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AMD vs. Intel: Who makes the better processor?
Results so far:
| AMD | 43% | 262 votes | Total: 613 votes | |
| Intel | 57% | 351 votes |
AMD
by David Brown
Created on: January 09, 2009
Being in the computer business years ago, this writer found it difficult to stay in "touch" with the computer technology industry as it went and still goes through many changes today. It is not each month or each year, but nearly everyday, the computer industry seems to go through a metamorphosis that baffles even the minds of the layperson who has no idea even how to turn a computer on. At the same time, the competitiveness is extremely high between computer system manufacturers, the "big boys" in the retail end of the computer industry as well as the "mom and pop" shops that sell computers, software and peripherals. At the forefront of the computer manufacturing industry is not only the competitiveness between the MACINTOSH Computers and the PC, but between the chip manufacturers, AMD and INTEL. Both are good, but this writer has to believe and does believe that AMD has a competitive edge over Intel because it is a better made processor.
Intel has been in the computer processor manufacturing business for many years and has been the big name of the processor industry. However, this writer who has had the pleasure of being a value added reseller for many computer products, computer systems and software for nearly seven years, has found that the computers that he had sold and the motherboards that he sold with the Intel processor on them were a bit more quirkier than anything he had sold on with AMD processors on them. The Intel computers were found the be somewhat slower and would lock up or crash more often than any computers sold with the AMD processor. This does not mean that this writer would not sell a computer with the Intel processor in it, but he would prefer the AMD over the INTEL. At the same time, what was interesting was the difficulty in convincing customers/clients that the AMD was better and more stable than the INTEL. The only way that this writer was able to do this convincing was to bring two computers on-site to the customers/clients and show them which computer ran the best.
At the same time, this writer had to convince himself that the AMD ran smoother and with less problems than the INTEL processor. How did he do this? Easy, with the help of his partner, they would set up a work bench and with only the motherboard, memory, video card and a sound card plugged into their respective slots and then plugging into a monitor with the assistance of a mouse and a keyboard, the benchmarking began. Each and every time, the AMD would benchmark stronger and crashed less. However, one of the main "ingredients" to look at and this writer did it was to figure out which was better for what application.
It turned out that for gaming purposes, and back in the mid-90s to late 90s, games were not as strong as they are today. Still, it appeared that the AMD allowed for game play to continue uninterrupted for hours at a time. What was nice for both processors was that word processing and database management only, both processors worked great, however, in the view of this writer, there were still less problems with the AMD processor.
What really did it for this writer was the introduction of the INTEL Celeron Processor. This writer believes that the Celeron was not the greatest move for INTEL, yet, it was the less expensive option for those individuals who needed to spend less on their computer needs. AMD took this and ran with it and introduced newer and more advanced processors. Yet, still, INTEL remained the bigger name in the processor manufacturing market and this was and still is due to marketing and advertising.
Finally, when it comes to buying computers, this writer will continue to purchase computers that have the AMD label and logo on it because he is convinced that it is still the more reliable one on the market today.
Learn more about this author, David Brown.
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Intel
by Sean Quinn
Created on: November 17, 2010
A great way to start an argument among PC users is to ask whether AMD or Intel makes the best processor. Computer users can be so brand-loyal as to be partisan, and the question can produce answers as bitter as the responses to the "PC vs. Mac" debate. It's important to be objective, and keep in mind that the answer is: yes. AMD or Intel makes the better processor.
That answer isn't as smartalecky as it might appear on the surface. It's impossible to separate the question of "better" from the question of what the processor's intended for, and no one processor is the best for every situation. If the question is which is more powerful, given each company's top-of-the-line product, benchmarks clearly and consistently show Intel's products to come out ahead. In terms of pure performance, Intel is so dominant that AMD's chips generally don't even begin to show up until about a third of the way down the comparison charts. Intel's Core i7 models of two years ago still perform in benchmarks with results comparable or superior to those of AMD's best current models. But that doesn't mean that AMD's processors are not excellent, and it doesn't make them "second-rate". It just means that, when one needs the maximum amount of computing power without regard to cost, Intel comes out ahead. Intel chips are the preferred choice for a user who likes to multitask, and they will shine in highly-threaded multimedia applications such as audio and video production and media encoding. However, not every user will be running such processor-intensive applications, so the extra expense would be a waste. And unlimited budgets are not the reality for most of us.
AMD has a big advantage in performance for price. However, "economical" should not be confused with "cheap". If a one processor is twice as expensive as another but performs three times as well, that more expensive CPU would be the better bargain. But when building a computer system from a limited budget, spending in one area means not having the money to spend in another area. Many systems will never run software that takes full advantage of their insane processing capability; while in others, the processor will never run at full power because some other part of the system is causing a slowdown. This can be especially true in gaming rigs, where overspending on a CPU can mean having to settle for an underperforming videocard. Capable AMD processors can be purchased for under $100, a price range in which Intel has little to no presence.
Games are one of the first things to come to mind when speaking of applications that require a lot of computing power. Most games take little advantage of more than three processor cores, so those four-core Intel beasts would not be used to their fullest, and would give little to no performance improvement over AMD's Phenom II models. There certainly would not be a performance improvement that would justify a three-figure price difference. Multitasking performance is less important when it comes to games, so a gamer might prefer a powerful dual-core processor over a three- or four-core model. Phenom II processors also have a large 6MB L3 cache, which will boost the performance of games.
AMD's processors also match up better in mobile applications, with laptop chips comparable to Intel's offerings. AMD also has an advantage in low-power CPUs designed for netbooks, with their newly-released Zacate chips outperforming Intel's Atom in processing, graphics, and power consumption.
When asking which manufacturer produces the better processor, Intel has to be given due for the performance of their high-end chips. But when the question becomes, "Who makes the better processor for me?", the answer may be very different. AMD at one time reigned in the processor wars, and may do so again in the future. Whether or not that comes to be, both companies make an excellent product that any user would be happy to have in their computer.
Learn more about this author, Sean Quinn.
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