Intel/AMD and nVidia/ATI

I am curious about what people are using and what they think about what they are using.

I would like to hear what kind of processor and graphics you are running and why you chose to go with each.

I do not want to see people start arguing over why which one is better.

I would like to hear why you think one is better than the other but without arguments.

I am using an AMD Phenom II x4 940 processor with a Sapphire X1950 GT 512Mb Graphics card.

I chose the AMD processor for the performance and price and I have overclocked it as high as 3.6Ghz so far stable without adjusting the northbridge.

I chose the Sapphire X1950 GT because it was cheap but originally I had a pair of them installed with a crossfire setup. I did not like crossfire at all because it was a waste of time, effort, money, and one graphics card. I found out quickly that crossfire will only work with a single display. I run dual monitors so that was a killer for me right away. Without being able to use crossfire I was effectively wasting an entire card so I sold one. Other problems included not having any video until windows was loaded and I was sitting on the desktop. Again another killer because if you have a problem and cannot access the bios you just sit there wondering when your machine is ever going to start or if it ever will. You end up pulling a card to troubleshoot the problem and that sucks.

I ended up clocking the card up to the speed of an X1950 Pro because the GT was underpowered.

My processor was an excellent choice. My graphics card was a poor choice. Not because it was ATI but because it was a crappy model. If I had gone with a 1950 Pro I would have been much happier.

My next processor and graphics card will be the AMD Phenom II X4 955 and the Sapphire HD 4890 Atomic.

For me it is nVidia/Intel because of their offerings on a laptop...I have a T9300 Processor and an 8600M GT in my laptop...while the graphics card is aging a bit...this is still a very powerful notebook that can pretty much run anything reasonable you throw at it...Intel and nVidia have gained my business because of my experience with them

Intel and Nvidia = Best Combo :)

Antman said:

I chose the Intel E6700 for it's price point and native clock. I upgraded to the E6750 when my mobo BIOS was upgraded to support 1333 FSB. The upgrade cost me half a day's labor reprogramming LCR tables on a breadbox switch. I chose ATI HD3850 512MD3 because it was $25.

Intel is better than AMD because I don't like bell peppers. ATI is better than nVidia because I do like adobo.

Alright Antman...I need a good professional reconmendation...I am looking for a processor for a board a friend gave me...the socket on the board is LGA775...I am looking to not spend much but I want to have some power behind it...thoughts?

Anyone can jump in here (didn't want to start a whole thread for this...seeing how it ties in here)

Intel/Intel for me? Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 @ 2.0Ghz Intel GMA 4500MHD Onboard (I hate this onboard gfx).

pparks1 said:

I think you have a ton of options still with the LGA775 boards. Heck, I just bought one a few weeks back to use as a primary Windows 7 machine and also run as a "hackintosh" machine.

I went with a Q9550 quad core CPU. Was about $210 from NewEgg. This might be more than you want to spend. It's a 2.83Ghz chip, but happily overclocking to 3.2Ghz on my Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R board on stock cooling with low 30's idle temps and 55-60's under load.

For a lower cost chip....maybe the E6300 Wolfdale 2.8Ghz 65W chip. It's under $90 at NewEgg for a dual core with the stock cooler and heatsink.

Yeah I just seen that one...its the FSB that gets me...was hoping for 1333 for a reasonable price...