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srgramrod
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Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:33 pm

I'm helping my buddy out with a new build and i was wondering, since he has the money should he go with an intel over amd? the computer will mainly be for gaming and he already has the AMD-8350 in mind.
AMD FX-8320
Gigabyte 990FX-UD3
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Radeon HD 6790 1GB
1GB Seagate 7200 rpm & 125GB Crucial M4
 
JohnC
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:36 pm

srgramrod wrote:
since he has the money

Intel.
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just brew it!
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:43 pm

If you're building from scratch (i.e. not re-using an existing AMD motherboard), and aren't on a tight budget, Intel is a much better choice for gaming these days.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
Firestarter
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:59 pm

For games, single-thread performance is still king and the king of single-thread at the moment is Intel. Best bang for buck is probably the i5-4570K, slap a simple tower cooler on it like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO, give it a mild overclock and you're set.
 
emvath79
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:55 pm

I assume you will be helping him choose a decent GPU for this thing? If he is planning on using the integrated graphics for gaming (and if he has money he shouldn't be) then AMD would be the better choice. If using a discrete GPU (like all gamers should be)...Intel.
 
superjawes
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:03 pm

emvath79 wrote:
I assume you will be helping him choose a decent GPU for this thing? If he is planning on using the integrated graphics for gaming (and if he has money he shouldn't be) then AMD would be the better choice. If using a discrete GPU (like all gamers should be)...Intel.

Crossfire, or not to crossfire...
On second thought, let's not go to TechReport. It's infested by crypto bull****.
 
I.S.T.
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:05 pm

If you have the money, go with Intel. I chose a Core I5 4570S, myself. Nicely lowered power draw for still high performance.
 
emvath79
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:10 pm

superjawes wrote:
emvath79 wrote:
I assume you will be helping him choose a decent GPU for this thing? If he is planning on using the integrated graphics for gaming (and if he has money he shouldn't be) then AMD would be the better choice. If using a discrete GPU (like all gamers should be)...Intel.

Crossfire, or not to crossfire...


...I guess I'm not sure what you are getting at.
 
sschaem
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:17 pm

Price is no object ? i7-4960x or i7-4770k

But then again, even with a Titan SLI setup AND gaming at only 1080p, a $145 FX-8320 get you > 60fps

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7255/inte ... e-review/5

For <$150 I would consider AMD the better overall choice, gaming included. But >$200 only Intel makes sense. Actually until recently AMD didn't make a desktop CPU >$200 :)

So dont want to spend more then $150 on a CPU? the fx-8320 is a good choice (but from your sig you seem to know that ) >$200, whatever Intel got.
 
Star Brood
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:30 pm

AMD processors are very far behind core-for-core. My 2 Xeon 5160's (released 2006) can get StarCraft 2 frame-rates within tickling distance of what you can get with AMD CPU's.

What kind of games is your friend looking to play? Let's start there.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:53 pm

sschaem wrote:
Price is no object ? i7-4960x or i7-4770k

But then again, even with a Titan SLI setup AND gaming at only 1080p, a $145 FX-8320 get you > 60fps

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7255/inte ... e-review/5

For <$150 I would consider AMD the better overall choice, gaming included. But >$200 only Intel makes sense. Actually until recently AMD didn't make a desktop CPU >$200 :)

So dont want to spend more then $150 on a CPU? the fx-8320 is a good choice (but from your sig you seem to know that ) >$200, whatever Intel got.


$50 more isn't much in the scheme of a whole system to get an Intel k-series and have essentially the fastest (per core) CPU on the market after overclocking.

Beyond that, that '60FPS' the AMD CPU gets isn't really 60FPS- not if you're interested in minimizing framerate drops during action as much as possible. You literally need all of the clockspeed you can get, and even then it may still not be 'enough'.
 
killadark
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:54 pm

AMD also says INTEL XD
AMD FX-8350|Asus M5A97 LE R2.0|16gb GSKILL Sniper 2400mhz|Samsung SSD 120g 840|AMD R9 290 TRI-X (dead) GTX1070
Corsair RM650x,Thermaltake Xaser vi ,Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card
 
sschaem
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 6:41 pm

Yet, $50 on a fix budget is the difference between a 7870 or a 7950
So i5-4570 + 7870 or FX-8220 + 7950 ?

For people talking about frame latency, didn;t TR and many other sites showed the FX to perform like an i7 in games like Battlefield 3 ?
Actually yep, TR showed the fx-8350 to behave better then even an i7-3770k, so you get more stutter with intel then AMD with that game/engine.
(the i7-4770k might fix that)

And game engine based on the like of frostbyte will be the norm with the new console architecture.

But then again, if its to play single threaded games, intel all the way :)
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 7:10 pm

If you're talking about BF3 and benchmarks, I hate to say this, but I don't know of a site that does it 'correctly', since it can't really be done.

So of course AMD does well in TR's benchmarks. They're single-player! And that's absolutely useless in determining what it will actually take to run the multiplayer experience well, and at what settings. My 4.5GHz 2500k isn't fast enough, and it's faster than any AMD CPU made- after overclocking the AMD CPUs. Unless you have some workload that benefits from the Bulldozer architecture, like Bensam123's streaming, that $50 is better spent on an Intel quad, period. Save longer if you have to.
 
JohnC
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 7:11 pm

sschaem wrote:
For people talking about frame latency, didn;t TR and many other sites showed the FX to perform like an i7 in games like Battlefield 3 ?
Actually yep, TR showed the fx-8350 to behave better then even an i7-3770k, so you get more stutter with intel then AMD with that game/engine.

No, they did not, Stephan. Not in a properly benchmarked multiplayer level.
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NovusBogus
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:00 pm

A fast Intel quad core is the better choice for anything that doesn't require massive heavily threaded throughput (which games don't). Intel is a lot more competitive on price than they used to be and there are a number of good deals on an i5.
 
vargis14
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:52 pm

Games are starting to use more and more threads so hyperthreading is not a bad thing especially with newer games like say BF4 will prefer a quad core with HT I presume. Then a year or 2 from now he has the extra threads if he needs them.
2600k@4848mhz @1.4v CM Nepton40XL 16gb Ram 2x EVGA GTX770 4gb Classified cards in SLI@1280mhz Stock boost on a GAP67-UD4-B3, SBlaster Z powered by TX-850 PSU pushing a 34" LG 21/9 3440-1440 IPS panel. Pieced together 2.1 sound system
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:25 pm

vargis14 wrote:
Games are starting to use more and more threads so hyperthreading is not a bad thing especially with newer games like say BF4 will prefer a quad core with HT I presume. Then a year or 2 from now he has the extra threads if he needs them.


I wish I'd gotten a 2600k instead- but not for games; everything else could use the boost.
 
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:32 pm

JohnC wrote:
srgramrod wrote:
since he has the money

Intel.

+1
 
sschaem
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:01 pm

JohnC wrote:
sschaem wrote:
For people talking about frame latency, didn;t TR and many other sites showed the FX to perform like an i7 in games like Battlefield 3 ?
Actually yep, TR showed the fx-8350 to behave better then even an i7-3770k, so you get more stutter with intel then AMD with that game/engine.

No, they did not, Stephan. Not in a properly benchmarked multiplayer level.


Not in multiplayer, but BF3 show what will become the norm for PC gaming.

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd- ... reviewed/7

" In fact, the FX-8350 spends the least time of any CPU beyond our ultra-tight 16.7 millisecond threshold."

Time spent beyond 16.7ms

Fx-8350 - 80
i7-3770k - 90
i7-3960x - 108
i5-2500k - 123

The FX-8350 gives you the same rock solid 60fps game-play as you would get from an i7-3770k.

multiplayer.. is it really that bad? I didn't find much,
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Battlefie ... k-1039293/

Even at 1280x720 (to put all the load on the CPU) the FX-8320 average above 60fps and its only record a minimum frame rate of 50. Reminder, this is a $145 CPU

The kicker is that they seem to indicate that you are GPU limited even with a 7970 at 1080p, to around 50fps... ?
 
clone
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:10 pm

.
Last edited by clone on Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
neg
 
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:17 pm

sschaem wrote:
BF3 show what will become the norm for PC gaming.

http://techreport.com/review/23750/amd- ... reviewed/7

Noooooooooooooooooo
 
JohnC
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:54 am

sschaem wrote:
multiplayer.. is it really that bad? I didn't find much,
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Battlefie ... k-1039293/

They were using older maps, Stephan, with an unknown number of people. I've seen different results with different maps. I'd rather trust my own eyes than a highly outdated benchmark of highly questionable reliability.
Gifter of Nvidia Titans and countless Twitch donation extraordinaire, nothing makes me more happy in life than randomly helping random people
 
exp10r3r
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:02 am

To the OP,

If budget is not a problem, then you need to give us at least some info about the rest of the config, Since we could even recommend you building a supercomputer out of Tesla/xeons to play at, say 2560p.... (assuming you are somehow related to some Gates/Jobs)

But since you need a recommendation, here it is,

If you are gaming at 1080p with a high-end card (GTX 7**/HD7990/ X fire) then you could go with 2 setups,

AMD 8350 + 970 extreme 3 (or 990fx if you plan to X fire) + hyper 212X + SSD + better casing + 8 gigs of 1800mhz ram

OR

Intel i5 4560k + h87/z87 (depending whether you'll OC or not) + water cooler + SSD + fairly medium casing + 8 gigs ram (even 1600mhz will do)

*Water cooler, because haswell's heat up more than IVY and/or AMD's other offerings in comparable scenarios.
Both processors are the same. Its just how you plan to use your rig.

This is what I did, I upgraded from Intel (Core2Duo) to AMD 8350 + 970 extreme 3 and invested heavily on the other components instead (Better monitor, SSD, Rams, Cooler, GPU, etc.). This way I play all the current games happily on 1080p. (~50 watts more power is no big deal for me, since I have a separate entertainment/download hub and i don't game for more than a few hours at a stretch) and you can save a few bucks initially (In the long run, it doesn't make any difference).
Now, until there comes a CPU that offers at least 50-70% more performance than 8350, I do not plan to upgrade.
BTW, even 8350's single threaded performance is quite good( of course Intel is superior in comparison but it doesn't matter that much). Don't entirely rely on these benchmarks. You are never going to utilize 100% of your CPU all the time.

This is coming from a person that does scientific computing and compiling software's on Linux to make his living. (I also play multiple MMORPG's at ultra @1080p ~40-50 deg Celsius)

BTW, Intel is no doubt better in heavy, single-threaded workloads (like single threaded games, animation, encoding softwares) but from what I have observed they are charging wayy too much for not so huge difference in performance. And even the motherboard manufacturers don't seem to shy away from practicing the same.

BTW, one last thing, some haswell-based motherboards (though costly) have much better feature set than a top-of-the-line AMD chipset.
So, weigh in your options, find what is the sweet spot for you, make up your mind and just go ahead with it.

May the Force be with You,
exp10r3r
 
flip-mode
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:45 am

End User wrote:
JohnC wrote:
srgramrod wrote:
since he has the money

Intel.

+1

+2
 
Jigar
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:58 am

flip-mode wrote:
End User wrote:
JohnC wrote:
Intel.

+1

+2

Period.
Image
 
ronch
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:00 am

Yup. For 99% of folks out there, Intel is the way to go, if the question is whether to get Intel or AMD.

So much for choice. Soon enough we wouldn't even need to ask that question.
NEC V20 > AMD Am386DX-40 > AMD Am486DX2-66 > Intel Pentium-200 > Cyrix 6x86MX-PR233 > AMD K6-2/450 > AMD Athlon 800 > Intel Pentium 4 2.8C > AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 > AMD Phenom II X3 720 > AMD FX-8350 > RYZEN?
 
flip-mode
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:57 am

OP still needs to provide a budget, though. If OP's friend can only spend $150 on a CPU, the recommendation changes to AMD or else it turns into a discussion of how to reallocate the money so that a 4670K can be afforded - for instance, since I always end up changing graphics cards once or twice on the same CPU, I'd steal money from the graphics budget to get a better CPU, but there are people that vehemently disagree with this idea 8)

Give us a budget OP!
 
just brew it!
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:44 am

Yup, pretty much all hinges on what the OP meant by "has the money".
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
clone
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Re: Intel vs AMD

Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:33 am

.
Last edited by clone on Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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