Which CPU is best AMD or Intel multicores?

Question

I am going to build a PC just after Christmas. It will serve 3 functions;
- web browsing (can be ignored here)
- gaming
- high end Excel applications with large data-sets

Now, I can buy a quad core Intel i7 950 or an AMD 6 core chip for about the same price. 6 cores sound nice. But what am I risking? I have **always** been an Intel user and therefore never had problems. Of course, I suppose zillions of AMD users will say the same.

Can someone give me a balanced idea. Please, no rabid "Apple-like" debates are wanted - just good sound advice from someone qualified to know. And no, if you have only used PCs for 5 years and never written a big complex Excel model you are NOT qualified to answer. Excel=Microsoft=close-to-Intel to my mind.

My first PC was a 286 and I have had almost every step and variation in between since then (I hate thinking what I have spent - $100 per MEGAbyte of RAM back then). Hence me being a bit jaded about newbies commenting when all they have ever done is download a few MP3s, installed a rogue copy of XP, never worked out a crack code, hacked a secure site and their biggest achievement is to have eventually installed a radio mouse (with help from Tech Support). Mind you, constructive comments from anyone will be read with appreciation.

Answer 1

I would recommend the Intel core i7 950.

I had a 9 core AMD CPU (x6 1090T) and switched to the Intel. It is fantastic. Very fast and can be hyperthreaded to make 8 cores.

I'm not a fanboy but I do know that Intel is better for raw power if you have the money, while AMD is bang for your buck.

Get the 950, it's worth it

Answer 2

I can't say I am qualified but I will make a comment or two. I also have been using computers since back in the 286 era, with 486, 586 AMD and so on, and most of my computers have been AMD centered, so I am a bit biased, I guess.

I am happy with my setup, a AM2+ cpu motherboard with a AM3 cpu AMD Phenom II x 4 945. It handles pretty much what I do, which is web browsing and some Excel, although I am not into Excel real deep. But I think it would handle the High end Excel apps easily.



As for the AMD 6 core, I don't know if there are any applications out yet that really need it.



But here is a chart, that can show you some differences in cpus, you can judge for yourself.



http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/29?vs=28

Answer 3

Intel is probably the best for gaming and the amd hexacore is best for CADD and other computer

design. Although I have never written a large excel program my advice would be to stick the the intel i7 950 quad core. The performance difference between an intel i7 quad and an amd hexa is going to small. Calculation time differences would probably be in the milliseconds because more than likely Microsoft hasn't optimized their programs for the architecture and use of a 6 core processor. My advice...stick to intel. Good luck!

Answer 4

The i7 is going to be faster in anything that uses 4 cores or less, which is pretty much everything you're doing with it. That being said, both are very fast CPUs, and you have to weigh the price difference and figure if the extra cost of the i7 is worth some extra speed. If money isn't a major object, go with the i7. If you have fairly strict budget, the AMD chip may be the best way to go. The visible difference between the two isn't going to be very big.



Both are fine CPUs. Go with whatever offers the best deal for your money because they're both very fast.

Answer 5

Which Intel "multicore" processor?...the 1100T is the perfect of the AMD line yet ranks decrease in bench mark scores than an intel i7-950 the quickest accessible CPU is the l7-980X however the 2600K supplies the suitable bang for the greenback even the i5-2500 has extra helpful scores than the 1100T...if your merely finding at it greenback clever...the 1100T is the quickest for the money

Answer 6

the i7 series has multithreading which allows once core 2 work on 2 threads simultaneously. a 4 core i7 is the equiv to an 8 core amd. go intel, your amd might cost the same because it prob defaultly comes clocked higher although you can change ur clock speed.

Answer 7

Intel is more stable than AMD, but with AMD you get more "bang for you buck" in terms of number of cores and speed. AMD uses slightly older transistor sizes (they are larger) and therefore there are less transistors than Intel processors. I also have heard though that Intel is harder to overclock than AMD.