I’m honestly shocked at how much lower in price AMD desktop processors are compared to Intel these days. Considering a quad-core from AMD starts at $90 and Intel at $180, you can easily see why so many PC builders choose to go with AMD as their CPU of choice.
But are AMD processors any good? Of course they are. Just take a look at some of the reviews for the Phenom II X4 965. For 130 bucks it’s basically impossible to beat that performance at that price point. Heck, even the X4 955 at 10 bucks less gets stellar reviews.
Am I saying Intel is overpriced? Well, you can be the judge on that one, but it’s generally true that when when you put like-chip vs. like-chip in the AMD vs. Intel realm, AMD by and large always has the nicer price.
Are there any real drawbacks to using AMD?
None that I can think of. Or at least not anymore.
There was a time when AMDs weren’t as "green" as Intel, but that’s pretty much thrown out the window as both Intel and AMD’s upper-end CPUs blast over the 100-watt mark easily.
Some still believe AMDs run hotter than Intels do, but I’m not so sure about that either especially with AMD’s new FX line like this 6-core beast that only runs at 95w.
In the end, if you’re budget-minded but still want a blazing-fast PC that does everything, you can save a lot of cash by going AMD. If you’ve been using Intel CPUs for a while, maybe it’s time for a switch?
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Yep – I’ve always been a fan of AMD. As you may or may not know I used to build computers. I still do occasionally come to that. For the best bang-for-buck ratio it’s always been AMD, ever since the single-cored Athlon 64; maybe even before that. Rarely did I use Intel.Having said that, though, I do remember publishing an article on my blog (In 2009. – It got lost in the November 2010 rebuild.) giving suggestions for building a budget PC using an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5700. – Now in Intel’s favour that is great value. – So AMD don’t always win on price.
My current PC has an AMD board, I had a X3 720 in the original build, but when the 1090T dropped to $199, I jumped (now $169!). 6 cores for under $200? You bet!
The price/performance ratio is great, and in my experience, my AMDs run cooler than my work PC with a Q6600 (to be fair, that CPU is in a Dell).