Two of the best manufacturers of CPU processors are Intel and AMD Athlon.  These two companies have been raging war against each other ever since AMD Athlon beat Intel to releasing a 64bit processor.  But despite this, AMD Athlon computers have not completely won the battle yet.  The two companies have been trying to beat the competitor in terms of price, clock speed or performance, power consumption and heat production. There have been processor releases one after the other from these companies, making CPU processor shopping even more difficult.  The good thing though with this war between Intel and AMD Athlon is that we are given an array of the best processors.

AMD Athlon computers have been around for a while now.  They started with the release of the Athlon classic x86 processor way back when Intel’s Pentium 3 was the market leader.  AMD Athlon’s first processor barely touched Intel’s market then.  But in 2000, AMD Athlon dropped a bomb on Intel by releasing its Thunderbird processor.  This time, AMD Athlon computers gained the market leader title over Intel’s Pentium 3.  And ever since then, AMD Athlon has been competitively coming up with processors that seem to match, if not over perform Intel processors.

Let’s talk about speed!

If you are on the look out for a processor, you will probably check how AMD Athlon processors match with Intel’s in terms of price and performance.  Over the years, AMD Athlon has continually tried to improve its clock speed  and other features.  Current AMD Athlon processors are the 64 x2 series and 64 fx series.  The 64 x2 series offers a clock speed range from 2.3 GHz and 3.0 GHz while the 64 fx series offers a clock speed range from 2.6 GHz to 3.0 GHz.  AMD Athlon may not always match or over perform every Intel processor but the latest processor did.  The fx -74 processor out performs Intel’s Core 2 Extreme QX6700, with a 3.00 GHz clock speed compared to the latter’s slower 2.66GHz speed.

The Price Factor

Since AMD Athlon is the newer brand, it is only natural that they offer  affordable prices.  In fact, all their prices are lesser compared to Intel’s.  The AMD Athlon 64 x2 series for instance is lower priced, between $170 and $500, compared to Intel Core 2 Duo series which are priced between $180 and $600.  AMD Athlon processors are definitely more affordable, although the latest 64 fx – 74 is equally priced to its Intel counterpart.

Diversifying to Smaller Processors

AMD Athlon has also touched the market of notebook processors, with the Turion Series and the Mobile Athlon XP.  To fit a notebook’s size, these types of processors are basically smaller, has lower heat production and power consumption.

Choosing the Right Processor

Although speed and price are important factors to consider when you buy processors, your PC usage should be the first determining factor.  Why would you go for a high-speed processor when your PC usage won’t reach that speed?  If your PC use is limited to word processing and internet surfing only, choosing from the list of AMD Athlon processors will have no difference.  However, if you use your PC for high-speed computer games that requires faster clock-speed, you may want to check the top part of the AMD Athlon computers list.

Moreover, you may also want to consider buying cooling fans if you go with high-speed processors.  Although AMD Athlon processors are manufactured to have lower heat production, cooling fans will help cool the processors more effectively especially if you plan to over-clock your CPU.