Thanks for all the comments so far: HTH other users. I am struck by the huge difference in price between Intel/AMD : at Canada Computers -- a very reliable store in my experience since 2000 -- Intel's price range is CAD 200 - 240 , AMD's CAD 130 - 180 with an outlier FX-8150 at CAD 220 . For CAD 240 , I can buy an Intel i5-2550K, 4-core, 6 MB cache, 3,4 GHz ; for CAD 130 , an AMD FX-4100, 4-core, 8 MB cache, 3,6 GHz ; both are 32 nm & yes, I hear everyone saying that's irrelevant. CC seems to have much higher demand for AMDs : they have c 3 Intels of each type in stock, c 7 AMDs of each type (they're a busy store, which moves stuff quickly).
I've looked at a few reviews, which reveal no special advantage for Intel. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1766/1/ says : "entry level; half an FX-8150; best price; AMD Power Manager noticed the CPU was idle & put it in a low power state for power-saving; able to run <= 3,8 GHz when 1 - 2 threads are being used, but only <= 3,7 GHz if 3 - 4 threads are being used: running 1 thread can goto 3,8 GHz ; fully unlocked, so you can easily overclock it". http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-4100+Quad-Core shows FX-4100 as best value. AMD says it's made in Germany. Do I need > 4 cores ? i5-2550K & FX-4100 both use 95 W (some of the more costly AMDs use 125 W ). I lean towards the FX-4100 : does anyone have further advice ? Also, some comments implied that Intels have a built-in GPU : if so, would that save the cost of a graphics card ? how would it compare to an Nvidia card ? how reliable are the drivers ? -- ========================,,============================================ SUPPORT ___________//___, Philip Webb ELECTRIC /] [] [] [] [] []| Cities Centre, University of Toronto TRANSIT `-O----------O---' purslowatchassdotutorontodotca
