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Intel wants to slow down platform changes
Bill Todd wrote:
"Dean Kent" wrote in message .com... "Rob Stow" wrote in message ... Try talking to the guys - including me - who actually repair the damage. They'll tell you that AMD users tend to buy *upgrades* for *working* CPUs while Intel users tend to bring in *dead* CPUs and ask for *replacements*. Sorry, but I've been on vacation for awhile and just saw this one from over a week ago, but... I think it is somewhat interesting that you say this, since at the last several AMD Tech Tours I've attended, the support guys emphasize how important using the proper thermal solution is for AMD processors, and they claim that the #1 problem with AMD processors is death due to 'use of improper thermal solutions' (previously, it was improper installation of heat sinks - which included the damage of the die due to uneven pressure). I also find it interesting that AMD recently emphasized that warranties will not be honored when anything other than the recommended thermal solutions are used (including the use of Arctic Silver and such - which is not recommended). While it has been quite some time since I did any support, I find it very difficult to believe that Intel customers "tend to bring in dead CPUs". From my experience, motherboards were the #1 problem - at about a 1% to 3% failure rate (depending upon manufacturer), with dead CPUs being a rarity. With increased power dissipation, I can certainly see more CPU failures - but the way it is stated, it sounds like in your experience users of AMD processors rarely, if ever, have 'dead' CPUs (contrary to what AMD says), while Intel users typically have dead CPUs (which is contrary to my experience, and common sense). I don't think anything you've said serves to refute anything Rob said. Whether some form of heat death is the #1 *problem* with AMD processors is irrelevant if far more users (likely of the 'enthusiast' variety) choose to replace working AMD processors than come in with dead ones. And the relative importance of MB problems for Intel users really says nothing about the reasons why an Intel owner may want another CPU: it's still entirely possible that *when* they want one it's usually to replace a dead one, even if that happens rarely. Rob's statements could still be true even if (not that I'm suggesting that this is the case) AMD CPUs failed a lot more frequently than Intel's do: it would simply indicate that the ratio of AMD enthusiast-replacers to Intel enthusiast-replacers was even higher. Bill's last paragraph gets to the heart of the matter. To clarify my point a little further, lets look separately at the three largest groups of cpu purchasers: 1.) Upgraders: The AMD'er goes into the store to buy a processor faster than the one he currently has, walks out with same, and installs it. The Intel owner goes into the store with the same intentions and goes home empty handed because he's already got the fastest cpu his motherboard can handle or is so close to that limit that an upgrade is not worthwhile. Intel owners vastly outnumber AMD owners, but AMD upgraders outnumber Intel upgraders simply because they *can* do a simple cpu upgrade - no motherboard upgrade required until you want to try a Barton. The Intel average upgrade costs about twice as much as an AMD upgrade simply because the processor is more expensive, a new motherboard is often required, and sometime new RAM is required. 2.) Replacers: These are the guys who have fried their cpu. There are fewer of them than you might think: overclockers are more common and more vocal in newsgroups like this than they are out in the real world. The overwhelming majority of computer users are too conservative for OC'ing: the want all the speed they can get, buy not at the risk of sacrificing reliability. In my experience the number or Intel vs. AMD replacers is pretty much proportional to the number of Intel vs AMD owners. The most common sub-category of replacers are the upgraders who botched the job - this tilts the numbers against AMD, but only because AMD owners are much more likely to try an upgrade in the first place. AMD upgraders do *not* seem to be more likely to botch the upgrade - there are simply more of them. 3.) New buyers: Buying a processor for building a new system, as opposed to upgrading or replacing an existing cpu. These buyers are not relevant to this discussion. |
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