Hey there, im building a computer and have been posting in the new system build forums first of all. The link is
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ild-review

I had all but decided on the E8400 intel CPU when i began talking to a member of my extended family who has a license for buying computer parts at lower prices for his company (dba license i think it was called?), for a little history he has been building computers for himself and others for the past 15 years and has his masters degree in computer science. Therefore i cant ignore when he tells me that AMD is a much better decision in a CPU/mobo, though he has been biased towards AMD for his own computers.

Reason being: (and i am still new so bear with me), According to him, Intels mobos have a lower FSB than the AMD variants resulting in a higher load being placed on the CPU, which results in higher heat production which in turn can wreck your cpu/mobo whatever... I have been reading up on the cpu i have initially chosen (E8400) and have noticed that there are some rumors(?) of :

turpit wrote: (CPU Buyers Guide)
E8XXX series. Attractive price/performance ratio, but due to the relative immaturity of these processors taken in concert with unverified rumours of temperature/temperature sensor problems, these CPUs fall into the catagory of 'unverified' for the time being...purchase at your own risk

Now i dont pretend to have much experience nor a vast knowledge of the internal workings of cpus/mobos but i am learning quickly and would appreciate it if you gurus out there could discuss this so i can decide whether to go with Intel or AMD finally. I realize that at the moment Intel dominates the market for speed of processors but i would like to look at this from a more technical standpoint of quality as well as power. Dont sugarcoat it

Im apologize if this post does not belong here but since the announcement of the Tri cores for AMD i figure we have some AMD enthusiasts in here as well as Intel to argue the good points! Thank you for your time

Even as an AMD buyer, that is not a valid reason to pass up on the E8400. At present the Intel FSB only ever becomes a speed issue in servers. The E8400 is more than you could ever really want as a desktop user.

Would you argue that for ~around the same price, choosing a higher end AMD X4 series cpu would benefit me more in the end? I dont do alot of video editing or programs that would warrant having a quad core but i dont want to rule out the possiblity. Im more of a gamer than anything else, but i do multitask heavily at times due to work.

Yes, you can ague that point, but ...
I agree with LukeBird.
Your opinion may differ .... and that's ok! and not wrong ...

Okay thanks for your comments! One last question, as a gamer im looking forward to the next 'generation' of games that most likely will make better use of the multi threading technology of the quad cores etc. While these games arent out yet, i would rather be better equipped when they do come out than have to rebuild all over again (though lets face it, in a year or two the system will be obsolete anyway). Some games i am looking forward to are Age of Conan (may2008) and the much anticipated Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning (pushed back til who knows when)... will the E8400 satisfy the needs i will have for these games, or will it be based solely on the graphics card(s) i have installed (currently looking at the geforce 8800gts g92)

ist off, a MS in computer sciece does not alway equate to superior knowlege. I've had no problems holding my own discussing electronics with PHD's and MS in EEE, while working at NASA, even though I have a BA in basket weaving. Was asked if I really had a BA during a job interview - My reply was yes, in basketwaving - was offered the job.

On FSB for motherboards. Athough heat generation is an issue, The same issues exist be it AMD or Intel chipsets. Other concerns have equal weight such as trace layout, quality of inductors and capacitors in terms of crosstalk, signal attenuation and stability of clock pules. Based on this I would say that "Quality" boards based on amd/intel are on equal footing.

As for CPU's, older P4's were space heaters compared to AMds; however, I don't believe this to be true for the current generation od intel core 2 or quads. May be wrong but the new intel quads have a lower thermo envolope than the new AMD.

As fare as FSB, I've been using a FSB of 1600 for over a year without a problem with stability, or thermo issues.

My gut instincts would be to go with intel platform, but each to his own.

From the weeks of research and learning about how to do these builds its a common if not dominant occurance of Intel stomps AMD, so i will just go with my instincts and get the Intel.

Not to mention i was reading the CPU history of some of the forum users in a post, and MANY of the long term AMD users switch to the Intels which they use current or are planning on going to the Intels.

With all that said, thanks for putting my mind at rest and RetiredChief.... i envy your BA in basketweaving. I wish i had one.

I had just noticed that the prices for the E8400 and the Q6600 are almost identical, would i be better off to just grab the quad i wonder?

It depends if the majority of things you do on your PC are single-threaded, in which case the E8400 will be a better bet.
If it were my money I'd go with the Q6600, as for me a 2.4GHz CPU is going to be more than enough for single-threaded apps. You can never add cores in the future either

You want to see something impressive, ask RetiredChief to send you a pic of one of his anti-static baskets .

Basically, EVERYTHING you have been told is incorrect or wrong.

Older P4 Chips ran hotter than AMD Chips, but this had nothing to do with FSB speeds.
Current Core2Duo Chips run much cooler than AMD Chips.
There are not ANY motherboard reliability issues for either AMD or INTEL Chips in this regard.

There is not any "HEAT SENSOR" issues with the E8400 Either.

Some Mobo's w/o an properly updated BIOS may detect that the CPU is running warmer than it really is.
This is because the sensors don't read the actual temperature, but calculate it based upon a specific forumla for different CPUs. In a Worst Case Scenario, the Mobo will throttle your CPU because it thinks it is running hot when it is not. There is never a danger of damage since the CPU is running COOLER than the mobo thinks. However, even when the Mobo is not reading the correct temp, this issue is only seen when performing Extreme OverClocks of the CPU. This is the only time the CPU may even get close to the temperature threshhold causing the over-estimated temperature to kickin.

I just bought the Q6600 over the E8400.

However, my decision was made easy by being lucky and finding the Q6600 on sale for $179.
(The Sale only lasted a couple hours before they sold out.)

Thanks Zen, while i suspected my own ideas were right after reviewing so many of the posts and articles on multiple forums/websites its hard for a first timer to ignore the experience of someone with a fancy degree in things i barely understand. Im more than satisfied with the responses you have all given me and yes... i will go with the Q6600.
Would any of you suggest a different mobo or is the ABIT IP35 Pro still a wise choice?

Thats the problem with tech. You can have all the degrees but if you stop reading up about the latest developments and benchmarks and updates and all the rest you quickly fall out of the loop.

Kaine, I once had an idiot tell me I wasn't qualified to identify trans-fat as hazardous simply because I didn't have a degree in toxicology.

(fyi this is the stuff that kills turkeys, pigs, and other animals force-fed i