The number of desktop PC users flying the AMD flag who have taken part in our "show us your tech-cave" project might be outnumbered by Intel users - but they're out there.
Over the years picking an AMD chip has meant anything from speed to upgradeability, getting bang for buck and for some, maybe the satisfaction of siding with the underdog.
So why pick AMD for a desktop tower now?
We've been pondering this since seeing AMD's recently released roadmap (download the slides here).
The general theme is about going further with the concept of combined CPU/GPUs - giving laptops better graphics performance without excessive power use, super thin (or Ultrathin as AMD is calling them) laptops, tablet chips, and making the GPU more useful for general computing.
Or, as a slide from AMD's latest presentations sums up, one aspect of AMD's direction is a move from "high performance products with emphasis on cores" to "focus on optimized cores."
For desktop PC users, Trinity and Vishera will be key chips from AMD.
We're seeing some interpret this with comments that the "days of AMD chasing Intel for the high-end desktop market are done" (from this story over at AnandTech).
As our Labs editor John Gillooly put it in a previous issue of PC & Tech Authority magazine, AMD's glory days of competing clock-for-clock with Intel are over. Everywhere it matters, Intel is faster, he stated back in our December issue. While we raved about AMD's laptop chips in 2011, their Bulldozer architecture wasn't everything we had hoped it would be.
Where does all this leave AMD in your mind? Would you still choose an AMD chip and why? Do you treat the CPU with as much importance as you once did - or are you content with a mid-range CPU, so you can use the rest of your budget on graphic, screens, and other things? Add your opinion below.
