AMD vs Intel

ok i have a i7 950 and im looking at a new build and i would like to try amd but everything i read seems a little confusing when comparing to intel. what advantages and disadvantages do i have with either? im not a crazy overclocker and someone who wants to achieve 8.6ghz but i would like to get the best cpu that they make and over clock it a little.

ive also been looking at the talk about bulldozer and knowing nothing about amd, what is a bulldozer?

if someone with patience cares to explain this to a young grasshopper id love to listen.

If you want the best performance available grab an Intel 2600k.

It also comes down to:

What you plan to do with the system (game, work stuff, etc)
How much you want to spend
When you plan to build the computer

If you check out the various reviews of Bulldozer (AMD's newest chip, similar to Intel with Sandy Bridge) the performance of AMD's high-end chip (FX-8150) generally falls between a 2500k and 2600k for a price inbetween the two (although it is about $30-40 over MSRP right now making it even harder for people to recommend it). For straight up performance and ease of overclocking I would grab an Intel 2600k and motherboard and port over the things from your current system (RAM, Video, etc) and call it a day.

You can take a look at the review of AMD's newest flagship chip here:
http://www.overclockers.com/amd-fx-8150-bulldozer-processor-review

well another guy on this forum (nebulous) and i have a project we will be working on and i want to put something up for gaming. i may wait for ivy bridge because itll be a few months in progress just building the case so if ivy bridge is so close then i may just wait for that and have a computer i bring to work and game on as well as have a good desktop for home.

As a bit of an AMD fanboy, unfortuantely I can't recommend AMD over Intel right now unless you have a board that will take an FX-8000 series natively by way of an upgrade.

The architecture shows promise though at present it doesn't offer the value that it needs to to succeed against the competition from Intel. Intel wins hands down at present, where AMD wins is their mainboards tend to have better features for the same price.

Your i7 950 is all you need, just overclock it and purchase a new video card like a GTX 580.

I'm a intel fanboy and AMD can't stand the pressure.

I'm a fanboyism is stupid fanboy. xD

Bulldozer is the name of the CPU architecture. Your 950 is a Bloomfield for example. All of Intel's new stuff is Sandy Bridge.

Bulldozer is only slightly worse performing, but it comes with a higher price tag, a TON more power consumption, and a TON more heat. So basically, Sandy Bridge beats it by s a slight amount in every single category. However, chipset/motherboard wise, AMD has more features on their 990FX board then Intel does on P67 or Z68.

All that being said, I wouldn't even consider upgrading my 920 until Ivy Bridge, and even then, if OCed to 4GHz, it's still quite a workhorse.

Knufire said:

I'm a fanboyism is stupid fanboy. xD

Click to expand...

I agree, my problem is that I've been following the development of bulldozer so many years now that I can't help but just want to own one regardless of how it performs.... Which is, well, stupid..... I still want one though

dearbeloved said:

ok i have a i7 950 and im looking at a new build and i would like to try amd but everything i read seems a little confusing when comparing to intel. what advantages and disadvantages do i have with either? im not a crazy overclocker and someone who wants to achieve 8.6ghz but i would like to get the best cpu that they make and over clock it a little.

ive also been looking at the talk about bulldozer and knowing nothing about amd, what is a bulldozer?

if someone with patience cares to explain this to a young grasshopper id love to listen.

Click to expand...

Upgrading from a 950?!

Grab a decent cooler, and OC that thing to 4ghz! The i7 9XX cpus are still beasts!

I have a 950 and am reaching 4.1 on air. These are workhorses. To me it doesn't make much financial sense upgrading to SB, a marginally better setup, with IB around the corner.... watch this space

In this case I agree with a majority, hold tight on you current CPU and get a badarse video card. In 3 to 6 months IB and hopefully better BDs might make it worth the expense of clicking the buy button.