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AMD or Intel for my next PC?

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Mannesty
Posted 04/11/2009 - 07:20 Link
Whilst I'm an IT professional it's been a while since I was in the 'front line' as it were and I'm rather out of touch with modern PC technology as I tend to deal mostly with servers.

So what's flavour of the month at the moment, AMD or Intel CPU's, and which model/generation of CPU from those manufacturers?

Like most people I guess, I want speed, reliability, and compatibility with my most used applications. These include Adobe video and still processing products, MS Office (though I could easily use Open Office), Vuescan, and most of the usual free stuff like iTunes, Picasa etc.

For my business I buy off the shelf systems by Acer. What other recommendations do you have. After sales support in the event of hardware failure is key to me and I've never had a good experience where Dell are concerned.

Value for money is also important to me. I'm well aware that the latest and greatest of just about anything carries a price penalty.

My current systems all run Windows XP except one running Windows 7 which I have hooked up to my TV.

My feeling is that Windows 7 64 bit is the way to go, I never did like Vista.

Your thoughts would be welcome.
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Edited by Mannesty: 04/11/2009 - 07:23
polchraine
Posted 04/11/2009 - 09:19 Link
Have a look at the Intel processors in the list ...

http://ark.intel.com/

The site also contains chipset and board data and benchmarks are at: http://www.intel.com/performance/index.htm
DoctorJeff
Posted 04/11/2009 - 10:25 Link
Wait and see.
What will you gain from a change to a faster processor? How much of your existing software will run on a 64-bit system? If you have to buy new, will the saving make a difference?

To a pro, doing a batch process on a whole lot of RAW files, this could really matter; to me, playing around with one shot, I have a lot of time to spare.

Before I retired (two whole months ago) the general opinion was that AMD had sort-of lost their way, and Intel were the brand again. Of course, with Apple now on Intel and the ability to run OS X and Windows 7 on the same machine, the choice is both easy and difficult.

More important is the matter of memory - how much ram do you want/need? All my PCs and Apples work fine with 1gb (or less), but I have friends who talk glibly of 4gb.

Horses for courses.
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Anvh
Posted 04/11/2009 - 11:19 Link
Because you said Adobe products I would be tempted to go for the more processing power of the Intels i7.
AMD processors are still the better ones when on a tight budget.

Take a look at these charts:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
Adobe Photoshop CS 4

Also take a look at your video card, Adobe is support processing on the video card now so if you've a good one that can surely make a difference with rendering.
Adobe always worked well with Nvidia's but ATI have some nice cards now, I'm only wandering how will they are compatible with the adobe software though.
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