AMD or Intel

[Neutron]

Trying to decide between an AMD Athlon64 X2 and an Intel Core 2 Duo

It will replace an AMD Athlon64 2800+

Which one should I pick? I primarily surf the web but I also listen to music and watch movies, and I like to play games such as Half Life 2 and so forth, so I like the newer games.

 

[IcEWoLF]

Core 2 duo, If you take a look on the reviews @ newegg.com it seems the C2D beats AMD's dual cores.

 

[BigTimMN]

It all depends on what you really want to spend, the C2D do give you better performance, BUT, you can get more for you money if you go with the AMD.

Spend the savings on a solid videocard and you will probably be better off for the gaming end of things.

 

[stevenl]

price wise the operton is more expensive then the core2duo.

 

[diogen]

Trying to decide between an AMD Athlon64 X2 and an Intel Core 2 Duo...

Have you picked a motherboard already?

I believe the best value in general purpose (no gaming!) motherboards today is the Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Stable, decent driver support, good audio (Realtek 889A), good video onboard (does HD/BD), HDMI and HDCP, etc.
Paired with a Brisbane (65nm) AMD X2 5000+ will give you a perfect platform for doing just about everything (sans gaming).

If you prefer Intel, you can go with its sibling
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G33M-S2H LGA 775 Intel G33 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Diogen.

 

[turbosat]

I do similar stuff and just bought an athlon 64 dual core 4200 and am
happy with it. I'm no gamer either, but it plays videos and what simple games I play work fine. AMD is losing billions this year, for the price I thought I would give them a try. The chip runs cool too, compared to early athlons.

 

[Poke]

AMD is good Intel is allot better if money is a issue AMD is the choice but if you want better performance and less software issues Intel is the choice.