in 2004 with an AMD cpu and an ATI graphics card, but I have one laptop with an Intel processor and a nVidia graphics card. I am still kicking myself for buying WD Raptor harddrives back when I built my current desktop computer. Sure, they are fast, especially in a RAID 0 config...even for today's standards..., but were and are the two or three second quicker load times and write times really worth the price I paid?

In the end, what matters more than mine or any body's opinion, although most other's opinions are better than mine, is buy whatever makes you happy and you are satisfied will meet you computing needs.

edited typos...doh!!!

Edited by MedStudent.003Hz, 13 July 2010 - 10:31 PM.

[FNP]

The only thing with trading down the system board is losing other system capability... sure, you might have bragging rights with 4 or 6 six cores, but when happens when you run out of PCI expansion slots?

Just food for thought.

[Peptobismol165]

You're both right. I just learned about the multi-core enabling and how it isn't stable. I will be going with a cheaper motherboard. Thanks a bunch and keep up the good work on GeeksToGo!