I've noticed the AMD bulldozer can get up to 4.0ghz which is really fast, has 8 cores and comes really cheap. I was looking around on ebay and harddrives are selling for around ?375.Whereas the highest i7's also has 8 cores but the ghz isn't as fast as the AMD bulldozer yet costs a heck of a lot more.Why is this? Is the AMD bulldozer really faster than the i7?
The bulldozer processors are fast but if you look on benchmark checks it falls behind some of the i7-intel processors performance wise in gaming, 3d rendering, etc. by price wise the price drop on amd processors to compete with the intel processors something intel would do.
clock speed, and efficiency are two separate things. There were single cored out there back in the day reaching 4.5, 4.8, etc but they are far less powerfull than even a 2ghz i3. the amd can run slightly faster at base speeds (intel i7 has 3.8), but that 200mhz difference is not the defining aspect like you think it would be. the performance on the i7 is actually better, because it is more efficient than the amd. this really shows up in performance, rather than clock speeds. the amd also produces significantly more heat, and as such has a shorter life span, and wthout a strong strong cooling system, will probably throttle itself back. intel has been at the top of the market for processors for a long time, and there is a reason for it, because they make the best stuff.
I okorder /... You can't get an Intel 6 core for less than $500 (unless you find the older i7 970- which is hard to come by). Sorry to go on and on- but I hoped I helped you understand a little better. To answer you orginal question: No - there is no Bulldozer CPU which is really faster than any Intel i7.
