Two $300 budget builds - AMD vs Intel - [H]elp!

[n3rdcore]

I need to build 2 machines. They will be used as follows:

• Desktop - Vista x64 Premium, Aero, Office 2007, email, internet, some movies
• Server test machine - Windows Server 2008 x64, Exchange 2007, VMWare, etc.

There will be NO GAMING on these machines. At most they will be hooked up to a 1366x720 resolution (old plasma) to play a DVD or 720p file. I have come up with an AMD build and an Intel build below. I can't decide. Maybe I will do one of each!?

Questions:

• Are the two builds I spec'd out below comparable to each other, or is one clearly better?
• Does either build better suit the Desktop vs a Server test machine?
• I am currently doing the server and OS testing on a Asus P5Q Pro, E8400, 4GB DDR800... all running at stock speeds (no OC)... are these new builds going to be noticeably slower in terms of OS and application speed? (remember: no gaming!)
• Are the integrated graphics in the above motherboards sufficient to handle the 1366x720 with 720p content? (I'm a video n00b sorry for the dumb question )

AMD Build - $306
Foxconn A7GM-S
Athlon 64 X2 5600+
G.SKILL 4GB DDR2800 (-$15.00 Combo)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
WD2500YD 250GB (-$44.99 Combo)

Intel Build - $312
GIGABYTE GA-EG31M-S2 G31 $52.99
Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz $82.99
G.SKILL 4GB DDR2800
OCZ 600W
WD2500YD 250GB (-$44.99 Combo)

I chose the OCZ power supply since it has a $45 combo discount with the hard drive I chose, plus a $20 rebate. Without that I would prob go with an Antec Earthwatts 380W for $40 shipped with no rebate. So total cost on these builds is actually $20 less than the above prices...bonus!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Dangman]

Ditch the ModXStream PSU and go with the Antec Earthwatts EA380. You'll get significantly better quality that way.

1, 2, 4) For HTPC duties, the AMD build is far superior due to it's better integrated graphics that can offload the decoding of HD content. Meaning less CPU usage and smoother playback. Intel's integrated graphics suck at playing back HD content compared to their AMD counterparts. High CPU usage and occasional skippage.

For server test machine, the Intel build is far superior since it has a significantly faster CPU. If needed, that E5200 could be OC'd a bit for increased performance.

For pure desktop work, the Intel build would be a bit faster but even the AMD build is more than enough for Office, web browsing, etc.

3) Well you are using a slow-as hard drive so yes you will notice a bit of a performance hit compared to your new system


I say do one of each: AMD for the desktop and the Intel for the server.