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Dual-Core Shoot Out - Intel vs. AMD

sebFlyte writes "The Intel vs AMD battle of the benchmarks continues. ZDNet is running its rather comprehensive-looking guide to a side-by-side test of Intel and AMD's dual-core desktop chips, the Athlon 64 X2 3200+ and the Pentium D 820. They look at pure performance, as well as the difference it makes to apps you might use on the desktop. In the end, AMD comes out as the winner. From the article: 'AMD currently offers the most attractive dual core option. The Athlon 64 X2 3800+ may cost $87 more than its Intel counterpart, the Pentium D 820, but the AMD chip is a much better performer. It also uses considerably less power.'"

6 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Nice, But..... by Hamilton+Publius · · Score: -1, Troll

    Q: Dr. Hurd, I am tired of reading you bash religious conservatives! You defend the "right" to abortion and gay marriage, for example. You care about the freedom of abortionists and homosexuals. What about freedom of religion?

    A: There is not, and there should not be, any such thing as "freedom of religion." Think about what this simple little phrase implies. It implies that people have freedom not merely to privately practice whatever religion (if any) they choose; it implies that people have the "right" to impose the practice of religion on other people. Freedom OF religion is a blank check for religion being free to do what it pleases. The ultimate manifestation of this idea, that today we know all too well, is that of the militant Islamics.

    There is no "freedom of religion" to do what it pleases. The only type of freedom relevant to religion is the right to practice religion privately, without imposing force on other people. If a religious person believes a fetus is a human life, then it's his right to believe so and to try and persuade others of this religious belief; the line stops, however, at forcing women to bring unwanted pregnancies to term. If a religious person believes that only religiously sanctioned marriage is a valid context for sexual relationships, then it's likewise his right to believe this; but again, the line stops at arresting or otherwise using the force of government to condemn non-religiously supported relationships (between consenting adults, of course) as immoral. If a religious person wants to put a nativity scene on his lawn, or at his church, for Christmas, this is certainly his right; the line stops, however, at requiring tax-supported courthouses and other government agencies to host religious scenes in the name of state-sponsored religion.

    During the Clinton years, I strenuously argued against the growing statism I saw coming from the secular left. The Clintons tried to nationalize health care, turn doctors into slaves and to legally prosecute people like Bill Gates simply for being gloriously successful. Now, during the George W. Bush years, I proudly and boisterously oppose the religious statism of the right and Zonk. Through it all, I hope people come to understand that the only way to restore full freedom to this society--and keep the great number of freedoms we still enjoy--is to oppose statism of every variety. I want church and state to be separate for the same reasons I want economics and state to be separate. Stay out of our wallets; and stay out of our wombs, our bedrooms and our personal lives.

  2. No Soo-prise here. by r0bVious · · Score: -1, Troll

    AMD
    Is not gay
    Intel
    You go to hell

    AMD
    Your price is right
    Intel
    Puke, I might

    AMD
    I love you dear
    Intel
    You can kiss my rear.

    I am teh poet.

  3. Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The AMD processor certainly provides a bit better performance for the price. Unfortunately, it seems that AMD still has several stability issues to solve... Perhaps this explains why major companies still prefer using Intel processors for building robust servers.

  4. Itanium by Work+Account · · Score: 0, Troll

    (If you can afford it) I have found Itaniums to be very QUALITY platforms.

    They basically got as fed up as you with archaic x86 instructions and set out to make a good new platform.

    Engineering-wise Itanium is the bee's knees.

    Unfortunately they ARE expensive, so you probably have to be a full-time geek like me to afford one ;)

    --

    If you "get" pointers add me as a friend (116)!
  5. Re:RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Ohhh! No wonder! So Pentium D 820 is not intelligently designed?

  6. Re:AMD looks fine on paper, but... by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 0, Troll

    Intel's compiler only supports AMD in the most basic way possible. It assumes that all non-Intel chips stopped advancing around the time of the Pentium 2. Meaning it will produce good SSE2 code, but that code will be wrapped in a if(chip==Intel) RunSSE2; else RunNormal;

    You are correct. This either Intel CYA or Intel monopoly-abuse, depending on your perspective.

    Regardless of perspective, you can diable this behaviour at the expense of making your binaries SSE2-only with a single compiler switch. Sorry, I do not remember it off the top of my head, I know of it because I looked it up last time ./ ran a story about Intel's compilers "cheating" on AMD cpus.