FiringSquad reviews AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition quad-core processor
I've been writing about technology for 10 years now, and as a member of the press, I find that it's incredibly difficult to always "keep your mind right" when it comes to passing judgment over the hardware that people buy. Anyone who does this job and says otherwise is lying.
Showdowns between AMD and Intel are especially difficult to officiate because the two companies are continually adjusting their price tags according to relative performance. I can tell you that Intel's fastest chip will smoke AMD's best effort, but the $800 discrepancy is a big enough turn-off to keep enthusiasts from automatically jumping on Intel's flagship. However, once you start comparing one company's $250 quad-core chip against the other's, decisions get a lot trickier. After all, in a bid to make some money and still remain competitive, both organizations are going to give you a very similar experience.
But at the end of the day, you're still faced with a choice. Your system is getting old. The latest games just don't look the way you know they should. So you want to build a new machine with the best processor, platform, memory, and graphics subsystems your money can buy. Make the call: AMD or Intel?...
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