[philthomas]

I think the whole point is ... the bug exists and may manifest itself at any time, so the question really is : "Are you feeling lucky ?"
This post gives more information, but my view would be ... why buy a CPU that has a design fault and is likely to cause problems ?

Clearly the bug is more likely to occur, if/when the CPU is used to full capacity, so as this is your plan, you are clearly more vulnerable.

Obviously the Intel route is more expensive, but like many things in life, you tend to get what you pay for and the AMD CPUs are cheap for a reason.

[spot]

When we reach an alternative buy list and an alternative price and a comparative performance figure we can discuss the merits of your argument from an informed perspective. At the moment I know nothing.

[philthomas]

Well .... the best you are going to get here is people's opinions.

You have had 2 opinions that do not recommend your Phenom purchase and I have tried to explain why.

It's your money and your decision at the end of the day.
If you go ahead with it, I wish you good luck.

[spot]

Good lord phil, I've TAKEN the advice! That's why I'm sat here like a lemon waiting to discover how much more it's going to cost me now I've taken it, and whether I still get my ten times reduction in process time that I'm aiming for.

[serverguy]

I don't understand what you're after Spot.

You ask for advice and you get more than one person with experience saying that the Phenom is junk. Trust me there are lots of problems with it. I did a Google search for you:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=phe...L_enGB242GB242

But you don't seem to be interested in the advice given and appear to have an excellent knowledge of AMD so I suggest that you go with the Phenom and enjoy all the problems you may well get. I'm sure people here will be able to help you figure it out if necessary.

Sorry if this is harsh but the thread wound me up.

Also, 400W is low for anything nowadays. You didn't mention how much this system would cost.... Do you have the price for it?

Edit: I now see in your last post that you have realised.. Sorry.

[spot]

To a very small extent, serverguy, I've been devil's advocate for the Phenom because I truly do dislike this word "rubbish" when applied to something that none of us are competent to even work on developing. I did come here with a specific request to improve the equipment list, and the existing price of UKP300 that this carries on ebay this week. I've no idea how to choose better equipment for that price, or to avoid reducing the performance in the process. It's all good old-fashioned honest enquiry on my part. The advice I'm seeking isn't whether AMD stinks or not, it's whether I can get the machine I need and if it's not that one from ebay how much more will it cost me - to go non-junk, it you want to put it in those terms. So far nobody's deigned to suggest a revised price or revised equipment, I'm sure they'll get round to it eventually.

[philthomas]

Originally Posted by spot Good lord phil, I've TAKEN the advice! That's why I'm sat here like a lemon waiting to discover how much more it's going to cost me now I've taken it, and whether I still get my ten times reduction in process time that I'm aiming for.

LOL .... I'm sure you dont need to sit there imitating a lemon and I'm sure you are perfectly capable of sourcing the Intel equivalents and working out your own costings, so i am not going to do your work for you.

If cost is your only consideration, go for the Phenom, but as said previously, increase your PSU and avoid the ASRock mobo.
If, however, you can stretch your budget and place reliability higher on your priority list, than cost, do the sensible thing and get the Intel, which afaik has no such bug included in the price

Whether you will reach your desired 10 x fold increase in processing time or not, with AMD or Intel I do not know and as you well know, it's impossible for anyone to answer that question.

Just for the record, my last 4 boxes have been AMDs, I am typing this on a 5200+ Dula Core AM2, so I am certainly not anti AMD .... just anti design fault/broken part CPUs, which are known to be troublesome

[spot]

Ah. I thought the point of asking is that since people here have recently done all this thinking I might benefit from the combinations they'd come up with and the prices they think reasonable. It's why I asked. That and the general sense of camaraderie such invitations to talk engender. The thing is that being told "get an Intel" is practically identical to "I think you ought to buy a computer", it's somewhat vague. A this-is-about-right-for-your-needs shopping list off the top of someone's head, with a ballpark aiming price, is what I had in mind.

[serverguy]

Originally Posted by spot Ah. I thought the point of asking is that since people here have recently done all this thinking I might benefit from the combinations they'd come up with and the prices they think reasonable. It's why I asked. That and the general sense of camaraderie such invitations to talk engender. The thing is that being told "get an Intel" is practically identical to "I think you ought to buy a computer", it's somewhat vague. A this-is-about-right-for-your-needs shopping list off the top of someone's head, with a ballpark aiming price, is what I had in mind.

Why not have a look around some of the other posts here? Carbon's hardware guide is a very good resource and (I think) very up to date.

Heres the link http://www.computer-juice.com/forums/f10/recommended-computer-parts-guide-13603/#

[spot]

There we go, 19 posts into the thread and the answer pops out just like that. Yes I've browsed the site, no I'd not seen that one before. I'll read and digest, thank you.