What should I get. HP a1530n Intel Pentium D 820 Viiv Dual Core 2.8 Ghz 1 GB Ram 250 GB Hard Drive 17â Flat Panel $740 Vs. HP a1520n AMD Athalon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.0 Ghz 1 GB Ram 250 GB Hard Drive 17â Flat Panel $700 I have a full time job, and will be trading on the side, so I am just looking for mid-high level PC, nothing to crazy. I will be using TWS, as my trading application. Thanks in advance.
Personally, I'd get the AMD dual core. They're much more power efficient, and very little heat output compared to Intel. Also, with the money you'd saved, upgrade to the next higher resolution monitor. Happy trading
I think Intel has finally done what it had to do to meet and beat all that AMD was throwing at them. For now, it is definitely THE solution. You basically have two choices - the Core 2 Duo E6700 and, if you really want a kick ass machine, the Core 2 Extreme X6800. Sounds from your writeup that the Core 2 Duo E6700 will more than meet your needs. Both use the new Conroe core and Intel's new Core 2 Duo microarchitecture in place of NetBurst which had been, among other things the cause off Intel's woes vis a vis AMD. Quite frankly, the state of microprocessor technology today is such that you really can't go wrong with whatever you finally choose. Just make sure its the "latest and greatest." It'll be worth it...
Except that the Pentium D820 is not the Core2duo; you can't even buy a Core2duo CPU by itself for $700... Given the two machines listed above, I'd go with the AMD. More bang for the buck...