Intel Core2Duo. Yay or Nay?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Cockles, Nov 7, 2006.

  1. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Guys all well and true what you are all saying. I do agree with all of you, but my reasons for choosing AMD and ATI are purely from personal experiences. I do agree Intel make great CPUs, there is no denying that, but I have been more fascinated with AMD since 2000 (I built my first PC in 1999 with a Pentium III), when I heard one was able to overclock AMD CPUs thats when I made the jump, sounds silly I know but I guess I have always wanted to make a CPU run faster than its meant to. For me, its all about speed and reliability (kinda the F1 cars these days), you cant have one without the other and I see the AMD as having both which provide me with the power I need and ask for. As for ATI cards, well some of you might remember the nightmare I had earlier this year with a GeForce 6600LE. No matter what game I played, it kept crashing like a mother!! Whether it was heat or something else I dont know. In the end I got rid of it and with a recommendation of a few people on here I bought the ATI 9600XT. It worked a dream, I couldnt have been happier. Now I own an X1300XT 512MB card and I am due to buy a second one to crossfire on my motherboard. but knowing me I just might buy two X1600XTs next year...or make that X1650XTs (when they become available I hope).

    Price wise, I know in the past AMD has been relatively cheaper than Intel chips, but then the X2's came out and I was pleased they did eventually drop the prices, albeit to compete with Intel's Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips, but then why be in business if you are not going to compete? Who knows, when the FX-62 gets knocked down in price I just might be tempted...lol...:biggrin
     
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  2. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Well, I think I've made a decision. I'm going to stave off the system upgrade for a while as, frankly, my AMD is running fine and it'll be silly of me to change it for no real reason. I'm going to get a GeForce 7600GT for 130 notes and a new power supply, run that for about a year then look into the system upgrade again.

    Thanks for all your help with this one guys.
     
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  3. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Best AGP card you can get is probably the ATI X850XT PE. Check GPUReview's site to compare the specs between two cards. For example, here's a comparison between the X850XT PE and the GeForce 7600GT (The 7800 GS increases memory bandwidth while decreasing fill rate).

    I'm not sure what an FX9200 is. Keep in mind that the FX cards typically run slower than similarly numbered non-FX cards.

    For those who may not know how to compare video card model numbers, here's a quick rundown.

    The first number (or two) denotes the generation of the video card. For example, ATI has models starting with 9, X, and X1, and Nvidia has models starting with 5, 6, and 7. Each generation typically offers new features, such as pixel shading and water effects.

    The next number denotes the target market. Cards ending in a 200 or 300 are targeted at lower-end PC users who don't require graphics for gaming. Cards ending in a 600 are typically targeted at budget gamers. Cards ending in an 800 or 900 are targeted at high-end gamers. And, obviously, an 850 would outperform an 800, and a 950 would outperform a 900.

    Here's where it can get confusing. The 800- and 900-numbered cards of an older generation can, in fact, be much faster than lower-numbered cards of a newer generation. For example, the Radeon X800 XT performs much faster than the Radeon X1600 XT. However, the X800 (X series) won't have some new features found in the X1600 (X1 series).

    The letters found at the end of each card model number can confuse things. Research the different models and see which ones are better than others. That said, that's quite a task - XL, XT, Pro, XTX, SE, LE, GS, GX, GTX, GTO... there's a lot to compare!

    Hope this helps. :)
     
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  4. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Now that is brilliant Michael! I have always been confused by the card numbers, and felt there was probably a pattern to them, but hadn't been able to determine that pattern!

    Harry.
     
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  5. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Glad to be of assistance. :thumbleft And thanks for the compliment!
     
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  6. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Absolutely back-of-the-net Michael, cheers!!!!!!
     
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  7. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Now this is what I am talking about. In terms of the ATI cards the XT and XTX ones are the daddy's. Those are the ones you want to get. Like I said earlier when I looking around for an ATI AGP card I was told best to go for the XT ones...they are better than the other ones (ie. Pro, XL, GTO), thats why I now own an X1300XT and due to get another one soon...so yeah if you go for ATI make sure its XT or XTX, cos even ATI are pushing them too...well done Michael...I dont think I could have explained it better...:biggrin
     
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  8. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Well, I settled for a GeForce 7600GT and got meself a 550w PSU to go with it, whole lot came to £150 so can't really argue. I know it's not the best of the bunch but I got good quality gaming out of an old GeForce FX5200 so this should be a vast improvement. Should at least last me the year and by then I plan to upgrade anyway

    Top marks as always peoples, may the Force be with you
     
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  9. elli5on

    elli5on Kilobyte Poster

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    Well i've always used AMD and always will do. On the GPU side of things until recently ive always been an ATI user... But recent reviews and recomendation has turned me over to NVIDIA. So in that instance i would have to disagree with a previous post. Especially now NVIDIA has launched it's new 8800 range of GPU's, they are amazing. Guess we will see what ATI fire back at them regarding GPU's, 1gb of RAM for starters.

    Alot also depends on personal preference and how much money you have lying around. But AMD and NVIDIA over here guys.

    Craig
     
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