|
|
Intel VS. AMD Conclusions
Now that the results are in and all the new features are taken into account, what are we left with? Before we answer, look at the processor prices shown below.
Intel Pentium 4 560 (3.6GHz Prescott) - ~$540
Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition - ~$1000
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ - ~$630
Presented in this article are the top-of-the-line for Intel and AMD. At these price points you can tell that you are buying the very best in PC technology. On a pure performance verses cost analysis, the Athlon 64 3800+ paired with 64-bit Linux is a clear winner. If you're buying the Athlon 64 and are choosing to run a 32-bit Linux installation, some could make a case for the 3.6GHz Prescott in certain applications due to its $100 savings. We don't believe that anyone could suggest that the Extreme Edition chips justify a $1000 price tag . You don't get that much performance under any circumstance and it still truly gets stomped by the Athlon 64 with 64-bit Linux.
Looking at the new chipset option of the Intel 925X, we see that the performance is slightly below that of the 875P when paired with the memory options presented here. Since the performance difference is so slight though, we think that the decision of which board to go with will be more dependent on where you are with your current PC and where you plan on going. If you have a PC now that has some good peripherals based on PCI and AGP slots, you will most likely want to stay with an 875P board to save on the cost of upgrading good components unnecessarily. Not only would you need a new video card and possibly have to dump some PCI cards, you will also have to buy new system memory. If, on the other hand, you are planning on an almost complete overhaul soon and want to go Intel, the 925X would be the best way to make your system as future-proof as possible.
Our bottom line in this article is that you can't beat the Athlon 64 processor line for Linux when paired with a 64-bit Linux installation. Why would you want to install 32-bit Linux on this processor? We have no idea. Almost all 32-bit applications work fine using 32-bit libraries installed under your 64-bit install. Get 64-bit Linux from your favorite Linux distribution. We also wanted to mention that PCI-Express should be making it to Athlon 64 motherboards by the end of the year. Finally, be sure to check out the numbers presented in our previous articles. It's always best on your wallet to by a step or two behind the lead processors. You will probably find that the Athlon 64 3400+ and Intel Pentium 4 at 3.4GHz are the best buys at this time.
|
|