[ubuntu-uk] ECS AM3 GeForce 6100PM-M2 motherboard

[Rob Beard]

On 06/07/10 16:44, Alan Lord (News) wrote:
> On 06/07/10 16:25, Barry Drake wrote:
>> ECS AM3 GeForce 6100PM-M2
>
> Any reason you are specifically going for AMD?
>
> Just FYI, from what I've read over the past couple of years, currently
> you will still get more bang-per-pound-spent going with intel processors
> (ever since the "Core" architecture basically) and they use less power
> than comparable AMD chips too.
>
> Although it should also be said, opinion in the press is that AMD may
> very well take back the mantle later this year/early next when AMD
> release a new hybrid processor range integrated with high performance
> ATi GPU (a SoC in reality), but this is a way off yet and early ones
> will undoubtedly be quite pricey.
>
> HTH
>
> Al
>

 From what I've been reading, if you're looking for performance on a 
budget then AMD is still king.  For instance the Core i7 as nice as it 
is, is still more expensive than the top of the range Phenom II X6.  I 
gather though that for ultimate performance where money is no object 
then Intel is still ahead.

Personally I've got a mixture of AMD and Intel desktop kit.  If I wanted 
to upgrade my Intel kit to anything faster I'd be limited as far as a 
Core 2 Quad without replacing the motherboard, memory and CPU (so my 
next upgrade step would be something like the Core i3 or Core i5 with 
DDR3 memory).  If I upgrade the AMD kit then I just need to drop in a 
new CPU, I can keep the existing board and memory.

Granted, if you've got an AM2 (not AM2+) or older board then you're 
going to need a new board anyway but even then I'd say the AMD budget 
choice has a better upgrade path than the Intel Socket 775 going on the 
fact that the AM2+ boards can take up to a Phenom II X6 and the Intel 
Socket 775 boards are limited to Core 2 Quad (the cheapest Intel Socket 
1156 board is around £65 compared to around £42 ish for an AMD AM3 
motherboard).

Rob