Pro's/Cons of using AMD Duron and T-Bird in networks?

[NeuromancerIV]

My boss shuns using AMD CPUs in network boxes, workstations and servers.He cites past issues with stability in stressful networks. Has anyone noted any issues as to why/why not choose AMD, say, Duron T-bird CPU's in a small meduim sized network with Linux,NT, 2000?. Any input/advice would be more than welcomed.

"Madness takes its toll, please have exact change."

[Danrak]

By boss shuns at the thought of having to spend the extra money on Intel over AMD. He's even had us use Cyrix chips on a few of the techs computers. We have run Windows NT and Windows 2000 Advanced Server with no problems with any of the AMD's. The only problem we have is with our POS software which is a huge resource hog.

[kannibul]

AMD = praise praise praise
INTEL = bash bash bash

yup thats about it....

amd lost its incompatability issues with the k6-2 after they ditched the PR rating (with cyrix still uses)
amd has always been a workhorse chip, and has always scored higher on business related apps, MHZ-MHZ.
please note that i am referring to after they dropped the PR rating...

btw, anyone remember the incompatibilty issue with the first pentiums and the math co-processor???
i dont remember the specifics, but it woudl hose math calculations in excel...
intel denied it mroe than microsoft (at least they admit it when you have stone cold evidence in front of them)

[Russell E. Trong]

I've built many small networks (2 to 8 workstations) all with K6-2 processors. Have not had a single problem. All of my customers are happy that they didn't have to "spend alot for their muffler"! I strongly recommend AMD and wouldn't use anything else!

[TooTall]

I having been buying AMD cpu's since they started making them and have never had a problem. I have told my boss that it would save us a bunch of money but they persist on buying Intel. Intel and AMD are basically the same damn thing, different name, the main difference is the price, the AMD processors are priced much more reasonably, this leads me to wonder why it is that Intel, who has been in the game for so much longer doesn't have more reasonable prices, humm, can you say "Overpriced market controlling cash cow"? I would much rather buy something for a cheaper price and get better performance out of a CPU, but the dinosaurs that continue to order computers at the large conglomorate companies will always side with Intel, only because of the brand name that it has established over the years. AMD seems to be gaining a lot of ground though and may be coming to a point when they will be just as recognizable to Joe User as Intel, I cannot wait until that day, oh yeah, DIE CYRIX!!!!

[spike]

Originally posted by NeuromancerIV:
My boss shuns using AMD CPUs in network boxes, workstations and servers.He cites past issues with stability in stressful networks. Has anyone noted any issues as to why/why not choose AMD, say, Duron T-bird CPU's in a small meduim sized network with Linux,NT, 2000?. Any input/advice would be more than welcomed.

"Madness takes its toll, please have exact change."

All I can say is any incompatability issues are,"non-issues.If your boss is anything like mine,the bottom line cost is what rules his thinking.
When I showed him the price of a 700 T-Bird was $150 and the 700 Celeron was $193,that pretty much changed the issue to not if we should install to when can we install it.
Its going to take some time to break free of the Microsoft&Intel mindset.But I think when you really start looking at the dollar cost when you compare a T-bird//Linux system VS a Celeron//NT system,It really becomes a issue of "How can we justify staying with what we got"
Its time to move on.

[NeuromancerIV]

Thanks for all your input. One of the techs here has had diffuculties running K6-2's in Win2000 Pro on workstations, he surmises that is because 2000 seems to be written for Intel architecture.( ie random lockups and crashes on several differen boxes) Anyone have any thoughts on that? and if the Duron/T-Birds would potentially have the same issues.

[ransomedson]

Here's the deal. I've seen several Intel vs AMD threads open up in the past. Each one has their defenders/bashers. The problem with AMD in a business enviornment actually has nothing to do with AMD at all. Most of the time these threads debate over which processor runs Microsoft apps better.
I work for a healthcare corporation which has several specialized network applications/vendors. The problem is that many specialized application companies will NOT support non-intel setups. The problem may not be such an issue in other enviornments. It is for support/warranty issues that many corporations, in healthcare at least, stick with Intel for the most part, with the exception of any RISC/Unix systems.
Aside from support issues, it's 6 one way, 1/2 dozen the other. I've known AMD to be a little crankier sometimes but not unworkable.

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Three things are certain: Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

[AMDguy]

AMD and intel processors are NOT the same thing, in most repsects. I'll give that before the PR rating dropped they sucked a little, but there are WAY more differences to site than i wish to go into here. As for intel being around longer, and quote this from amd, "AMD shipped as many chips for the original IBM PCs as Intel and had a key role in establishing x86 as the architecture of choice for today's PCs." quoted from the AMD reseller Processor Reference Guide. AMD and Intel processors are way different. the only thing and i mean the ONLY thing intel has on AMD is marketing. If AMD had dancing guys in shiny suits and tons of marketing cash, athlons would move faster than ice cream in august.

[Tiger_66]

I would strongly recommend AMD over Intel. Wether you are considering the PIII or the Celeron they are both more than the Thunderbird CPU. Plus, even though the Celeron comes close to AMD prices, it STILL runs on a 66Mhz FSB. That has a whole lot to do with load time. I have networked many computers and have noticed that the AMD processors always seem to load the fastest and have the least crashes. Also, does anybody realize that AMD has a contract with Intel that they can second-source anything that Intel makes. EXACTLY! Why pay more for the name?

[KERNEL32]

AMD is cool but i think they still need some more development work to complete with INTEL. You have to admit Intel still creates a bit more superior product than AMD. And dont get me wrong i own AMD processors. Defenite improvement in the company's rep when they released the Athlon processor and in my opinion a faster processor than P3, but it gets too hot unlike the P3.

Kernel32 caused an invalid page fault at 0911:0x0 =D

[none]

Your problem may be motherboard related and not CPU related. Early Althon M/boards had stability issuses that have now been overcome.

[NeuromancerIV]

Again thanks for all the insights. Some of our customers DO run proprietary apps. So I'm thinking the consensus seems to be AMD/Intel is a non-issue in a MS/Linux NW running "standard" apps. But in ones running say some custom written apps stick with Intel for stability and compatability. Now does anybody have a way to help me convince my boss?!

oh here's another shameless plug for my company. Visit our site, it'll make my webmaster happy www.dynastytech.com

thanks all!

[Hlodh]

Well, the best possible way you could show your boss the real deal is to set up 2 machines on the same desk with the same softare, hardware, network connection, etc., except one of them is a P3 and the other is an Athlon (or a celeron/duron combination of same). Do the 7th-grade science fair thing, my boss loves that stuff. And it seems to work well; in theory, there should be almost no difference in AMD vs. Intel at similar CPU/bus speeds.

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I sing and play guitar, and I have A WARDROBE FULL OF FIRE!

[Shinma]

Actually the P!!! in Slot 1 form gets pretty hot as well. Intel dodged the bullet by switching to the flip chip and implementing 0.18 process. But we know that AMD does that as well with their faster chips so the point is moot.