For ordinary HOME users, Intel i3 the better choice?

I still uses Windows XP SP3 PRO, Intel Pentium 4 single core. It still runs ok.

Want to upgrade, but still not sure enough if Intel i3 is just good enough compared to AMD.

I just use the desktop pc for surfing the net, occasionally PhotoShop editing, watching some movies and music playing. I don't play games...no time for that.

Intel i3 (dual core) has almost same price w/ AMD Quad and Hexacore here...

What's your personal experience with this two processor brands?

 

For basic day to day usage a fast dual core CPU paired with plenty of ram will feel really quick.

A low end 6 core AMD will likely have a much lower clock rate so unless you are doing something that eats up a lot of threads it will feel slower.

 

Depends if you have sleep states, stepping and turbo boost and whatever enabled in the bios.
Mrk

 

I would consider myself a power user and wouldnt go anything less than an i5. i3's arent very common from what Ive seen unless its a pretty low end system.

 

I have a i3 in a HP latop, with a ssd and 8gb of ram, it doesn't feel slow at all

 

I'd say you can't wrong with either with your stated needs. Assuming you're buying a whole new system I'd look at the other components for differences in prices & performance.

 

IMHO, I think the processors Intel is putting out these days are better than AMD's. There was a time I didn't think that was any longer the case, back when AMD first released their dual cores. But ever since Intel released their Core 2 Duo's I think the balance of power shifted back. And now their Core i-x line, IMO is definitely superior to what AMD is putting out.

What can be just as or more important than raw speed is what hardware integrated options are available on the CPU, and your BIOS. I was more worried about integrated security & virtualization than speed boosts. Since I knew 2.83 ghz and 4 GB of RAM was plenty substantial to run XP Pro SP3, especially with how stripped down I have it. You can see what integrated options Intel CPU's have on this site here:

http://ark.intel.com/Products/VirtualizationTechnology

As you'll see not all Core i-3's are created equal. Some may have hardly any integrated goodies at all, but even the 3'rd Gen Core i-3 3115C has just about everything most of the 4'th Gen i'7's have. It can vary greatly. I only have a Core 2 Duo but the particular one that came with my box (E8300) had everything I needed, so I was happy with it. It makes running a VM much snappier. And had Trusted Execution Technology and VT-d, which I notice even a lot of 4'th Gen i-3's and i-5's don't have. And all I really wanted starting out was Hardware DEP, which my old CPU (Celeron single core) didn't even have. And got a lot more than I bargained for.

So choose wisely...

 

Intel is the best, the only choice, for video editing and graphic creation, for everything else AMD is fine. For a common user Intel does not offer better performance than AMD.
Intel for home is like buying an expensive Porsche, which you are going to drive only on a road with a speed limit of 50 MPH. Rather invest to buy more RAM or better GPU.

 

Hello sweater;

I have a Dell E510 with a single core Pentium 4 (630) 3.0 GHZ and 4 Gig of RAM running XP SP-2.

Compared to what I have, a friend's two year old Desktop powered by an AMD Phenom II 965 quad core runs like lightning.
The same is true for a friend's Sony Vaio laptop with a i5 3000 series CPU.

Probably anything you would consider will be way faster, particularly in photo and video editing, than what you currently have.

In short, it's going to be hard for you to not get a big bump in performance as long as you get a dual or quad core CPU, the other components are a good match, and you have enough RAM.

Good luck in your purchase.

 

i got an i3 last year and it is really fast with Win 8.1 and a SSD.

still, it won't be fast enough to play the latest games if you are into that.
most new games at Steam requires/are best played with i5 or i7.

compared to a Pentium 4, the i3 will feel like a speed demon!

 

I can tell you that for development, AMD would be a better choice... but if you want to buy something to last couple of years, go for i5 (not i7). i5 has the best price/performance rate on the market. Nothing beats it. 2 years ago I bought an i5 laptop and 6 months ago I replaced the hdd with an ssd. God Speed Mr. Zulu!!!

For Photoshop SSD will make a big difference.

 

Intel is obviously expensive. Is there something special inside it that are not found in AMD? Do you think Intel's processors are very advanced compared to AMD?

 

Check this review

 

The 8350 in those reviews does have a good priceerformance ratio.

I took a quick look on newegg and THIS seems to be the cheapest desktop with that CPU.

 

Its more than enough for everyday tasks.

 

I ordered a Dell on line and it came with an Intel i3 cpu. I went for the i5 because I feel that you should always buy as much as you can afford. I don't do games, or I might have went for an i7. I reason like this because after 4 computers since 1997, I found that the computer always became outdated before its time because it no longer could handle the new technology coming along. I also got a 1.5tb HD which I will never need, (but who knows 4 years from now.)

 

Intel Core 2 Duo and above is good enough for casual use. I find RAM plays a bigger role. Lack of RAM can quickly become the bottleneck if you multi-task. Browser alone takes quite an amount these days...and that's just 1 program.

 

I think core i3 is okay for most home users but i5 would be the best.

 

Well, best thing you can do is to buy i5.

It will cost you like 20-30$ more but you will get 200-300% faster PC and a CPU that you will not have to change for years.

Since you care about price/effectivness, i7 is out of the league since buying it would be an overkill.