AMD vs Intel

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:21 am

funny thing is, before I was a member of this forum, I was in that salesman's shoes, maybe not as much as him, as I was only caught up to the times of Athlon XP Barton and DDR400, but still behind. Just perusing this site and reading reviews and checking their recommended sites I see in certain posts, I developed my knowledge of all this material. I think computer salesmen and some technicians rely on Best Buy knowledge of product to help customers make decisions. While it's not necessarily bad, it is out of date, that's for sure. No offense against those who are members of this forum who work at Best Buy in one of these depts, but to keep up on your knowledge you ABSOLUTELY have to look to other sources to help uninformed customers make informed decisions, otherwise they'll take home something they either don't need or, come to find out, didn't really want. Took me a long time to learn this lesson, that's for sure.

DanielDev · Post by **DanielDev** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:08 am

It all depends on what proc, if u buy a pentium4 mobile, it might heat up quit alot.
If u buy a Pentium M the heat lvl is normal,
and u get the best performance there is (for both desktop and laptops) according to most reviews.
If u buy a Centrino cpu, heat lvl is low, but it is not as god as Pentium4 mobile or Pentium M.

AMD's Turion seems to have normal heat lvl and according to most reviews less powerfull than the Pentium M, but better than the Pentium 4 mobile.

This is all i know, i hope it'll help.
So as far as i know this salesman is talking rubbish

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:31 am

you're more than likely right....the sales strategy at Best Buy is to drive sales revenue and accessory percentage HARD (which is why whenever you buy, say, a printer for example, they push ink, paper, upgraded USB cables, and online photo services on the customer, even if it's something they really don't want or need). they will say anything to get the sale, and I believe it to be wrong (I'm only saying all this because I worked there for almost 2 years at one time, and that was their strategy they pushed on associates). Not to mention those service plans which don't do squat (the replacement plans do, but only because they're replacing defective product, and even then you have to do that over the phone; only if you really push a Customer Service Rep will they even try to call the number for you); I also know about this firsthand from taking 1000's of complaints from customers who didn't get their computer properly repaired by the outside service center the first time, second time, and in some cases, it still isn't repaired the 3rd time.....bad business IMHO. Gotta say, I've been spoiled by online retailers though because the good ones have great RMA policies and carry great products that even retail chains may not carry, something I find shocking for some of them since they really try to play the "technology card". Anyways, that's my rant for the day, lol.

k2ray · Post by **k2ray** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:40 pm

killswitch83 wrote:you're more than likely right....the sales strategy at Best Buy is to drive sales revenue and accessory percentage HARD (which is why whenever you buy, say, a printer for example, they push ink, paper, upgraded USB cables, and online photo services on the customer, even if it's something they really don't want or need). they will say anything to get the sale, and I believe it to be wrong (I'm only saying all this because I worked there for almost 2 years at one time, and that was their strategy they pushed on associates). Not to mention those service plans which don't do squat (the replacement plans do, but only because they're replacing defective product, and even then you have to do that over the phone; only if you really push a Customer Service Rep will they even try to call the number for you); I also know about this firsthand from taking 1000's of complaints from customers who didn't get their computer properly repaired by the outside service center the first time, second time, and in some cases, it still isn't repaired the 3rd time.....bad business IMHO. Gotta say, I've been spoiled by online retailers though because the good ones have great RMA policies and carry great products that even retail chains may not carry, something I find shocking for some of them since they really try to play the "technology card". Anyways, that's my rant for the day, lol.

killswitch83's, I agree with both your opinion about sales strategy being based weighted towards sales and item percentages. The sales guys & girls at this Hong Kong Outlet definately had that in mind.

They sold to the point like there was no tomorrow. I remeber one good piece of advice I got whilst out there and that was to let them know that I'll be around for more than a day (which I wasn't really). The problem was actually to get some words out so that it could be a two way conversation!

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:43 pm

lol, those kooky Asians, lol. they talk so fast sometimes it's hard to understand them, and they don't care if they interrupt you, lol. Plus I found them to be pushy, though my only experiences with that was with the vendors in Chinatown, lol.

k2ray · Post by **k2ray** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:22 pm

But one piece of information given to me by a retailer over in HK that made me think was where certain brands manufactured their laptops. For example, Fujitsu and I think Toshiba produce a lot of their models in mainland china however Sony Viaos are made in Japan. I also think this affected the prices they had fixed on the brands. So the Viaos tended to cost a bit more even if their Specs were inferior.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:18 pm

Makes sense, things are cheaper to manufacture in China, but are of good quality usually, and Japan makes good products are well, but tend to have higher prices due to their technologically developed status....oh well, I knew Toshiba was a better product anyways, lol. Was never fond of Vaio because they made everything so proprietary, especially in their desktops. I remember they used to have proprietary PSU's and mobo's, making it hard to get parts for em, plus putting them back together was rough sometimes too.

Trollhunter · Post by **Trollhunter** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 5:38 pm

Sovereign wrote:*WARNING* This may start a flamewar and get locked, just so you know. AMD procs are generally faster in games (with the new A64) because of the onboard memory controller. Intel rules at MP3 encoding and "productivity" apps, that's my $.02

I have to agree what AMD can push 1 program better then an intel but intel can push 2 programs better then AMD. If you to muliti task intel is better but if you just one to push one program go AMD. If you talking Notebook intel would be the best one since it has better battery life.

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:32 pm

I'll just throw in my two cents worth too...
I think both make great mobile processors, but as far as heat goes, I think I would probably have to give the low heat crown to Intel's Pentium M. They are well known for great performance with low heat output and power consumption. AMD has realeased their "Turion" line of mobile processors which are a step in the right direction and have better heat and power characteristics than their previous Athlon64 mobile chips, but I just think Intel has been a step ahead of AMD in the mobile processor market. But don't get me wrong, I've read a couple reviews of the Turion systems, and they are very powerful, more powerful than the P-M in many aspects, but that comes at the cost of slightly higher heat and a little more power requrements.

Both processors are great and I'm sure would serve you well, but if you are mostly concerned with heat and power, then the Pentium-M processor based on the Dothan core would be what you're after.

And it is the uneducated n00blets that start flame wars. Since LR is cool and flame-n00b free, we can actually logically discuss a topic like this with good comments and factual information that is not biased by brand preference.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:45 pm

gvblake22 wrote: And it is the uneducated n00blets that start flame wars. Since LR is cool and flame-n00b free, we can actually logically discuss a topic like this with good comments and factual information that is not biased by brand preference.

I resemble that, rofl....I'm sorta a n00b in my own right that I'm not up on recent technology, lol

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:48 pm

killswitch83 wrote:
gvblake22 wrote: And it is the uneducated n00blets that start flame wars. Since LR is cool and flame-n00b free, we can actually logically discuss a topic like this with good comments and factual information that is not biased by brand preference.
I resemble that, rofl....I'm sorta a n00b in my own right that I'm not up on recent technology, lol

Being a noobie is one thing, but a "flaming n00blet" is another ;)

I'd say you're safe as we all come here to learn things!

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:58 pm

yeah true, and that's definitely something all of us need to keep in mind....because on technology, it's a constant learning curve that I don't believe will ever stop, because new tech is coming out at an extremely rapid rate, and keeping up with it is hard, but thanks to this site, it has become a lot easier, at least that's the way I see it

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:00 pm

killswitch83 wrote:yeah true, and that's definitely something all of us need to keep in mind....because on technology, it's a constant learning curve that I don't believe will ever stop, because new tech is coming out at an extremely rapid rate, and keeping up with it is hard, but thanks to this site, it has become a lot easier, at least that's the way I see it

Exactly