Ati/NVIDIA amd/intel?

[Fenrin]

I just looked to benchmarks and compared Phenom X2 550, Athlon X3 435, Athlon X4 620 and Intel I3-530:


Performancerating tests (higher is better)
Phenom X2 545: applications 100%, games 100%, theoretical tests 100%
Athlon X3 435: applications 115%, games 115%, theoretical tests 113%
Athlon X4 420: applications 125%, games 120%, theoretical tests 125%
Intel I3-530: applications 119%, games 126%, theoretical tests 145%

power consumption (lower is better):
Phenom X2 545: idle 100%, full load 100%
Athlon X3 435: idle 100%, full load 101%
Athlon X4 420: idle 99%, full load 111%
Intel I3-530: idle 90%, full load 71%

current prices (in Germany with 19% VAT):
Phenom X2 545: 72 EUR
Athlon X3 435: 65 EUR
Athlon X4 420: 80 EUR
Intel I3-530: 101 EUR

source: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/h...formancerating

[Kano]

@blackstar

Well it is hard to compare the X4 945 because there is no quad in that price segment from the new iX series. But when you use X4 965 to compare is only 20 € less than i5-750. The cheaper Athlon X4 are busted in most bechmarks even with the dual core i3-530. You may certainly always find a cpu between others that has got no good match - try to compares those which have got one. The dual core i5 are no real good invest as the turbo mode would only work when 1 core is idle which would not be that often the case. Only if you really want the new AES functions you need those 32nm cpus which are not in the older quads nor in the i3. A good comparision in in the current ct 7/10. But for 100 € what do you find better than i3-530?

[deanjo]

A bit off topic but has anybody been able to find the errata or white papers on the AMD SB850 chipset yet?

[BlackStar]

Not in the 100-150 € cpu price segment - maybe 20-30 € more initial invest but more speed and less power usage (most likely better oc) for the rest of the cpu life circle.

AMD Phenom 2 945 (quad core, 3GHz) sells for 135€. The cheapest i5 sells for 155€ (i5-650, dual core, 3GHz). The cheapest i5 quad core (i5-750, 2.66GHz) sells for 170€. The Phenom is a better all-around processor than the 650, but it's slower than the 750 - but not 35€ slower. Frankly, Intel sucks from a value proposition until you reach the high end. Better put your money into a better video card!

AMD has better GPUs than Nvidia right now, but Nvidia has an edge on Linux drivers. If you dual boot to Windows for gaming, AMD is probably better. For pure Linux, you'll likely have better luck with a Nvidia GPU. Your pick!

[Kano]

Not in the 100-150 € cpu price segment - maybe 20-30 € more initial invest but more speed and less power usage (most likely better oc) for the rest of the cpu life circle.

[Fenrin]

Because your cpus needs more power and is slower, right? Maybe a few bucks cheaper when you buy it...

For the same price you get a much faster AMD CPU than a Intel CPU. If you compare CPUs with almost same power consumption the Intel CPU costs maybe about 30% more money and is maybe about 15% faster. Thats the reason why I think AMD CPUs are more favourable.

[Kano]

Because your cpus needs more power and is slower, right? Maybe a few bucks cheaper when you buy it...

[Fenrin]

... and one of it's mainly purposes will be gaming, and I'm very lost looking the best linux compatible hardware.

The most simple questions, ati or nvidia? intel or amd?
...

If you wanna play newer games you will need a dedicated graphic card probably (chipset graphic or graphic units on certain Intel CPUs are too bad for newer games).
Here and Here is my opinion about NVIDIA vs. ATI.

In my opinion AMD CPUs a much more favorable than Intel CPUs. I have a Phenom X2 545 and I'm happy with it.

[Kano]

The cpu itself does not really matter - maybe for turbo mode of the latest intel cpus you might need a current kernel, same for the onboard (w)lan chips. Basically there are no incompatible current x86 cpus. Even the hd controller is still similar to old ones and is no problem to use with default ahci driver - even with older kernels. So you have got the free choice - for gfx card go for nv if you want to have got better (binary) Linux drivers. Even if you would try a completely new system, the max you may need to use is a supported nic to get online with an older kernel.

[Serjor]

Thank you for your reply.

Budget is not a problem (actually it always is a problem), so ok, Intel, i5 or i7 (from a point of view based on linux compatibility)?

ATI... NVIDIA... the eternal question...