Quad Phenom vs Quad Core?

[e36Adz]

AMD Phenom Quad 9850 2.5GHz

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz


How do the above 2 cpus compare in terms of performance, without any overclocking?


My cousin is buying a pre-built PC and the one he was looking at is:

-Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33ghz
-Vista Home 32bit
-4GB (4x 1GB) DDR2
-500GB 7200rpm hdd
-256mb HD3450
-dvd rw
-24" dell
1 year warranty

£700

The one I pointed him too however was this:

# AMD Phenom Quad 9850 2.5GHz
# 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory
# 750GB Serial ATA II Hard Drive
# nVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB
# 22x DVD-RW
# Hiper 580w PSU (630w Peak)
# MSI K9A2 Neo-F AMD 770 AM2+
# High Definition 8 Channel 7.1 Sound
# 1000MBps LAN
# Gigabyte Triton Chassis with 2 x 120mm Fans
# Vista Ultimate 64
# LG 22" widescreen
1 year warranty

£700


I have advised him to go with the second mainly because of the superior graphics card, plus this one will come with no 'junk' installed, whereas the first one will, you can probably guess where the first one is coming from.


So how do those cpus compare, and which system would you go for?

 

[benwoodcock]

I would have said the second one, but the dell 24" of the first is pretty good and very tempting...

However the quad core is pretty pointless when combined with a bloated x86 OS...

What are his uses? They're both decent CPUs and I doubt there'd be a huge difference in most tasks.

Overall though, the AMD

 

[spicypixel]

Off the bat the second PC will be better if he's a gamer. The stronger GPU will more than make up for the 10-20% CPU speed difference. Might be nice to get the second PC and get ready to throw a AMD Phenom II in it when the time comes if you find CPU power is lacking. Alternatively buy the first and stick a 4850 in it aftermarket.

 

[PeterStoba]

I don't get it, big companies like Dell, HP etc.. selling pcs with 4GB RAM and a 32bit OS?

 

[Nitrojan]

That's DELL for you

 

[mame]

The 2nd one. If I was to buy the first one I would end up itching to buy a new graphics card from day one and then would start looking at better CPUs just because of the range of s775 CPUs that exist. A 24" monitor on a 3450 isn't going to be good. Also, I wouldn't go for a 32bit OS at this point.

 

[e36Adz]

I would have said the second one, but the dell 24" of the first is pretty good and very tempting...

However the quad core is pretty pointless when combined with a bloated x86 OS...

What are his uses? They're both decent CPUs and I doubt there'd be a huge difference in most tasks.

Overall though, the AMD

Should have mentioned his uses. It will be used for watching videos, browsing the net, downloading, and for playing games.

Off the bat the second PC will be better if he's a gamer. The stronger GPU will more than make up for the 10-20% CPU speed difference. Might be nice to get the second PC and get ready to throw a AMD Phenom II in it when the time comes if you find CPU power is lacking. Alternatively buy the first and stick a 4850 in it aftermarket.

That's the thing you see, once he buys it, thats it, it will not be touched! He has had his current PC for I think over 6 years, so this one will be the same again. Hence why he is buying a pre-built one. Also, neither PC will be overclocked hence why I am curious to know the performance of both the above if they were side by side.

I think the AMD would come out on top in most things tbh, and the monitor is 22" with resolution 1680x1050 which I think would be ideal to play most games at that res on highest settings with that 9800GTX in there, whereas the first system on the 24" would really struggle with games at 1920x1200.

I don't get it, big companies like Dell, HP etc.. selling pcs with 4GB RAM and a 32bit OS?

I know, another reason to go with the second one!

 

[Luxor]

The second choice, mainly for the reasons stated above. It will last and he won't be disappointed with the Graphics card, unlike option 1.

I've got a 9950 and it's a solid performer, he should enjoy the system.

 

[Trunks9486]

The AMD machine, hands down.

 

[simonnance]

Better try and find a stronger C2Q build running a smaller screen with a better gfx, both of those builds are less than optimum.

Is the 24" dell the 2408HC, the 2409W or the E248WFP? If the former then you have a lot of budget you can re-assign to the gfx as the LG 22" would be ~£150-200 cheaper than the 2408HC.