Intel Corp (INTC)

[Bird of Prey]

Nothing like jumping in with both feet. I've been following Intel for a number of years now mostly because my first rule of investing is to buy what you know. I have always used Intel in my machines and probably always will.
The commments here concerning AMD vs Intel though are what leads me to weigh in on the subject. Though not a majority of users are experimenting with overclocking (making the CPU operate faster that it's rated speed), there is a vast amount of debate over which chipmaker is better for abusing this way.

Issue number one. AMD is easier to overclock because (until recently) they did not lock the multiplier on the chip. Intel PII's were dificult to OC because the cache was separated from the CPU and the heat generated could not easily be dispersed. Since the PIII the multipler has been locked. Even since AMD started locking the multiplier it's been easy to defeat and ramp up the performance, however this brings us to issue number two.
Issue number 2. Heat. Even at rated speed the CPU generates a lot of heat. AMD chips run significantly hotter than Intel's at rated speed. This limits what you can do in the way of overclocking without getting into some very expensive cooling solutions. One manufacturer actually builds a case for OC'd AMD with an Air Conditioner cooling the chip well below ambient room temperature.
Personally I like Intel chip because I can OC them reasonably without additional expense.
Contrary to popular belief, you can notice a difference with a 20% increase in CPU speed. Granted it's not a big difference, but it is detectable.
As for cost savings, what is the cost of a dual cpu board for PIII vs a new P4 top of the line setup? about half. OC to just past a gig each and you have very nearly P4 performance.
I don't recommend this for everyone, And certainly not with a mission critical machine. But I've been running a PIII/700 OC to 840 for almost six months now...and it actually runs more stable than it did at 700!!!
Anyway, it is good to have competition...keeps you on your toes.

The Bird of Prey