AMD or Intel

[Pawnless Endgame]

My info might be out of date (we're looking at 2006 here), but back then, I was told that AMD was geared towards gaming where Intel are more geared towards encoding and video/sound-processing.

 

[gareth170]

AM2+ does not work in AM3 boards because it doesn't have the DDR3 memory controller.

and have 2 extra pins

 

[arc@css]

My info might be out of date (we're looking at 2006 here), but back then, I was told that AMD was geared towards gaming where Intel are more geared towards encoding and video/sound-processing.

Intel are great for gaming also but they are the better choice for, as you mentioned, encoding ect. I'd say that AMD and intel in comparison are quite close for gaming, not much in it.

 

[PakJai]

Either is good and is more than capable for whatever you might want to throw at it. The deciding factor is down to your budget.

It's like deciding on a BMW and a Porshe, they will both get you from home to work and back, no problem. It's a matter of whether you want to pay the premium for that extra bit of performance.

However, if you are looking at comparing the intel i5 and AMD Phenom II Quad, then give it a couple of weeks. AMD will likely be dropping its price because i5 are more overclockable and energy efficent, therefore more appealing, than the top of the line AMD's. If rumours were correct, then the prices should also be pretty similar to AMD.