Jafo has good taste in posters, too.

Kona...I live in the 'Real World' [tm]. It's entirely irrelevant who 'might' do what - when.

If you consistently choose Ferraris [because they are good/fast] you don't rush off and buy a Porsche instead because someone thinks they 'might' be faster/better tomorrow.  Tomorrow never comes....;)

I live in the real world as well old friend. There was a time when AMD had better processors than Intel. That time will come again.

Speaking of USB3....I do have something with it/them...my Laptop does...it's the newest machine, afterall...currently with 8.1 ...complete with crashes and network conflict issues....good old MS and its crap OS.  Clearly 8.1 is NOT better at all.

I think I'll be pissing it off...sooner than later...and sticking with 7...;p

I have an AMD FX8350 that beats 'some' i7s, but it is way off beating the more recent Haswell series.  The AMD FX 9350, which must be liquid cooled, comes closer but still no cigar.  To date, Intel beats AMD for speed every time, which is why it is the CPU of choice for those seeking performance over price, but I did read that AMD is working with a new architecture which has shown promising results thus far.

The problem AMD has faced in recent times is working with an older architecture that hasn't allowed for great expansion going forward, which has allowed Intel, with greater developmental resources, to leap farther ahead in terms of performance.  However. AMD's new architecture may see leaps forward in terms of speed to truly rival Intel. 

It remains to be seen, and I'd like to see AMD come up with a CPU that truly rivals the best Intel has, but in either event, whether they do or not, AMD do manufacture great CPUs and they're not going away any time soon.  AMD does have a dedicated market and it will continue to push the envelope in the endeavour to close the gap, and at the end of the day, it is a matter of preference and what best suits a user's needs.  I have an Intel machine for the first time in 10 years, perhaps, but it doesn't mean I will get rid of/sell off my AMD rigs.  No, I will still use and cherish my AMD rigs because they continue to serve me well.

I wouldn't go blaming Windows 8.1 for your "crashing" issues just yet.  It could just as well be hardware issues, as my mother discovered with her Asus machine.  As it turned out, the network adapter was the wrong one for that laptop, and the RAM was also underpowered... each should have been in 2 models down, not her machine.  Naturally it was Asus' responsibility to fix it, and once done the machine runs as it is supposed to. 

So yeah, 'tis worth checking out... to be shure to be shure.

8 crashed less...and 7 didn't.

The specs for the lappy are more than good enough...it's an i7 3610QM at 2.3 with 4gig - 64bit OS

ASUS R500A.

Aw I dunno, something's not quite right there. I have 8.1 on 3 machines and have not had an issue.  One of those machines is an ASUS 11" laptop that began as Win 8, updated to 8.1, and it plays fair on that... no crashes or hiccups to speak of.  And it's not a high-powered machine, not even close.

You know what yrag would say... so let's assume you did [f**k it up, that is] and need to reinstall 8.1 to get it right.

Seriously, I have installed OSes that just didn't work right from word go.... crashes, freeze-ups, stuff just not working right... and a complete reformat and reinstall often fixed everything.  Could be the same on your "lappy", the drive needs a proper wipe before trying again.  It has worked for me and is worth a try before "pitching it to the sh!thouse", as my dear old dad used to say.