AMD or Intel?

[Andy A.]

I recently put together my computer. In doing so, I had to chose between an AMD based or Intel Based system. I ended up using an AMD Athlon 64 3500+. Heres why I chose AMD:

1: This is likely the last computer I will be able to afford for several years while I complete college. While I don't have any 64 bit programs, I couldn't rule out that I might later on. So I opted to have the 64 capability should it become an issue. Besides that, there is no large price penalty for 64 bit CPUs from AMD, since they have become the company's flagship line. Also, the 939 socket is probably going to be around for a while, and lends it's self to future upgrades. The 3500+ may not be the fastest around, but there are many faster CPUs that will become affordable in the next few years.

2: I wanted a relatively quiet system. My dorm room is small, and droning fans get on my nerves and my roommate's. The CPU I bought is a Venice core, which is marketed as a low power consumer. It is, and runs very cool. Most of the time, I can leave the CPU heat sink fan off and not have any heat problems. This reduces my computers noise to that of one fan in my power supply (which is speed adjustable) and what ever my hard drive is doing at the time. I like that. Note that I can only get away with this because of this CPU's core, and I doubt that any of the other cores can do this.

3: Price. It wasn't cheap, but I felt that it gave me the best balance of speed vs price. There were competitively priced Pentiums, but for many reasons they were not as attractive. Additionally, using a AMD system also allowed me to buy a rather inexpensive motherboard that still has many features I love. It is an ECS KN1E, in case anyone was wondering. I could write pages about this board and why I love it.

4. AMD is a bit of an underdog. For the same reason some people love Apple, I love AMD. They are a little out of the ordinary. Their stuff is just a little bit better in some ways that matter to me, even though I know that it's probably not enough to justify how much more I prefer AMD.

There are the reasons for my choice. I don't think many of them matter to a lot of people, especially the ease of future upgrades. Still, I like AMD. I've always been satisfied with the 4 CPU's I've owned from them. Likewise, I can't say that I've ever had a problem with any Intel CPU either. It really comes down to the old adage:

Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?

-Andy A.