Are AMD processors worth it?

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

oops. are AMD processors worth it?

I remember my old PC build from when AMD was starting, they weren’t all there yet. I see a lot of servers moving to the multi core AMD so I am under the impression they are moving along nicely.

I need to find a tower PC for my parents. Their extent of PC use is email, web browsing to read news, and iTunes. Any thoughts on this? $229 is pretty slick IMO.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+/+AMD+E-Series+Processor+/+2GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive/3415212.p?id=1218400847469&skuId=3415212

2

I think people forget even the low end current stuff is really fast…It’s not like it was 3-4 years ago where you buy a sempron and its noticeably slow as balls.

3

Ya I remember when they first came out, their cache sucked and were nothing compared to the Intel processor of the same speed. Just want to make sure they are still solid for a basic home PC that my parents would use. Again, their use is going to be more iPhone and iTunes with some minor web browsing. They don’t even use Facebook.

4

With it being cyber Monday I was thinking of maybe picking up a laptop if I can find a good deal. My old pc I still use is Amd64 3200 lol it’s pretty slow but used to be fast

5

If you are on a budget they are definitely worth it.

6

I’d agree, I’m more of an Intel person though, mainly cause I just like their stuff.

Here’s benchmarks for different processors from bottom of the barrel to Ballz 2 da Wall.

7

Yeah I’ve built 5 AMD systems in the past 3 years and they are definitely good for budget minded users. Intel is still on top of the game obviously, even with the release of Bulldozer.

8

I’ve been very happy with the AMD 3.4ghz quad core I put in my “home server”. Does a great job with all the huge multi-part rar files it constantly gets thrown at it with all my usenet downloading. I’ve also done some basic video editing and it seemed pretty quick doing the HD builds.

9

I fucking hate those multi-part RAR files…whats the purpose?

10

OK. Ya this is a budget PC for them as they are not on it much. They are currently using an old P4 Dell tower with about 256K of RAM on a CRT monitor so anything is an upgrade. Just wanted to make sure this would be a decent PC for a home user that would last a few years.

11

These seemed to be benchmarked decent. Although as you said even an atom processor would be better than what they have.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000343&IsNodeId=1&Description=Phenom&name=Processors%20-%20Desktops&Order=BESTMATCH

12

They usually include parity files so that bad parts of the rar can be recovered. On the Mac, they are super easy to use with MacPAR. Just double click the main par file and it loads up the entire archive, checks for errors, repairs errors and extracts the archive. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

13

I see them in torrents all the time with like a single avi or MKE file…why not just create torrent with a single AVI file. I don’t understand the point of adding WinRAR to the equation.

14

You are making me feel bad about my P4 Dell. It has worked just fine over the last 10 years.
I really wish I had avoided the RDRAM or whatever it was that is way overpriced.

15

Their tower isn’t upgradeable really with a new processor so the all-in-one solution is more appealing. I did find some mini towers that people use for HTPCs but again, the prices were about the same so might as well go with this if its comparable.

Par files are the repair segments. If you look at NZB files on usenet and use a program like newzleecher, you can auto queue them and as you need to repair blocks during testing and extraction, you can auto download the segments you need. Also, if you have multiple small files that are 50MB, its easier to reduce errors and provide repair blocks than having to repair and test a 25GB block. You see them in torrents mostly because people download off usenet and redistribute via torrent.

16

wow that chart makes me want to build a new computer since mine is near the bottom lol

17

Sure it does. With sabnzbd it does all the downloading, repairing and extracting automatically. Just click on an nzb link and away it goes. You can even set it up to email you when it’s done, or if it fails.

18

Amd is at 8 cores, intel is at 4 cores see a issue? Amd also has put out the bulldozer CPUs not intel I think you meant intel with the sandy bridge?

19

Be carefully with buying a emachines, I’ve had to tell multiple people that their motherboard took a shit because the crappy power supply took the motherboard with it…

20

i have one in my new thinkpad…some people say its a little slow but i find it fine…i dont get too worked up about speed. I do not do any gaming and what not…just a bit a 3D Modeling…