Intel vs AMD quad core??

[bubbawillums]

I'm in the process of looking at a new build and im gonna go with 8 gigs of ram either way but im undecided on what processor to get?

Is there any real difference between the 2 brands:?

[Michael_Lambert]

Everywhere you turn these days people are showing the benchmarks. Honesty for what we do and what we will be doing for the next 10 years i don't think its going to make much of a difference.

I went from a AMD Duel core to the intel quad only because the options i wanted on the board was cheaper going the intel route. I have read alot of bench marks and found the intels to be pretty decent and i guess considering Apple has moved to the intel chips in there systems it must say something for them :D

[OdiN1701]

Go with the Intel. It's the best CPU out right now. Performance is better than AMD. Could change in the future, but for now Intel is where it's at.

Also the Intel chipsets are going to be more solid.

I used to use an Athlon X2 chip, as it used to be a better performer before the Core architecture from Intel came out.

[tim]

Intel Quad are the way to go right now. In Jan or Feb the new architecture will be released, but it'll be expensive and requires DDR-3 RAM, which is pretty expensive too. I was going to get a system with a new chip but might wait until things get cheaper. My AMD dual core is still going fine for now.

[OdiN1701]

Intel Quad are the way to go right now. In Jan or Feb the new architecture will be released, but it'll be expensive and requires DDR-3 RAM, which is pretty expensive too. I was going to get a system with a new chip but might wait until things get cheaper. My AMD dual core is still going fine for now.

I usually don't go with the first release of a new architecture. I usually wait for them to do the die shrink to that architecture. Gives time for chipset and motherboard issues to be ironed out, and any other little quirks of the chip. By that time, the chip is cheaper (more fit on a wafer) and the DDR will come down because more people will be purchasing it, so more will be produced which will lower prices.

[tim]

Yeah cheaper and faster, but I have 22 weddings in summer so I was hoping for something faster. I could go to the E9xxx series but that would seem a bit of a waste of money if the i7 architecture comes out.

[OdiN1701]

Hows the used market over there? It's been tougher to sell stuff over here. I sold a $200 motherboard for $85 not long ago. Not too bad, but I used to be able to get more.

[tim]

I have no idea about the used market, I only buy new.

I just priced up a new E9500 system, it's about US$1400 for 8GB RAM, motherboard, case, OS, etc. Things cost more here. Doubt i'll bother with it, probably wait until mid next year when the i7 comes down in price.

[OdiN1701]

I meant for you to sell after the fact to recoup some money. That's what I do. But with Ebay's BS now it's tougher to sell anything.

Odd that things cost more there...you're closer to Taiwan/Japan/China where most of this stuff is made.

[bubbawillums]

I can build a good Intel Q6600 quad core system for about £450($900USD) so i'm gonna go for that i think.
I could probably sell my exisiting system (amd64 3700,3gb ram,320gig HD)for about £250 so its not going to cost me too much.
Think thats what i will do, thanks for the advice guys :)

[tim]

I meant for you to sell after the fact to recoup some money. That's what I do. But with Ebay's BS now it's tougher to sell anything.

Odd that things cost more there...you're closer to Taiwan/Japan/China where most of this stuff is made.

Our dollar has lost strength during the financial problems (which is odd as the country's stable), that's probably why things are more expensive.

I could sell the old machine, but entry level computers are probably just as fast and they're quite cheap. Plus it's got weird quirks, like after you turn it off you have to unplug it for 5 seconds then plug it back in before it'll turn on. Sometimes you need to do that 5 times before it'll start. I use standby now, to get around that problem.

[MaxxuM]

Yeah cheaper and faster, but I have 22 weddings in summer so I was hoping for something faster. I could go to the E9xxx series but that would seem a bit of a waste of money if the i7 architecture comes out.

There is likely not going to be a quantum leap in performance; at least initially. The current fast cpu's will likely be adequate for some time to come.

[tim]

There is likely not going to be a quantum leap in performance; at least initially. The current fast cpu's will likely be adequate for some time to come.

My CPU is an Athlon X2 4800+ , I wonder if going to a quad E9XXX is worth the money. The only thing I want my PC to do faster is process batches of images. I can wait though.

[Motley]

My CPU is an Athlon X2 4800+ , I wonder if going to a quad E9XXX is worth the money. The only thing I want my PC to do faster is process batches of images. I can wait though.

You don't even need a quad to process your images.

An E8600 would be 2 or 3 times as fast as that athlon you got. Go for the upgrade you won't be disappointed.

[OdiN1701]

My CPU is an Athlon X2 4800+ , I wonder if going to a quad E9XXX is worth the money. The only thing I want my PC to do faster is process batches of images. I can wait though.

I came from an X2 4800 to a Core2 Quad....obviously with the Quad there is a good performance boost. Worth it? Perhaps. It should do batches much quicker.

If you want, feel free to make an action or whatever that does some things, run it on a batch of photos, and send the same to me. I'd be happy to run the same on mine and let you know what the speed is.

I'll just run it under everyday conditions too.

[tim]

You don't even need a quad to process your images.

An E8600 would be 2 or 3 times as fast as that athlon you got. Go for the upgrade you won't be disappointed.

It's really a call of doing the upgrade soon, or waiting 6 months for the core i7 architecture. Since what I have still works very quickly for 95% of what I do i'm leaning towards the latter.

I came from an X2 4800 to a Core2 Quad....obviously with the Quad there is a good performance boost. Worth it? Perhaps. It should do batches much quicker.

If you want, feel free to make an action or whatever that does some things, run it on a batch of photos, and send the same to me. I'd be happy to run the same on mine and let you know what the speed is.

I'll just run it under everyday conditions too.

That'd be great... maybe just batch fifty random 40D RAWs to full res sRgb JPGs using the Photoshop Image Processor. Read from one disk, write to another. You can work out how long it takes using the timestamps on the file.

[OdiN1701]

That'd be great... maybe just batch fifty random 40D RAWs to full res sRgb JPGs using the Photoshop Image Processor. Read from one disk, write to another. You can work out how long it takes using the timestamps on the file.

Sounds good to me, I'll run something when I have a free moment.

[tim]

Ta mate, i'll have to do the same thing when i'm home later. Which chip do you have?

[OdiN1701]

I have the Q6600 and 8GB RAM.

It's running at 3GHz, but I can clock it back to the default 2.4GHz if you like.

[tim]

Don't bother changing the clock speed, just whatever is fine.

Did you do anything extreme to overclock it that much, or just a decent heatsink/fan?

[OdiN1701]

Just a good Heatsink/fan. I'm using one of these:

http://www.svc.com/ultra-120.html

One of the best (at the time at least) air-cooled heatsinks. And it uses a 120mm fan.

Didn't need to increase voltage to the CPU or anything.

[Bobster]

50 Random 40D RAW files 3:42
copy 50 files (238.09MB) from 1 drive to another - about a second
move 50 files (238.09MB) from 1 drive to another - about a second

Dual Core2 @ 3Ghz | 8GB RAM | Vista 64U

[tim]

Bob, take a look at this thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=6591457).

[tommyqh]

I swear by Intel (for CPU only). the AMDs i've worked with it all failed.

[bubbawillums]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CORE2QUAD-Q6600-750GB-32MB-9600GT-1024MB-8GB-DDR2_W0QQitemZ380079741461QQihZ025QQcategoryZ179QQ cmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
This is the system i'm looking at getting...

[Bobster]

ok first thing about that system Dan..

its built on an ASRock motherboard which in my 12 years of building systems has brought nothing but trouble..

9600 is a budget graphics card

its going to have the most dodgy 750W PSU in the world inside (not good)

[shimmishim]

Agreed...

but for photoshopping and lightrooming... you really don't need anything UBER nice. I run a plain jane 8800GT and it's way more than enough.

Asrock... is also a budget board.

never skimp on PSU's... EVER.

If your PSU goes, it can take out your motherboard, cpu, ram, etc... since everything runs off of it. Trust me... it's happen to me before.

[bubbawillums]

Ok nice one, thanks for the advice...
I have a budget of £500, what would you guys suggest for that?
I'm happy to build myself so what components would be best in your opinions?

[Bobster]

what do you have already that you can use?

Q6600 Retail £150.27

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4 £113.14

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC2-8500(1066) £79.72

256MB MSI 8600GTS £112.79

subtotal so far is £455.92