Quad Core Processors

[TP-Oreilly]

Hi, i was looking at the i7 930 which is a quad core at 2.8ghz, and also the amd anthlon x4 630 which is a quad core, why is the amd one SOO much cheaper, does it not have threads or something?

the amd is also at 2.8ghz, i know intel charge more but, surely the i7 930 must offer something alot better than the amd one

 

[dancingmadrb3]

The l3 cache is where the i7 excels, the Phenom II quad has 6MB of l3 cache and the intel has 8MB.
However if you are on a budget you really cant go wrong with AMD, sure the i7 is faster but its value is small if you dont have loads of money around.

 

[Remeniz]

Yea the large cache size on the i7 930 is a huge benefit. Also the Intel architecture is much more efficient. Clock for clock the i7 930 eats the Athlon II X4 630. No comparison to be honest. Compare the i7 930 to the Phenom II X4's; at least your getting similar caches.

It all boils down to what you want to do on your machine and what your budget is.

 

[dancingmadrb3]

well even if its extreme gaming the Phenom II might do if a decent video card is used, having a good GPU can sometimes balance things out.
I heard some good results depending on the situation.