Going cheap - AMD A8 with ATI graphics

Laurence wrote on 7/8/2012, 8:08 PM
Our house was broken into about a month ago and among the things stolen was my sons laptop. This was my old laptop with an Intel Core2Duo processor and nVidia graphics card.

Since he is heavily into Hit Film and Vegas software, and since Hit Film won't even run on the Intel integrated graphics that are on all the i3,i5 and i7 budget laptopsI replaced it with an HP quad core A8 with ATI graphics. It cost me all of $500.

I am amazed at how fast this little laptop is. The Windows 7 performance index is actually a higher number than my i7 quad core with nVidia graphics! For anyone on a budget, the AMD/ATI systems provide pretty competent systems for a fraction of the price of Intel/nVidia combos.

Comments

Soniclight wrote on 7/8/2012, 11:19 PM
I don't have a laptop but I was an Intel guy since my first real PC back in 1998. Last year, due to budget constraints, I built my computer with the (now supplanted) AMD X6 1090T Phenom II Black Edition 6x3.2 Ghz. with 6 logical cores -- the new ones are 8-core. I'm a pretty happy camper. Even though I have a wee-bit 8-core envy :D
john_dennis wrote on 7/8/2012, 11:57 PM
In the days of "plug-compatible" processors, I would start out with an Intel processor and end with an AMD: 386-40, AMD Pentium 233. The laptop that I ostensibly bought for my wife has an AMD processor. The package was good for the price and we never take it anywhere anyway so battery life was no big deal.

I don't think it makes any sense to buy an AMD for the desktop unless every penny counts.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/9/2012, 5:30 AM
I don't think it makes any sense to buy an AMD for the desktop unless every penny counts.

If pennies didn't count then we wouldn't care about what to charge people. :D