AMD or Intel quad-core? Budget build.

[Omega]

Title basically says it all. I'm looking at building a rig with some of my tax return and i'm trying to keep it budget-friendly (the less I spend on the PC, the more I can put in to savings...), probably $600ish for the whole build. I don't need a PSU or case but I am going to get a 1TB hard drive and a nice GPU as well.

Though poking around on Newegg is showing me that AMD chips are a bit cheaper.

Right now the cpu/mobo combo I have picked out is an i5-2310 2.9GHz quad core with an MSI P67A-G43 motherboard but that combo is just about $300. Newegg is showing me an AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz quad-core for $109 and a comparable MSI board for the AM3+ that's only $90, but still has SATA 6gb/s, two VGA slots and four DDR3 slots.

So what are your guys thoughts? I feel like these combos are probably comparable and if I can knock off over $100 from my current total (which is about 670 shipped) then I wouldn't complain. Would I even really notice a difference if the AMD does turn out to be slower? I don't really tax my computer that much, 80% of it's use is web browsing and such, but I would like to have technology that's a little newer than my C2D and could handle games better.

edit\\

oh and my last AMD chip was an athlon 64 3200+, so that gives you an idea of how much I know :P

[NightrainSrt4]

If you have a Microcenter nearby, the 2500K there is cheaper than Neweggs 2310.

[Neodymium]

Depending on what you want to use it for, and your budget, AMD might also be a good choice, the battle between them will never end :D I'm sure you can use the $100 saved from the combo you're lookin' at ;)

[diluzio91]

IMHO? AMD with an unlocked multi and get a good cooler? lol

[OvRiDe]

Passmark benchmarking Scores

Intel Core i5-2310 @ 2.90GHz = 5,882
AMD FX-6100 Six-Core = 5,715
AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core = 4,343

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Just more info for you to make an informed decision.

[x88x]

All depends on what you're doing with it. Few, heavy single-thread processes? Get the Intel chip. Lots of processes of all shapes and sizes? Get the AMD. Lots of tiny processes? Bump up to a HT-enabled Intel. Lots of heavy processes? Get the AMD.

...budget? Well, the AMD combo is $100 less. I'll let you figure that one out. ;)

Personally I prefer AMD for several reasons; some technical, some not...but that's a topic for another place...


Passmark benchmarking Scores

Intel Core i5-2310 @ 2.90GHz = 5,882 $184.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115089)
AMD FX-6100 Six-Core = 5,715 $159.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103962)
AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core = 4,343 $109.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996)

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Just more info for you to make an informed decision.

Looks about right to me. ;)

For your intended uses, I would say save the $100 and get the AMD set.

[AmEv]

Now I need to benchmark my Phenom.....

Just giving you one more option....

[Neodymium]

what AE said...buy yourself a case or two of beer on the side too :D

BTW, Tigerdirect.com is selling this for $109 after rebates...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1242376&sku=A79-1350