Researching my new system build, I've done lots of reading, and this is by far the best post - many thanks for taking the time, especially keeping it current.
You say that no AMD system could be considered high end. That was certainly true with the buggy Phenoms; but do you think it is still true with the X4s?
And specifically, I want to get good bang-for-electricity, so limiting myself to 65W TDP. This means top-end Intel dual-core (e.g. E8500 or E8600 if the price drops), or low power AMD quad (e.g. 9350e).
The other potential advantage of going AMD is hybrid crossfire, so my GPU powers down and I just use embedded graphics when full GPU isn't needed.
Views and advice much appreciated.
You say that no AMD system could be considered high end. That was certainly true with the buggy Phenoms; but do you think it is still true with the X4s?
And specifically, I want to get good bang-for-electricity, so limiting myself to 65W TDP. This means top-end Intel dual-core (e.g. E8500 or E8600 if the price drops), or low power AMD quad (e.g. 9350e).
The other potential advantage of going AMD is hybrid crossfire, so my GPU powers down and I just use embedded graphics when full GPU isn't needed.
Views and advice much appreciated.