swbf_lase wrote:Ya, test results can lie...
In this case however they don't... AMD was THE chip to have a year and a half ago, but as of last September when the Intel Core2Duo's came out, AMD has been clobbered in the price - performance ratio. Intel has learned from their mistakes in the past, and are producing FASTER chips for less money than the "equivalent" AMD chip. Look around at ANY hardware site. I challenge you to find even ONE review that says that AMD's last bunch of chips can hold a candle to Intel's.
Personally, I am an avid AMD fan, but even I can't deny the fact that Intel has been putting out superior product for the last year. If you are truly a fanboy, and want to stick with AMD, you'd be better off waiting until their next batch of chips comes out based on the Barcelona core. They're supposed to be a much better chip that is supposed to compare more readily to their Intel counterparts by running cooler, and having better overclocking capabilities. But, as with anything, the hype machine has been in full gear about Barcelona for quite a while now, and Intel hasn't been just resting on their laurels - they too have been developing new tech to counter the supposed Barcelona threat.
As of now though, Intel wins hands down. If you don't believe it, then you must have been hiding in a cave for the past year. I have great hopes that AMD can "level" the playing field and come back out on top, but as of now they haven't yet, and everything coming out of their camp is just rumors and innuendo. I REALLY hope that with the AMD/ATI merger that happened last year that they are also able to make a GPU that performs better than their Nvidia rivals, as well as the CPU to out-do Intel...
Just a couple of more comments on your system build (not to nitpick or anything...) Why did you decide to go with Vista x64?? The driver support for 64 bit operating systems is HORRIBLE right now, as well as there are some MAJOR compatibility issues with it. Many antivirus programs won't work with it, and you will probably have some pretty glaring issues when it comes to games. You'd be better served with buying plain old Vista Premium 32 bit or Ultimate... Believe me, I know what I'm talking about here - I was on the original Beta test for Vista, and the driver support STILL isn't there for the 64bit version yet.
Also, as I said before - I'd be extremely leery of using a no-name power supply like the Rosewill.. For a few dollars more you could buy yourself something that is rock solid, like an Enermax, Thermaltake, Antec, OCZ, Ultra, Corsair, Silverstone, Fortron, etc etc. ALL of those power supplies are known to have rock solid reliability, with very little ripple or deviation on the various rails that supply power to your system. You truly "get what you pay for" when buying a power supply. And considering that your power supply is powering some High end equipment, why leave it to chance? Lastly, your RAM choice.. WINTEC.. Never heard of them. With the price of RAM being what it is nowadays, you could easily go with RAM from a company like OCZ, Corsair, Super Talent, Kingston, Buffalo, Team Extreem etc. RAM is CHEAP, and companies like OCZ offer a LIFETIME warranty on their Ram - this warranty extends to overclocking (provided you don't put too much power through them) If anything goes wrong, they'll ship you new RAM modules. Even if this worked out to an extra $20-$30, it's well worth it in my opinion for peace of mind.
If you've already ordered your parts, then good luck. If you haven't, then give some thought to what I've said here. There are some things that I personally would never skimp on (having had bad experiences in the past). RAM, and Power Supplies are both extremely important, and many people think that if they can save a few bucks on them that they can put that money somewhere else. You could do this, but I can almost guarantee that it will end up being a severe detriment to your system in the long run..
