AMD can't catch a break

[tthurman]

This one could really hurt!

[ClassicGMR]

I have only ever done one AMD build (did two at the exact same time so I could also have a gaming tower - I count that as one) and it was the worst experience I ever had. I went through 5 processors to get 2 good ones. The 3 bad processors destroyed 2 motherboards as well. That snowballed into burning out 2 RAM chips. All told it took 3 months of RMA, phone calls and testing before I could get 2 working systems.

I will never buy or build another AMD anything again. Just my $0.02 of course. And to be fair the 2 builds have been working flawlessly for the last 7 months.

[tthurman]

Personally I've never built a AMD rig, but I have for friends back in the Athlon days.

I've been quite happy with their GPU's for a number of years, and feel like they are a good value. I've been leaning back towards nvidia here as of late, but my PC gaming rig still sports a 7950 boost with 3GB, and plays modern games very well.

Regardless, IMO the competition is good, and it needs to be there to keep Intel and nvidia in check if nothing else.

[hansolo77]

I was originally an AMD fanboy. I liked the idea that I was somewhat supporting an underdog. I built 2 systems with AMD, and swore by them for years, telling all my friends that AMD was where they wanted to go. That was back in the Athlon days as well. Since then, I have built 3-4 systems with Intel and nVidia. I will never go back. While the AMD systems were good, they weren't exactly stable. I blamed it on the OS (Windows ME, 1st gen XP days). But we had a bad lighting strike that burned out the boards, and the local shop had a sale on Intel, so I decided to give them a try. Intel has been rock solid stable for years. I've not had a single problem with Intel EVER. Can't say that about AMD.

[tthurman]

Tough crowd, guess I need to recruit some AMD troops

[Kustom Kid]

I've used AMD since the K6-2. Every computer I've built for myself, except my last desktop which has an Intel i3, has had an AMD processor. Every GPU since 2000, save one GT 6600 that was given to me, has been ATI/AMD. I've not had any problems with any of their products.

I do hope they bounce back because the competition is a good thing like tthurman said. It's not looking very good at the moment.

[RIP-Felix]

Me too.

Built 4 computers over the last 5-6 years all AMD/Radeon spaning Phenom X2 to A10 APU (the one I'm writing this on). The oldest is in the family room and stays on 24/7, no problems. My HTPC and arcade cab machine hahve never given me trouble associated with the AMD components. Having said that I usually never buy second hand or obsolete, and I read a lot of reviews to be sure of compatability (Memory, motherboard, CPU, graphics). I've been very pleased with AMD's Price to technology ratio. I feel their best offering always outperforms intel's best offering at that price point. I could never get myself to shell out $300-500 to get an intel cpu/motherboard combo when I could get a comparitive AMD combo for $250-350. Besides the more noticeable performance gains are found in SSD and graphics cards anyway. I perfer to spend the savings there.

My $0.02

[Dal1980]

I bought 3 AMD computers (new) from a PC shop that had an online store. Good prices but entered into the world of black market chips. Found out that these 3 computers, only 1 had a genuine chip as the other two chips where bridged to make them appear to be better which subsequently made them run so hot the systems kept shutting off. Anyway, my other bad experience was using ATI graphix cards when I went through 3 different cards which I kept having to go swap at the store. ATI wasn't very helpful!

Then I heard AMD partnered with ATI... Best news ever for me, it meant that both of them were a lot easier to avoid! 😆

My last build was Intel and I won't use anything other than nVidia since I got my fingers burnt. Intel is very good and I enjoy the power of my i7

[RIP-Felix]

The 3 industries most people get extorted in are:

1. Healthcare
2. Automotive
3. Computer

I try to become as knowledgeable as possible about the costs associated with any of the above. When something goes wrong I have a good idea when I'm being ripped off. These areas are admittedly difficult to understand and the average person works too hard and long to research them. It should be no surprise then that there’s much corruption and greed. Tread carefully!

FanBoy Rant:

Once I learned how to build my own computers, I stopped having those problems. If you're in the US, Newegg has good prices and great customer service. Screw AMD, ATI, Nvidia, or any manufacturer's RMA procedure. They always make you jump through hoops, Newegg doesn't (at Least they've always been quick to issue me a refund or replacement for defective parts). Besides that's rare anyway. I do my research and buy genuine parts, from first hand dealers, rarely used and never from mom and pop computer stores. I've never had any problems with genuine ATI or AMD parts

[tthurman]

All I can say is that I have quite a few friends that have built AMD based processor rigs that were die hard Intel guys, but decided to ditch in recent years due to the attractive pricing. Obviously I'm not one of them, but I can tell you that these are some of my most game addictive friends, and these are just pre bulldozer era with sli nvidia GPU's. Running quite satisfactorily for them too. I'm not discounting your personal experiences, just saying that it's completely opposite of my die-hard, gotta have twelve hours every eleven hours gaming screen time, friends.

The only ATI GPU I ever had fail was a X800 PE, and ATI sent me a replacement in about three weeks total both ways. That said, I hung with Intel even through the P4 days, so I I'm an Intel proc/chipset kinda guy too.

[RIP-Felix]

Don't get me wrong, I love intel products. Just not the price. You pay for premium products and It makes sense sometimes. I went with Intel SSD's on my last 4 SSD purchases. They get the best NAND, fixed the sandforce firmware, and backed up my 180Gb 520 with a 5 year warranty. I wanted the performance of a sanforce SSD without the problems other manufactures were having, so buying a premium Intel SSD made sense. So I get it.

I havn't been able to justify a more expensive CPU+Motherboard when AMD has a cheaper combo that contends. Obviously I'm talking about the Mid to lower-High end gaming range with AMD's best CPU for $300. A $400 intel usually gives around the same performance. I can Save a hundred bucks and put it in my GPU where I can make up the difference in a bigger way! That is the conversation I have every time I look into upgrading. I wouldn't knock AMD, they are still around because they tend to beat Intel at these lower price points. There's a large Niche and they exploit it well.

In my experience, Die Hard intel guys want the best experience. So they pay extra expecting it. I've found some of these guys very pissed of to learn just a few months later that my new budget AMD CPU out performs their expensive monster. Why, because what they bought was the extra few months it takes for the competition to catch up. Yes you'll get the best, but it won't last that long. Depends how much you spend though. the $1000 CPU might buy you a year. I can wait, there are plenty of retro titles I've yet to enjoy or I'd like to revisit while i'm waiting;)