I'm having to replace my computer, 6yrs old, motherboard fried. I'm looking into a replacement computer with either an AMD phenom X4
quad-core, an Intel core2 quad, or Intel core2 extreme.

Anyone using these?

Opinions between AMD and Intel?

Jim,

Your PC is 6 years old, you probably need a whole new system and you will be amazed at the improved performance with a modern platform.

If you want a desktop, it's hard to beat the packages Dell/HP puts together for the price when you add up the case, power supply, mobo, chip, DVD drive, DRAM hard drive, copy of windows, maybe a decent video card, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and warranty, support, etc. In my opinon, Intel is the way to go even if it is a little more $.

I'd get a laptop with an Intel Core2Duo CPU, DVD burner and Windows Xp operating system (not a fan of Vista). They are pretty resonable nowadays, don't take up much space, can go with you, and with a wireless router, you can sit on the couch and post helpful tips to TC :)

Look on techbargians.com for different deals on systems, discounts, stackable coupons, etc

I've had many AMD and Intel as well as others over the years, and really it does not make a whole lot of difference between brands, only the specs of two individual CPU's will. Dual cores should be plenty sufficient for general usage, tri-core or quad-cores if this will be for gaming or heavy duty media encoding, otherwise it's overkill. What all do you plan on doing with a replacement computer?

Our 6yr old computer will be replaced. I'm currently gathering info on what's out there now, cost difference in putting one together or buying it
ready to go. We'll use the computer for normal internet usage, email, word and excel programs, as well as gaming and occasional movies.

I want to be able to upgrade components, increase memory, etc. as time goes on and technology changes. For example our last computer had the AMD athalon 64bit with 512mb ram, but there was no room to increase memory, 512 was it. I'm seeing now, some have 1.5gigs of ram, and can upgrade to 3gigs or more as needed.

I realize most anything I get now will be major improvement of what I had. But I don't want to be too limited on ability to improve and up
grade in the future.

And the battle of which is better/faster between AMD and Intel is probably the same as whether coke tastes better than pepsi (which
it does, but that's another battle :D). I just wanted real world opinions from those of you using these processors so I can make a
better informed decision on which one I'll go with.

All three of my Dell desktops have Intel Pentiums of various speeds and my Dell laptop has an AMD processor. All seem to work well. You analogy of Coke/Pepsi is a good one and in recent years for normal users, applicable here between Intel and AMD IMO.

I used to be a big fan of buying pieces/parts and building a machine. Maybe I'm getting lazyin my old age but to me it isn't worth the hassle of trying to get components that are compatible. The last 5 computers I've purchased have been Dells with as much RAM as I can afford and the smallest drive - I can't see paying their premium for a larger drive when I can get 1Tb drives for under $100.

My last two pc's have been AMD's, my work PC is an Intel. Doesn't really matter which brand you get they are both going to be blazing and work fine. The only major differences come into play if you are into overclocking. I still prefer to pick and choose my parts and build my own PC's. This way I get what I want and don't have to settle for a package deal. If I bought from Dell or HP, I'd end up swapping video cards, installing different heatsinks and fans.. it would cost me more. Terabyte drives are large, but thats about it.. I think of it like putting way to many eggs in one basket. If I wanted a terabyte, I'd make sure it was in a raid configuration over a few spindles to gain some performance. If it is in the cards, consider looking into getting a solid state drive. The prices are comming down and they are instance access.

As for being upgradeable.. that is all relative... What you get now may be upgradeable for a while, but eventually new standards will come in play.

Points taken guy's, thanks!

I'm with Big D. I always put together my own stuff. It gives me something to do, and I get to pick my level of performance and bang for my buck.

The latest build was: AMD AthlonX2 5600 (2.9GHz, dual core), Asrock motherboard, 4GB RAM, 500GB SATA HDD, 512MB Sapphire/ATI PCIExpress x16 video card, 450W power supply and a new case.

Total price was a shade less than 500 bucks. Could have saved myself a few dollars if I had left off the video card. The onboard graphics are plenty for fiddling around and surfing. My TC posts don't make any more sense with this setup, but I don't have to turn ANY details down on my 2+ year old games :) Oh, and the only software on it is the software I put on. No useless crap.

I had to get it all because I waited too long to upgrade, and like Big D said, new standards came into effect.

K