Whats better intel or amd: Difference between Intel and AMD

AMD vs Intel: which chipmaker does processors better?

(Image credit: AMD; Intel)

AMD and Intel have been duking it out on the proverbial CPU maker stage for years, and it seems like as of 2022 the competition between them is only heating up with the introduction of brand new technologies and chips.

Despite Moore’s Law looming ominously over the tech giants, both Team Blue and Team Red have been releasing the best processors they’ve made in years in 2021 and 2022. What makes it even more fascinating is how they’ve taken completely separate approaches to this.

After Team Blue released the best Intel processors through its incredibly popular and powerful Core series processors, Team Red released the best AMD processors in the form of its Ryzen series which was able to go toe-to-toe with the former.

In response, Intel rebounded with the Alder Lake series of chips, which are built on the big.LITTLE chip architecture pioneered by ARM and adopted by Apple for its M1 series SoCs. This represented a true change in Intel’s approach to its production and design strategy, which completely overwhelmed AMD.

AMD began to look for more unconventional new technologies and chipset designs to fight back and has found that already with its 3D V-cache processor, which completely outclasses Intel in the gaming market and is a huge source of revenue for any tech company.

Closer to launch is the next-gen Intel Raptor Lake while the AMD Zen 4 processors, the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Ryzen 7 7700X, are set to release tomorrow. They’re sure to make the fight between Intel and AMD even more heated and exciting.

AMD vs Intel: price

(Image credit: Future)

In the past, if you were looking for a decent CPU with a budget-friendly price, your go-to choice was AMD. However, with their newest generation of Ryzen CPUs, AMD has been on par or even surpassed Intel components on price.

We noted in our AMD Ryzen 9 5900X review how the price of the 5900X went up $50 (about £35, AU$70) over the Ryzen 9 3900X it replaced. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, meanwhile, is even more expensive with an MSRP of $799 which is the same price as Intel’s new Alder Lake Core i9-12900K processor.

This is more or less the pattern now as you move down the stack to the Core i7 and Ryzen 7, and the Core i5 and Ryzen 5 processors. And while AMD Ryzen processors, which will be released tomorrow, are generally going to be cheaper than and equivalent to Intel chips, the price difference is narrow enough now that depending on where you get the processor, you could end up paying more for an AMD chip than an Intel one.

In the other direction, if you’re in the market for a really high-end CPU and have super deep pockets, the third generation of AMD Threadripper units is the best choice for professional 3D modeling artists, animators, filmmakers, and data scientists.

The Threadripper 3990X retails for a whopping $3,900 (£3,030, AU$5,890), putting it well out of range of casual PC builders and average PC gamers. This CPU is built with 64 cores and 128 threads to give you plenty of power to render 3D models and rip through complex mathematical models to get the most out of your workday.

AMD vs Intel: performance

(Image credit: Future)

So you’ve set yourself a budget for a new CPU, but you still have a ton of options when it comes to performance.

If you’re looking for pure, raw performance then the Intel Alder Lake chips are going to serve you very well. The most powerful processor overall in the consumer class is the Core i9-12900K, which outperforms anything comparable that AMD is putting out and it’s not even really close.

If we were to compare apples to apples, as we did in our Intel Core i9-12900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900X breakdown, then the Ryzen 9 5900X comes in at a lower cost than the Core i9-12900K (and that’s not even factoring in the new motherboard and cooling you likely need for it).

The Ryzen 9 5900XT is a 12-core, 24-thread processor that maxes out at a boost frequency of 4.8GHz and a whopping 70MB of cache memory. And the two new chips that will be launching tomorrow, the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Ryzen 7 7700X, have 16/32 and 8/16 core and thread counts, respectively.

The Core i9-12900K is a 16-core processor, but only eight of those cores are dual-threaded performance cores. The other eight are efficiency cores that are single-threaded and less powerful, but take on all of the low-level background tasks. This frees up the performance cores to dedicate themselves to tackling heavy workloads.

(Image credit: Ryzen)

This means that the total number of threads available for workloads is the same, but the difference comes in how those threads are used, and whatever Intel is doing is definitely working.

In the Cinebench R23 benchmarks we ran for our Intel Core i9-12900K and Core 15-12600K review, the Core i9-12900K scored about 21% better than the Ryzen 9 5900X in the single-threaded run and about 23% better during the multi-threaded run.

In fairness, the AMD Zen 3 architecture in the Ryzen 9 5900X is a little bit behind the Alder Lake chips, generationally, so it’s not an entirely fair comparison. However, with the AMD Zen 4-powered 7000-series releasing tomorrow, we’ll finally see chips that can compete with both the Alder Lake and upcoming Raptor Lake.

Where AMD does deserve some recognition in the performance department is gaming. According to our Ryzen 9 7950X review, it’s in a masterclass of its own in terms of sheer performance and took the crown as the best processor for gaming. And the Ryzen 7 7700X is an excellent choice for those who want an improved gaming experience without revamping their whole PC.

How it was able to do this is very much tied to the direction AMD is going with its processors, and that direction is interesting because it is a very different one than Intel is taking.

AMD vs Intel: future speculation

(Image credit: Future)

Intel’s approach to its next gen processors looks a lot like Apple’s. With the M1 chip, Apple moved to a hybrid architecture that had long powered mobile phones and tablets and is only just now making it to mobile and destop PCs. This architecture, known as big.LITTLE, uses a mix of performance and efficiency cores and delegates tasks to specific cores based on their priority and processing demands.

This introduces a lot of efficiency into the processor by better managing its resources (why use up an entire full-fat thread to poll a keyboard to see if a key was pressed? It’s a waste of energy, and this efficiency is how big.LITTLE chips are able to get such extraordinary battery life. And now, those performance cores are powerful enough to absolutely blow through major computing tasks like video editing and gaming in ways that wasn’t possible even a few years ago.

How that technology develops will be interesting to see because it looks like AMD is explicitly not going in that direction with their processors. Instead, AMD and semiconductor fabricator TSMC are co-developing a 3D chip-stacking process that introduces more verticality to the traditional processor chiplets.

It was this technology that allowed AMD to introduce a whole new 3D V-Cache chiplet on top of the processor die that expanded the pool of available cache memory for the eight processor cores of the Ryzen 7 5800X to create the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and the result seriously impressive.

These are two different technologies that could radically transform how computer processors are designed and produced in the future, adding a lot more depth and complexity to the AMD vs Intel debate we’ve been having for years now. How these two technologies diverge and interact in the next several years could chart the course for consumer computing for decades to come.

AMD’s next-gen processors might have a major disadvantage against rival Intel

John (He/Him) is the US Computing Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY.

Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.

You can find him online on Twitter at @thisdotjohn

Currently playing: The Last Stand: Aftermath, Cartel Tycoon

Intel vs.

AMD: Which processors are better?

(Image credit: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

The central processing unit (CPU) is at the heart of any device, be it your phone, tablet, router, laptop, smart TV, or desktop PC. It’s what handles all the tasks put forward by the operating system (OS) to function properly and allow you to do incredible things. Much like the discussion surrounding the OS, AMD vs. Intel has been a heated debate for decades.

Looking at a new laptop or parts for building or upgrading your desktop PC, should you choose Intel or AMD? I’m going to walk you through a short history lesson, as well as look at pricing and performance figures for various processors to reach a conclusion. This guide will help you determine which is the best CPU brand for your PC build.

Intel vs. AMD: History of the chipmakers

(Image credit: Source: AMD)

AMD and Intel both go way back to the beginning of the computer. The two companies are responsible for the x86 platform, which is still used to this day as the basic architecture for making processors. However, it was AMD that made a massive breakthrough by developing 64-bit for its Athlon series of processors, hence the branding AMD64 (later x86-64). Intel was on the backpedal.

Things didn’t improve much for Intel after working its own way into 64-bit computing, largely thanks to AMD launching the first-ever dual-core processor, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+. But AMD’s time at the forefront of CPU development was coming to an end, and Intel began innovating with its Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs. Then, the situation escalated with new Intel mobile CPUs for laptops and desktops that far outperformed what AMD could muster.

AMD vs. Intel in the 2010s

AMD FX4100 CPU. (Image credit: Future)

Intel and AMD have been competing against each other for decades, and we took a look at some of the seismic changes that occurred between 2010 and today.

AMD came out with its Bulldozer architecture in 2011, and it wasn’t great. While the family of processors offered amazing value, especially the FX-4100, the CPUs just couldn’t keep up with what Intel had available at the time. Strangely, AMD’s architecture did allow enthusiasts and PC owners to push their processors to insane levels.

The AMD FX-8350 holds the current record for the highest clock speed at a whopping 8,794.33MHz. That can be rounded up to 8.5GHz, which doesn’t sound high until you compare it to the average of between 3-4GHz. All the AMD processors at the time were unlocked, while Intel fans had to pay extra for the luxury.

The company went on to improve the platform in any way they could, leading to further generations of CPUs being released to mixed reviews. Intel was able to keep to its Tick Tock release approach and price its hardware accordingly, seeing no immediate threat from AMD. The once-heated market was now thoroughly frozen in the freezer.

AMD was unable to share its internal project with the world, but what was on the horizon would change the landscape for both companies in years to come. Cue, Ryzen. In 2017, AMD launched Ryzen, and we ended up where we are today, with both companies once again offering similarly priced and performing processors.

Intel vs. AMD: Price & value

Intel Core i9-12900K. (Image credit: Future)

This is arguably the most important deciding factor between AMD and Intel and has long been the highest point of discussion. Traditionally, AMD has been viewed as the budget-friendly, less energy-efficient CPUs that have more cores taped onto the silicon that you’d know what to use for. Older AMD processors like the FX series go hot, but they offered some compelling use cases.

Intel was able to become complacent due to AMD’s downfall.

Intel attempted to remain competitive with pricing while simultaneously marketing its processors as simply better, and they largely were until recently. During AMD’s downfall in the early decades of this century, Intel was able to essentially charge more than what they’d usually price processors because AMD didn’t have a competing product. If you wanted Intel performance, you paid Intel prices.

Market share heavily favored Intel for years until AMD finally hit back at Team Blue with Ryzen and the Zen architecture. AMD was at the point of no return, and the launch of Ryzen had to be a success. Luckily for AMD fans, this new platform was an incredible leap forward compared to previous-generation processors.

But because AMD was the underdog and had to claw back market share, it aggressively priced the first-gen Ryzen family. These new processors from AMD were as good (if not slightly better) as what Intel had on the market, and they cost less. Intel was caught entirely off guard, which is what led to the rushed Core X series and the debacle of slashing the Core i9 X pricing by 50%.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. (Image credit: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

As of today, the pricing for processors is in a good position for PC builders and those looking to upgrade the CPU inside their machine. You can buy a 6-core processor for less than $200, which rocks considerable performance per core. AMD and Intel now frequently trade places for offering better value in terms of cores and threads, without sacrificing too much in the performance department.

Even after matching Intel with performance, AMD maintains its aggressive CPU pricing.

The Ryzen 5 5600X is an amazing mid-tier processor, and so is the Core i5-12600K, Intel’s counterpart. The former’s RRP at launch was $300. The Intel Core i5-9600K was $320. Both CPUs can be found at roughly the same price today, but they’re not identical. AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X comes unlocked with 6 cores and 12 threads. Intel’s Core i5-9600K is also unlocked but manages to pack inside 10 cores and 16 threads.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

The best all-around mid-range AMD CPU

This may be a mid-range CPU from AMD, but there are 6 cores and 12 total threads available for some serious performance figures. Perfect for gaming or creative work.

Intel Core i5-12600K

The best all-around mid-range Intel CPU

With outstanding performance and vast headroom for overclocking, the Core i5-12600K is the ideal CPU for gaming. You’ve also got Intel’s latest hybrid core design and manufacturing process.

Even at the low-end, AMD is throwing some punches. The Ryzen 5 5600G is an impressive APU with both a CPU and GPU combined into a single package. It’s capable of playing games at decent quality settings. Compare that against the Intel Core i5-12600K with its mediocre integrated graphics and similar pricing, and you’ve got a clear winner.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600G

The budget-friendly CPU with graphics

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G may be at the more affordable end of AMD’s 5000-series processor (with integrated graphics) range, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it can’t perform. This is one impressive little CPU.

Intel Core i3-12100

The ideal pick for under $130

The Core i3-12100 delivers reliable performance for day-to-day tasks and comes in at under $130; you’re getting excellent value here.

Intel vs. AMD: Performance & gaming

(Image credit: Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

For performance, Intel has generally led the fight comfortably. That’s no longer the case with AMD’s current generation of Ryzen processors, though Intel has lept ahead once again with Alder Lake. Take the new Intel Core i9-12900K, for example. This is a powerful 16-core processor with 24 threads. To make it even more capable is a new hybrid design on Intel’s smaller manufacturing process design.

It can hit 5.2GHz through its Max Turbo technology and 12th Gen Intel processors such as this are what Intel fans have been waiting years for. Performance for general computing, gaming, and even enthusiast use is what this beast is designed for. Not only that, but Intel lept ahead with the introduction of support for DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0.

Intel’s Core i9-12900K has the potential to be a monster CPU.

AMD isn’t too far behind, however. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is still widely considered by many to be the current sweet spot for gamers with a whopping 12 cores and 24 threads, as well as a boost clock speed of 4. 8GHz. Both the Ryzen 9 5900X and Core i9-12900K are incredible processors at reasonable prices. We reviewed the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and were mightily impressed.

For general use and gaming, both processor platforms offer plenty of performance, and you’re likely to avoid any bottlenecking, regardless of which high-end processor you pick. Still, Intel does pull ahead, taking everything into account. AMD forced Intel to get back into innovating, and we’re now seeing the results with aggressive pricing. It’s a win-win for PC owners.

Intel Core i9-12900K

The best yet from Intel

With 16 cores and 24 threads and a boost clock of 5.2GHz, the Core i9-12900K is the best desktop CPU Intel has launched to date.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

Impressive 16-core performance

Whether you’re into gaming and want to start streaming or need a processor with plenty of cores for work and play, this is one for you.

Intel vs. AMD: Mobile laptop processors

(Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

The laptop market is dominated by Intel, even to this day. While AMD managed to win back some favor with the general public after Ryzen launched, it has been reluctant to get into the mobile space. AMD finally launched some new Ryzen 3000 processors for notebooks, but they were a disappointment compared to what Intel already had available.

Things changed with the launch of newer Ryzen 4000 mobile CPUs, which were actually good enough to be used in products. The Ryzen 9 4900HS is a beastly 8-core CPU with 16 threads and can boost all the way up to 4.3GHz. This monster outperformed Intel’s high-end mobile processors, which should pave the way for some considerable market share chunks.

Our own laptop reviews with AMD processors have been positive too. Intel isn’t out yet, and the market remains to be utterly dominated by blue stickers all across the budget spectrum. Buying a laptop today will most likely house an Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9 processor. Intel has the edge on mobile performance (aside from that Ryzen 9 4900HS), but AMD-powered laptops offer considerably more value.

Intel vs. AMD: Which CPU is best?

(Image credit: Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central)

It’s difficult to make the wrong decision when purchasing a CPU unless you try to install a processor on an incompatible motherboard. Whether you go with AMD or Intel, you’ll have a capable PC that will be able to do a tremendous number of tasks. There are clear differences in pricing and value, however.

AMD’s collection of processors, especially the Ryzen 5000, offers great value for money. Whether you’re installing a Ryzen 3 5100 or Ryzen 9 5950X, you’ll likely be scoring more cores and threads than the competing Intel CPU, without sacrificing too much on per-core performance. But then Intel now offers excellent value with its new hybrid core design, and we’re big fans of the Core i5-12600K and Core i9-12900K design

If you’re already locked into a platform and don’t plan on switching motherboards, upgrading to a better processor could provide substantial results. You’ll just have to bear in mind that Intel only supports a chipset for two generations, while AMD has far better support on older motherboards for newer processors.

Intel has a slight edge on AMD when it comes to performance, but you’ll struggle to notice much of a difference in most real-world scenarios. We’ll have to keep monitoring the battlefield as Intel and AMD continue to trade blows with AMD Ryzen 5000 and Intel 13th Gen.

The future’s bright for the CPU market, and that’s better for all of us.

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He’s been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

AMD vs Intel — Which Processor is Better?

Buying a new CPU is a big decision. It can not only impact the performance of your PC for gaming, working, or just browsing the web, but it can lock you in to certain chipsets and motherboards, and even restrict your access to technologies that are unique to one platform. Intel vs AMD are the two big names when it comes to desktop processors, but which should you pick? And which are the best CPUs for each manufacturer?

It largely depends on what you want to do and what your budget is. While the most expensive chips might do a great job of everything, they’re not always the one best suited for the job and they rarely offer the best bang for buck.

In this AMD vs Intel CPU buyers guide, you’ll find the right CPU for your next PC, no matter what you have planned for it.

AMD CPU on on motherboard, with CPU Pin showing

CPUs For

Productivity workloads

For those looking to work with their PCs, the AMD vs. Intel battle is quite clearly defined: If your software and tasks can take advantage of more cores and threads, AMD’s processors are better, as they have more. Intel’s offerings aren’t slouches, especially at the higher end, but chip to chip, AMD offers more cores for the same kind of money. And once you get outside of the mainstream segment, Intel has no competition to offer.

The one caveat is that Thunderbolt 3 connectivity is far more readily available on Intel platforms, so if you need that particular connector, an Intel CPU may be best for you.

Affordable CPU Options

Intel

If you are keen to stick with Intel because your ecosystem demands it, or you want maximum gaming performance when you’re not working, Intel’s mid-range options have some intriguing potential. The Intel 10400 and 10400F (if you are using a dedicated graphics card too) is a sub-£200 CPU with six cores, 12 threads, and a clock speed that can reach 4.3GHz under the right circumstances. It’s a great little workhorse that offers solid competition for the comparably priced AMD Ryzen 3600, holding its own in most productivity tasks.

The only downside, is that due to Intel’s artificial locking of higher-speed memory to its more expensive Z490 motherboards, you can’t get the most performance out of your 10400F without buying a board that could cost as much as the CPU itself. That’s not a particularly cost effective way to build a budget-concious work machine.

Higher up the product stack, Intel’s 10600K can be noticeably faster. Its six cores and 12 threads can clock to 4.8GHz out of the box and even reach above 5GHz with overclocking – which Chillblast can happily do for you, if you opt for capable enough cooling. The only problem with that is that the Intel is less competitive vs AMD’s comparably priced alternative. Once you’re approaching £250 for a CPU, the performance offered by the competition is hard to ignore.

AMD

Where AMD pulled ahead vs Intel was in the bang for buck, it now finds itself competitive throughout the entire CPU performance spectrum, especially at the top end. The affordable Ryzen 5 3600 could be the best CPU of its entire generation, with an attractive price tag, excellent performance across its six cores and 12 threads, and the option to overclock it to the same kind of speeds you’d be spending upwards of £200 to achieve otherwise. You can also get the most from it on much more affordable motherboards based on the B450 chipset, which may well be upgradable to next-generation Zen 3 CPUs too, for added future proofing.

If your budget goes north of £250, however, you can really taste what AMD’s workhorses can do. At around £270, the Ryzen 7 3700X is the best mainstream multitasking chip of its generation. With eight cores, 16 threads, and the ability to boost all of them well over 4.0GHz when working its hardest, it can rival even Intel’s best CPUs in intense tasks like video editing and transcoding; sometimes challenging processors that are twice, or even three times the price.

If you don’t want to spend too much on a working PC but need maximum performance, the 3700X is the absolute king.

Serious CPU Performance for Greater Productivity

If your software can leverage more cores and threads and your workday can be streamlined, improved, and even more profitable, with a faster processor, then there are some absolute monster CPUs worth considering.

And they’re just mostly AMD’s.

Intel

Intel’s best multi-tasking chips for high-speed performance start with its mainstream, top-of-the-line Core i9 9900K and 10900K CPUs. They offer eight and ten cores, and 16 and 20 threads, respectively, with clock speeds that easily top 5.0GHz – especially in the latter. Overclocking can take them further, making these the absolute best option for tasks that need individual cores to run as fast as they can.

If you need more cores rather than higher clocks, though. Intel’s options aren’t so bankable. The 10920X, 10940X, and 10980XE CPUs offer 12, 14, and 18 cores a piece, with boost clocks as high as 4.6GHz. But they’re based on a far older architecture than newer Comet Lake designs and just aren’t as cost effective as what AMD has to offer.

AMD

£400 and up is where AMD really pulls ahead of Intel in the productivity sector. The Ryzen 9 3900X gives you 12 cores and 24 threads to play with, and for a few hundred pounds more, you can increase that to 16 cores and 32 threads with the Ryzen 3950X. Both maintain clock speeds above 4.5GHz while boosting and can maintain them for lengthy periods of time when cooled effectively.

If you’re doing heavy video editing, CAD work, or video transcoding, there are some cases where even 16 cores isn’t enough. That’s where AMD’s high-end Threadripper 3000 CPUs can make a real difference. They come in 24, 32, and even 64-core options, and support up to 128 threads thanks to simultaneous multithreading.

They do come at a premium, with the 64-core 3990X priced at around £3,750, but to get even close to their performance just two years ago, you’d have had to spend tens of thousands. Unlike previous generations of Threadripper chips, these ones maintain high clock speeds and strong single-threaded performance too, so you won’t find tasks that don’t support the full stack of cores to be impeded by opting for Threadripper over the alternatives.

Image Source: user:geni permission: CC-BY-SA 4.0

Gaming CPUs

Best Bang for Buck

When it comes to Intel or AMD CPUs for gaming, there’s more choice today than there’s been in a long time. Both Intel or AMD offer fantastic gaming performance from the entry level to the bleeding edge high end. Though some CPUs offer better performance and crucially, better value for that power, you can’t really go wrong picking either camp when it comes to making the most of your new favourite game.

Intel

That said, if you want to make the most of your money, the CPU that offers the best raw gaming performance at a great price is the Intel Core i5-10600K. With six cores, 12 threads, and a stock boost clock that can reach 4.8GHz (4.5GHz all-core), it offers the kind of gaming performance that only AMD’s top CPUs can come close to, even with their higher price tags.

What makes the 10600K so special, though, is its overclocking potential. With some tweaks to memory and core clock speed, this CPU can get within a hair’s breadth of the top-of-the-line Intel Core i9-10900K CPU, a processor that costs hundreds of pounds more. While that chip can in turn be overclocked for even greater performance, you can make a substantial saving by opting for a 10600K and overclocking it.

Chillblast can even do that for you. Our expert in-house system builders have years of experience wringing the most performance they can from high-end PC hardware and can do it for you entirely free as part of your PC build order. It won’t invalidate your five year warranty either.

AMD

If you’re set on an AMD CPU, you would have to spend substantially more to get comparable performance to the 10600K, which would hardly offer much bang for buck. That doesn’t mean you need to expect poor performance, just slightly lower expectations in raw gaming ability.

The best value for money CPU of AMD’s current generation chips is the Ryzen 5 3600. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, just like the 10600K, and though it only boosts to 4.2GHz, it is as much as £100 cheaper than the 10600K. This leaves extra budget for a better graphics card; arguably a more important consideration for gaming – especially outside of 1080p.

Like the 10600K, the 3600 can also be overclocked. It has solid automated overclocking algorithms from AMD when running the latest UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) and Windows updates, and it can be manually pushed to near 3600X speeds, getting you the power of a processor that’s 25% more expensive, for free.

If you want a little greater gaming performance with better future proofing, the Ryzen 3700X is just shy of £300 and offers excellent gaming capabilities with its eight cores and 16 threads, boosting up to 4.4GHz in the right circumstances. As mentioned in the productivity section, this CPU is an absolute monster at general computing too, so if you work and play on the same system, the 3700X is a fantastic choice – easily decimating the Intel competition in mixed role usage.

Image Source: Intel

Top tier Performance CPUs

The very top-end processors don’t offer the same value for money as some of their more affordable counterparts for both Intel or AMD, but if you have deep pockets and simply want the best of the best with the utmost gaming power money can buy, then there are some monstrous chips on offer. Just be sure to pair them with a capable graphics card, as game detail settings and frame rates are far more impacted by the GPU than they are the CPU, especially at higher resolutions.

Intel

There is nothing out there as capable of delivering blistering high frame rates as the Intel Core i9-10900K. With 10 cores, 20 threads, and an out of the box boost clock of 5.3GHz (4.9GHz all-core) it is an absolute monster that won’t hold back even the meatiest of graphics cards.

Overclocking is more limited at this high end of the CPU market, simply because Intel has already wrung so much performance out of this processor in particular, and the 14nm process its architecture is based on. With that in mind, 5.3GHz using the onboard velocity algorithm is about as high as you can expect this processor to go in terms of absolute frequency, but it is possible to raise the all-core frequency on most CPUs, even to 5.3GHz all-core in some cases.

Chillblast can handle that for you and it won’t effect your warranty. Just bear in mind that the kind of power required to reach such speeds means you’ll need a very capable and stable power supply, and even more capable cooling. A heavily overclocked 10900K can run very hot, so consider that as part of your god-tier gaming setup as well as great components.

An Alternative

If you don’t want to go quite so high-end, Intel’s last-generation Core i9-9900K is over £100 cheaper and is only a few steps behind the 10900K – especially when overclocked. While you’d be locking yourself into a motherboard platform that cannot be upgraded in the future (most of the 10900K’s 400-series boards will support 11th-generation Rocket Lake CPUs) it’s a good way to get near top-of-the-line performance without breaking the bank.

AMD

In the AMD vs Intel fight, AMD can’t compete on absolute power against Intel’s new-generation Comet Lake CPUs, nor quite the top-chips from the ninth-generation, but it still has some serious contenders with excellent future proofing and amazing performance outside of games that make them a great tool for work and play.

At around £400, the Ryzen 9 3900X is the best AMD CPU for gaming performance of its generation. While the Ryzen 9 3950 XT and 3950X might offer the odd percent or two of extra performance, their substantially higher price tags do not warrant it.

The 3900X sports 12 cores and 24 threads, boosting up to 4.6GHz on a single core and offering solid gaming performance right out of the box. Overclocking high-end Ryzen 3000 CPUs directly doesn’t always yield improved performance in games, so there isn’t much more to be gained on frequency directly. That said, memory and infinity fabric overclocking can yield decent results and is something you should speak to your Chillblast system builder about if it interests you, as there is more performance that can be wrung out of top-tier Ryzen CPUs in some instances.

In either case, the 3900X offers the best gaming performance you can expect from an AMD CPU from this generation, even if it is typically a step or two behind the Intel competition. It’s a real workhorse outside of gaming, however, so if you work and play, the 3900X is a great CPU to consider for your next multi-role machine.

An Alternative

A viable alternative is also the Ryzen 7 3700X, which while falling far behind the 3900X in productivity workloads, is very close in terms of gaming performance and is significantly cheaper, letting you spend more money elsewhere.

So,

AMD vs Intel?

With AMD clearly taking the lead in productivity workloads and Intel stealing the top spot in gaming performance, the best CPU for your next PC, and the answer to the AMD or Intel question, depends on what you want to do with it. If you are making a predominantly working machine, AMD processors tend to offer the best value for money and the best top-tier performance, especially at the high-end. If you tend to split your time between work and play on the same machine, again, the AMD options offer better bang for buck, easily outstripping Intel’s best in productivity workloads and keeping pace with mid-tier alternatives in gaming.

In either case, how high you go in AMD’s product stack depends on how many cores your software workload can utilize. The 3600 offers the best all-round value, but the 3700X and 3900X are much better at productivity workloads and pull a little ahead in gaming. Just factor in their pricing premium.

If you are making a pure gaming machine, however – one that barely ever touches video transcoding, editing, or heavy file transfers – there’s no doubt that Intel holds the edge. Unless you’re pairing it with the absolute top-end graphics cards too, a mid-range CPU like the 10600K offers excellent performance, especially with overclocking.

Will you be joining team red or team blue for your next PC build? Let us know in the comments below!

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Which processor should you opt for?

If you’re looking to buy a new laptop, or a CPU for your desktop PC, one of the first dilemma you’ll likely encounter is whether you should opt for an Intel or AMD processor.

Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as saying Intel is best for gaming and AMD is best for content creation, especially with recent technological advancements on both sides blurring the lines. But nevertheless, both Intel and AMD have their own strengths and weaknesses that should be factored in for your next purchase.

For this reason, we’ve provided this Intel vs AMD guide so know whether you should commit to team blue or team red.

Desktop processors

Let’s start with desktop processors. The most recent additions in the Intel side arrived as part of the 12th Generation (aka Alder Lake) family. The headline chip here is the Intel Core i9-12900K, which features 16 cores, 24 threads and a 5.1GHz max boost clock speed.

On the red side, the Ryzen 5000 Series remains the latest and greatest range of AMD desktop processors despite first launching all the way back in 2020. The Ryzen 9 5950X is the most powerful chip in this family, featuring a whopping 16 cores, 32 threads and up to a 4. 9GHz boosted clock speed. Intel has now matched AMD in terms of CPU core count, although AMD does still boast the lead for the numbers of threads on its flagship chip, indicating it’s still the leading option for multi-threaded workloads.

However, Intel has concentrated its efforts into frequency speeds, claiming that the Intel Core i9-12900K is the most powerful mainstream chip for gaming.

After testing the Intel chip for ourselves, we’re inclined to believe Team Blue. That said, the gaming performance gap between AMD and Intel is undoubtedly shrinking, with Ryzen processors now becoming competitive on all fronts.

Price also has to come into the equation here. The Intel Core i9-12900K is an expensive chip with a recommended retail price of around £570. The Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X launched with prices at £750 and £540 respectively, but can now be found with significant discounts since they’ve been available for almost two years.

AMD and Intel also offer more affordable processors in their latest ranges, and are probably where you’ll find the best value for money. We currently recommend the Intel Core i5-12600K as the best value desktop processor for gaming, while the Ryzen 7 5800X is a solid option for an all-purpose system that can do it all.

It’s also important to remember that both AMD and Intel are planning to launch new desktop processors very soon. Intel will be moving onto the 13th Generation generation with the upcoming Raptor Lake processors, while AMD has confirmed it will be skipping a generation for desktop chips and moving onto the Ryzen 7000 series.

Both of the new generations of AMD and Intel desktop processors are expected to arrive before the end of the year, so it may well be worth waiting to see what kind of specs they have on offer or even to see if there are further price discounts for existing chips.

Laptop processors

The Intel vs AMD rivalry isn’t exclusive to the desktop space, as it also continues over to the laptop market. However, the argument isn’t always clear cut here, as the processors are integrated into systems built by other manufacturers.

One issue here is that third-party manufacturers like to make deals and remain faithful to certain processor manufacturers. The likes of the the Dell XPS laptops are only currently available with Intel processor configurations, for example. That said, Razer had a similar deal with its Blade laptops, and has now finally launched the AMD-powered Razer Blade 14, so the tide may be turning.

Since the processor is just one element of a laptop, it shouldn’t be the sole factor of your buying decision; you need to consider the design, display, storage space and whether you want a discrete GPU too. That said, picking the right processor is still very important. Every task from loading up a website to using an app will require the processing power of a CPU – opt for an old, sluggish processor, and you’ll see a big difference in the time it takes to complete tasks.

Intel’s 12th Generation mobile chips (Alder Lake) are the latest laptop processors on the blue side. They only launched recently, so laptops featuring the Intel processor are still trickling through to the market.

If you’re looking for a basic productivity laptop, then it’s worth looking out for Intel’s U series (eg i5-1245U) which are capable of a modest performance, and are usually found inside ultra-portable laptops. Intel has also launched a new P range (eg i5-1250P) which are also found inside lightweight laptops, but are capable of a faster performance. This could be ideal for those who want to engage in entry-level content creation.

If you want a laptop for serious content creation or gaming, Intel also offers an H series (eg i9-12900H), hitting higher CPU speeds for an improved performance. However, such processors run so hot that sophisticated cooling solutions are required to be built inside the laptop, which drives up the laptop’s price and weight.

With all these different SKU branches, Intel’s mobile processor range is undeniably confusing. Fortunately, AMD has a more streamlined approach, as all of its Ryzen 6000 laptop chips feature both dazzling processing speeds and game-ready integrated graphics.

AMD also launched its Ryzen 6000 mobile processors this year, and uses similar naming contentions as Intel. The U series (eg AMD Ryzen 7 6800U) are ideal for basic productivity laptops, while the H series (eg AMD Ryzen 7 6800H) are capable of a high-end performance for workloads such as content creation and gaming. We haven’t seen too many Ryzen 6000 laptops just yet, but expect more to become available throughout the year.

It also has to be mentioned that there’s now a third major player in the mobile processor market. Apple has launched its own range of laptop chips from the basic power of the M1 to the monstrously powerful M1 Max in the MacBook Pro.

While Apple initially leapfrogged both AMD and Intel in terms of performance, the two chip makers have since caught up with the power of the M1 chip. It remains to be seen how the new M2 chip stacks up to the competition.

AMD vs Intel – Which is better?

Strictly speaking, there isn’t a standout winner here, as it really just depends on how you’re going to use your system.

Intel’s new Alder Lake desktop processors are very impressive, and have stolen a lead over the AMD chips. The Ryzen 5000 series offer great all-rounder performances, but can’t compete when it comes to workloads such as gaming. That said, you can find the latest AMD desktop processors with some major discounts, so may be the best option for those looking for a bargain.

The laptop scene is a tad more complicated, with both Intel Alder Lake and Ryzen 6000 systems only just starting to trickle through to shops. Both of the mobile processor series look very impressive, so you shouldn’t be disappointed with either option, although the allure of Apple’s M2 chip can’t be ignored.

Just make sure the specs adhere to your requirements, as there’s no point buying a juggernaut chip if you only want to browse the web and watch Netflix. And don’t make the processor the sole consideration when purchasing a laptop, as there are plenty of other important factors to take into account.

AMD vs Intel: Which one is better?

When buying the best CPU for your PC build, you have to pick either AMD or Intel. Intel was consistently the way to go for most use cases and budgets until a few years ago. In recent years, AMD has surprised us by quickly gaining steam with its Ryzen processors and becoming the recommended CPU brand for nearly all use cases. Regardless, AMD vs Intel is still not a battle that has a clear winner.

Intel is far from being totally out of the game. While it lags behind the curve in shrinking its manufacturing process, Intel is still putting out some solid CPU offerings that could make for a decent purchase. With silicon shortages hitting the market, CPUs are in short supply, so the AMD vs Intel race gets quite close at times. Let’s take a deeper look at how AMD and Intel are different and which one is a better choice for CPU buyers.

See also: What’s the best GPU for gaming?

AMD vs Intel — Where they stand

AMD and Intel have a long intertwined history in the semiconductor market. Intel is a Goliath in the space, leading the charge with its CPUs since the IBM era. AMD hopped on the scene fairly early as a licensed manufacturer for Intel and others. It later started making its own chips, offering cheaper alternatives to Intel. AMD’s first big moment came when it introduced the first x86_64 chip in 2003, beating Intel. This 64-bit move pushed AMD forward. It became an Intel alternative with a better price-to-performance in the 2000s.

AMD and Intel have a cross-licensing agreement under which Intel lets AMD make x86 CPUs, and AMD lets Intel use its x86_64 instruction set. AMD has historically been the underdog in this race. It lagged behind Intel by failing to implement a proper equivalent to Hyperthreading, among other architectural improvements. This is why Intel’s lower-end offerings could often beat AMD CPUs with much higher core counts. This was until AMD introduced its Zen architecture in 2017, with the first-gen Ryzen CPUs.

See also: AMD GPU guide

While AMD has brought in many architectural improvements with every new generation of Ryzen, Intel has had issues shrinking its fabrication process. After multiple generations on 10nm and 14nm processes, Intel is running out of tricks to bring sizeable performance gains with every new generation. With the latest 12th generation processors, it seems to have finally perfected the 10nm process that it now calls Intel 7. AMD currently uses a 7nm process because Intel has its own manufacturing foundries, while AMD uses third-party foundries, like those owned by TSMC.

On the other hand, Intel has years of experience and thus offers great performance despite the larger fabrication process. It also has a broader range of CPU offerings at nearly every price point and better availability across all offerings in times of silicon shortages.

What does AMD offer?

AMD has a relatively lean lineup of CPUs. With the new Zen architecture, its offerings have gotten much more streamlined. There are options available at different prices for consumers, although not as many as Intel offers.

AMD has managed to expand its range of CPUs with the Ryzen lineup. You get four tiers of Ryzen CPUs — Ryzen 3, 5, 7, and 9. You also get the Threadripper series, the beefiest consumer CPU AMD sells. On the lower end are the Athlon processors. AMD also has a solid graphics card lineup under the Radeon brand and server solutions under the EPYC branding.

What does Intel offer?

Intel is a veteran in the CPU business, and as such, it has a much more diverse range of offerings. There’s an Intel chip at almost every price range and often more than just one. While it has always been and continues to be not the best value-for-money choice, it has some interesting CPUs to offer.

Intel’s Core series has been ruling the mainstream CPU market for years. It currently has four tiers — i3, i5, i7, and i9. You also get the Pentium and Celeron ranges, which are still kicking it in the budget market. Intel has the Xeon range for servers. On the graphics side of things, it hadn’t done much until very recently, with the Iris Xe graphics architecture.

AMD vs Intel — budget and mid-range CPUs

Kris Carlon / Android Authority

Both Intel and AMD have a solid presence in the budget and mid-range segments. They have head-to-head competitors in the space for the most part, which means that consumers have options between the two.

AMD A-Series and Athlon vs Intel Pentium and Celeron

Both AMD and Intel have two prominent series in the low-budget market. AMD has the A-Series APUs, which have enjoyed popularity in super affordable systems and come with integrated graphics. The other offering is the Athlon series, which has come from being its former flagship series to powering budget AMD systems.

Intel has two offerings in the space as well. First off is the legendary Pentium series, which was also Intel’s flagship range back in the days. Along with it is the Celeron lineup, which slots slightly lower than Pentium.

There are quite a few models in these ranges, but many of those are OEM-only models that you cannot purchase separately. If you were to pick one, the best AMD pick would be the AMD Athlon 3000G, and the best Intel pick would be the Intel Pentium Gold 6400G. Both offer similar specifications, but the Pentium pulls ahead in a few metrics.

AMD Ryzen 3 vs Intel Core i3

AMD and Intel face off in the budget performance categories with their Ryzen 3 and Core i3 CPUs. However, their strategies are a bit different. While both have offerings that compete well and have a solid value for money, AMD has taken a different approach with its Ryzen 3 lineup.

AMD’s Ryzen 3 lineup has gone OEM-only, which means you can get the newer Ryzen 3 models, i.e., 4000 series and 5000 series models, in pre-built systems only. You cannot purchase these newer Ryzen 3 CPUs to build your own PC. The best AMD Ryzen 3 CPU you can get individually is the Ryzen 3 3300X, which is a couple of generations old.

More reading: GPU vs CPU — What’s the difference?

Intel has also slimmed its Core i3 offerings in the last couple of generations, with more offerings being embedded and laptop versions. However, you can still buy an i3 CPU in Intel’s latest 12th Gen offerings.

The best i3 CPU you can buy is the i3-12100, which enjoys a better availability than the most powerful i3-12300 CPU. It also outperforms AMD’s best available offering — the Ryzen 3 3300X. While AMD has the OEM-exclusive Ryzen 3 5300G in its 5000 series, Intel’s offering still beats it while having better availability, making it the winner in the budget performance category.

AMD Ryzen 5 vs Intel Core i5

AMD’s Ryzen 5 has probably been the strongest disruptor in taking some of the market share away from Intel, by competing with the Intel Core i5. Both have very compelling offerings in this space.

AMD has had the Ryzen 5 5600X, which has been the best recommendation among mid-range CPU offerings for a while now. It’s a six-core, 12-thread CPU released towards the end of 2020. It launched with an MSRP of $299, but you can grab it for $220—$230 these days.

On the other hand, you’ve got Intel’s Core i5 offerings, which it has upgraded for the 12th generation. You get three CPUs, which then have even more versions. The best midrange offering from Intel right now is the Core i5-12600KF, a ten-core CPU with six performance cores and four efficiency cores, totaling up to 16 threads. It sells for around $270.

See also: The global computer chip shortage explained

In comparing the two, AMD was leading the race until Intel announced its 12th gen lineup. Intel Core i5-12600KF outperforms the Ryzen 5 5600X and also has DDR5 memory support, making it the mid-range CPU to buy right now. On the other hand, AMD has only refreshed the laptop models with the latest Zen 3+ 6000 series.

You have the Ryzen 5 6600H/HS and 6600U for laptops, with the latter being the lower power version for thin and light machines. These go against the Intel Core i5-12450H/12500H/12600H chips running at 45-115W, and the 1240P/1250P models, which run at 9-28W. Both laptop offerings are solid and support DDR5.

AMD vs Intel — high-end CPUs

Kris Carlon / Android Authority

Intel and AMD compete in the high-end market on several levels, ranging from high-performance consumer systems to maxed-out core-packed offerings for power users.

AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7

The AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel Core i7 have a similar pattern right now as the Ryzen 5 and Core i5. AMD’s reigning champion is the Ryzen 5 5800X, which sits above the lower-powered Ryzen 7 5700X. It’s an eight-core, 16-thread CPU with an MSRP of $449, which sells for around $340.

Intel has once again usurped Ryzen here with its 12th Gen refreshed Core i7 offerings. The best Core i7 CPU you can buy right now is the Intel Core i7-12700KF. It has eight performance cores and four efficiency cores, totaling up to 20 threads. It sells for around $400.

See also: Apple M1 tested — Performance benchmarks and thermal throttling, explained

The Intel Core i7-12700KF outperforms the Ryzen 7 5800X and has DDR5 memory support. Intel has the better offering overall, at least until AMD unveils the desktop refresh it will call Ryzen 7000. Even then, there is a price difference between the two here that makes both CPUs worth considering. The decision would have to come down to whether DDR5 support is important for you, making this one a tie for now.

DDR5 support isn’t an issue for the mobile chips, as both AMD and Intel are up to speed there. You have the Ryzen 7 6800H/HS and the low-power 6800U for laptops. Intel has the Intel Core i7-12650H/12700H/12800H chips running at 45-115W, and the 1260P/1260P/1270P models run at 28-64W.

AMD Ryzen 9 vs Intel Core i9

The consumer flagship CPU segment also has tough competition between the two chipmakers. AMD has two solid entrants in the space, with the 5900X with a 12-core, 24-thread design, and the top-of-the-line 5950x with a 16-core 32-thread design. You can get the 5900X for around $400 versus the $570 MSRP, and the 5950X for $550 versus the $800 MSRP.

Intel has retaken the lead with its 12th Gen refresh. The standard model is the i9-12900K, with an eight-core, 16-thread design. The beefiest model is the i9-12900KS at 150W, with the 125W 12900K right behind. You can get the 12900K for around $600, with the 12900KS going for between $750 and $800.

See also: AMD CPU Guide

Intel has a clear lead here, with DDR5 support and performance. Intel still races ahead if you consider the $600 mark and pit the 12900K against the top-of-the-line 5950X. The $50 difference in current pricing is indicative of the performance gap, though, so regardless of which one you buy, you’ll get your money’s worth.

With the laptop offerings, both are on par. Intel has the 12900H and 12900HK, while AMD has the 6900HS, 6900HX, 6980HS, and 6980HX, although we’re yet to see a laptop powered by the last two.

AMD Threadripper vs Intel Core X-Series

On the other hand, if you’re looking for absolutely the most performance you can get from an AMD CPU, you should look at the AMD Ryzen Threadripper series of processors. The current flagship in the range is the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X — an absolute beast with 64 cores and 128 threads. The Threadripper series is due for an update, though. Although it’s tough to find, making the 3970X the easier purchase.

When it comes to the higher end of Intel CPUs, at the very top are the Intel Core X-series CPUs, which are the fully unlocked versions of the Core i9 flagship chips from Intel. Currently, at the top of the lineup is the Intel Core i9-10980XE. Like AMD, Intel hasn’t updated its high-performance range for a couple of generations now.

It’s unclear whether Intel and AMD will upgrade these series, but we could likely see both getting an update in their upcoming generations.

AMD vs Intel — Graphics cards

On March 30, 2022, Intel launched Intel Arc graphics processing units for laptops. Intel Arc 3 graphics offer enhanced gaming and content creation. Coming in early summer, Intel Arc 5 and Arc 7 graphics will deliver increased graphics and computing performance. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

This is one area where AMD has a sizeable advantage over Intel, even though it’s not leading the segment. Since it acquired ATI, AMD has had a solid presence in the graphics card space. While it loses out to NVIDIA, the latest Radeon RX6000 series of GPUs are a testament to AMD’s architectural improvement prowess. These GPUs get very close to similarly priced NVIDIA offerings in terms of performance. While ray tracing remains a weakness, AMD GPUs offer stellar value for money.

See also: AMD vs Nvidia — what’s the best add-in GPU for you?

This is an interesting chapter for Intel which has now stepped into the GPU arena after years of making notoriously underpowered integrated graphics solutions. Intel’s Iris Xe graphics is a rather underwhelming entry in the GPU space, with very little to make it a serious competitor. It’s only going into OEM systems for now. The recently announced Intel ARC graphics for laptops seem promising, but not enough.

There is some chance we may see Intel GPUs gain some mainstream appeal as an extension. More Intel dedicated GPUs seem to be on the way. The most interesting is the Intel Xe Alchemist using the Xe-HPG architecture, which could challenge some of AMD’s higher-end GPUs and arrive sometime in 2022.

AMD vs Intel — Server, networking, and others

AMD doesn’t stretch too far beyond its consumer range, but they have enough enterprise solutions to dent the space. The most notable ones are the AMD EPYC range of server CPUs and AMD Instinct MI series accelerators. AMD also markets some of its consumer-grade-level enterprise solutions under the Pro moniker. Most of them are consumer processor equivalents that go into OEM systems. We expect more diversification now that AMD has acquired Xilinx — a big name in the FPGA and networking business. The AMD vs Intel race is about to get even closer.

If we haven’t noted it enough, Intel is a much bigger company than AMD. Its offerings go far beyond the general consumer CPU market. To begin with, the historically industry-favorite server CPUs are marketed under the Xeon brand. Intel also has Atom, a range formerly made for low-power systems, which now serves on the lower end of its server and networking solutions. Then there is the AI-focused Movidius range, the embedded solutions, the NUCs, and not forgetting its storage and networking solutions.

See also: All of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors explained

AMD vs Intel — How it will go from here and which one you should buy

AMD vs Intel is a fight that is nowhere close to finishing. As we have seen in the past, AMD has a pattern of flip-flopping, where after a stint of industry successes, it loses its way for a few years. On the other hand, Intel has always held the fort and only recently shown weaknesses that align with AMD’s current rise in the market.

Intel has had troubles with its fabrication processes for a few years now, and those troubles seem to be far from over. Even though the 12th Gen offerings are relatively solid, AMD uses a smaller fabrication process. This limits Intel to 10nm, while AMD will continue with the most efficient process they can find.

AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx will also allow it to go beyond its regular offering of consumer CPUs. It will take a long time to get to Intel’s size. However, it doesn’t seem like the colossal impossibility it looked like a few years ago.

As far as your current purchase decisions go, it’s a mixed bag if you can get your hands on it. Intel has taken the lead with the 12th Gen offerings, but AMD is still offering sufficient value with lower prices for the 5000 series processors, although missing DDR5 support. AMD is set to unveil the Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series of desktop CPUs sometime soon in 2022, which could flip the tide again. For now, pick the Intel 12th Gen CPU or AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU that fits your budget.

Which Should Be Your First Gaming CPU?

Looking for your next CPU, but you’re not too sure whether to pick up an Intel or AMD CPU? We have you covered!

Updated: Aug 11, 2022 10:04 am

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Comparing AMD and Intel

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at how we’re going to be comparing the two CPU titans.

Understanding CPUs – This will be a rundown of how CPUs work, and why they are important in modern-day computing.
SKUs, specifications, and price – Examining each of the latest lineups of CPUs each manufacturer has to offer.
Performance – A closer look into how certain AMD and Intel processors stack up against one another.
Overclocking – Which processors offer the most when it comes to overclocking.
Upgradability/Longevity – Which processors are here to stay?
Availability and support – A look at product availability and compatibility.
AMD Vs Intel – A look at market shares, sales, and growth figures for each company.
Brand speculation – What’s on the cards next for AMD and Intel?

Latest news

Gigabyte announced that the support for Intel’s new generation will be available across all of its Z690, B660, and H610 motherboards. Gigabyte isn’t the only motherboard manufacturer to do this recently, however, MSI, ASUS, and ASRock have all done the same.

This suggests that the release date of Intel’s Raptor Lake could be anytime from August 2022 onwards. Intel is still yet to confirm an official release date. Find out more on this below, in the “future technology” section of this article.

A brief history of both AMD and Intel

Here is a brief history of both the companies we’re analyzing in this article. This may help you better understand the state of things, and why these two companies always seem to be at each other’s throats. All we know is that after putting this together, we have a newfound appreciation for both. So maybe you will too.

A brief history of AMD

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) is a company that specializes in manufacturing semiconductor devices used in computer processing. The company also produces flash memory, graphics processing units, motherboard chipsets, and a further variety of goods used in consumer electronics. AMD is based in Santa Clara, California.

The company AMD was first founded in 1969 by a man named Walter Jerrohmiah Sanders, a former executive at Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation. AMD released its first product in 1970 and decided to go public two years after that.

In the Mid 1970s, AMD began producing computer chips. AMD started out as a second-source manufacturer of computer chips, but AMD placed a great emphasis on quality and started growing steadily.

In 1982, AMD began to supply second-source chips to Intel, which made the microprocessor used in IBM personal computers. The agreement with Intel then ended in 1986.

In 1991, AMD released its Am386 microprocessor family, a reverse-engineered chip that was compatible with Intel’s next-gen 32-bit 386 microprocessor. There ensued a long legal battle that eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in AMD’s favor in 1994.

That same year, Compaq Computer Corporation contracted AMD to produce Intel-compatible chips for their computers.

In 1996 AMD acquired a microprocessor company called NexGen and began branching out from the Intel-compatible chip market.

In 2000, AMD introduced the Athlon processor line-up, which was designed to run Microsft’s Windows operating system. With the release of the Athlon CPU, AMD became the first ever company to produce a 1GHz processor. Which marked AMD as a serious competitor in the CPU market.

In 2006 AMD absorbed ATI Technologies, a manufacturer of GPUs. Back in 2008 AMD announced plans to split the company in two, with one half designing microprocessors and the other half tasked with manufacturing them.

In 2009, The European Commission fined Intel a record $1.45 billion for engaging in anti-competitive practices. That violated the European Union’s antitrust laws. These practices involved Intel financially compensating and rebating manufacturers and retailers who favored its computer chips over AMD’s, as well as paying manufacturers to cancel or postpone the launching of products that used AMD’s chips.

In 2014, the company was restructured into two main parts, one for manufacturing CPUs and the other for manufacturing graphical components.

It was around this time that Dr. Lisa Su took over as CEO, this marked the beginning of one of the most miraculous technology company turnarounds in history.

The first Ryzen CPUs were released in 2017 under the guidance of Dr. Lisa Su, AMD began to make headway in the CPU market once more with their affordable and powerful CPUs. The rest you probably already know. AMD is now a formidable force in the CPU industry, making anything from server EPYC chips to budget desktop chips. With four Ryzen generations under their belt, their biggest release is yet to come in 2022, Zen 4.

A brief history of Intel

Intel, or in full Intel Corporation, is an American manufacturer of semiconductor computer circuits. Coincidentally, Intel is headquartered in Santa Clara, the same as AMD.

Intel was founded in July 1968 by American engineers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. These founders were already middle-aged technologists with established reputations. Noyce was the coinventor of the silicon integrated circuit back in 1959 when he was the general manager of Fairchild Semiconductor. And Moore was the head of research and development at Fairchild Semiconductor at the same time.

Noyce and Moore recruited other Fairchild employees, including American businessman Andrew Grove. Noyce, Moore, and Grove served as chairman and chief executive officer in succession during the first three decades of Intel’s history.

Intel’s first ever products were memory chips, including the world’s first metal oxide semiconductor, 1101, which didn’t do too well in terms of sales. But its sibling, however, 1103, a one kilobit dynamic DRAM chip, was a big hit. It was the first chip to store a significant amount of information successfully. The technology was then purchased by Honeywell Incorporated in 1970.

Since DRAMs were cheaper and used less power than core memory, they quickly became the standard memory devices in computers worldwide.

Intel then became a public company in 1971 following the success of DRAM. That very same year, Intel introduced its EPROM chip, which was the company’s most successful product up until 1985.

In 1974, Intel controlled 82. 9% of the DRAM market but, with the rise of foreign semiconductor companies, the company’s market share dropped to 1.3 percent by 1984. By that time, however, Intel had shifted its focus from memory chips to its microprocessor business.

Of the many microprocessors Intel produced after 1971, the most important may very well be the 80386, a 32-bit chip released in 1985 that started the company’s commitment to making all future microprocessors backward-compatible with previous Intel CPUs. Users were assured that the technology developed for older Intel CPUs, would also be compatible with the newest ones.

Intel’s business strategy relied on making newer microprocessors much faster than previous generations to convince users to upgrade the processors in their PCs. One way to accomplish this was to manufacture chips with vastly more transistors in each processor.

For example, the 8088 found in the first IBM PC had 29,000 transistors, while the Intel 80386 that debuted four years later included 275,000, and the Core 2 Quad released in 2008 had more than 800,000,000 transistors. The Itanium 9500, which was released in 2012, had 3,100,000,000 transistors. This observed growth in transistor count became known as Moore’s law, named after company co-founder Gordon Moore.

In 1991, Intel began increasing brand awareness by launching advertisements including the iconic “Intel inside” slogan that still holds up today.

back In 2009, the European Union fined Intel $1.45 billion for alleged monopolistic actions. In 2009 Intel also paid AMD a massive $1.25 billion to settle a decades-long legal dispute in which AMD accused Intel of pressuring PC makers not to use the former’s chips or technologies in their products.

Ever since Intel and AMD have been at each other’s throats trying to one-up each other. Currently, Intel’s CPUs are seen to hold the title of the best single-core performance and AMD CPUs hold the best multi-core performance title. But the trouble is, both companies want both.

This was a brief history of both AMD and Intel, most of the information was sourced from Britannica.

Understanding CPUs: What is a CPU?

To kick off this absolute behemoth of an article, we answer the question, “What is a CPU?”.

CPU stands for central processing unit and describes exactly what the CPU is. It’s the main or ‘central’ unit or component where the computing or ‘processing’ takes place. Easy, right?

Well, although the concept of a CPU is easy to understand, the object itself and how it operates can be a little trickier to understand.

A CPU can be thought of as the ‘brain’ of your computer, as it’s the component that undertakes all of the ‘thinking’. In simple terms, the CPU is electrical circuitry that executes instructions and commands that comprise computer programs and software.

The CPU sits in the motherboard inside a special socket made specifically for that CPU’s pin or pad configuration – more on motherboards later.

How does a CPU work?

A CPU carries out instructions set by computer programs. These programs are loaded temporarily into RAM. The CPU then makes calculations using its logic gate transistors and determines a string of ones and zeros.

This process is known as the CPU instruction cycle and is broken down into three simple steps, Fetch, Decode, and Execute.

These three actions are what comprise the fundamentals of computing as we know it, so this process is imperative to all PC operations.

Understanding the acronyms

Since we feature CPUs heavily as a point of comparison in this article, it’s important to understand what some of the following terms and acronyms mean. It will also be helpful to know these for the performance and CPU comparison portions of the article.

With that being said, let’s dive in.

Cores and threads

CPU cores and threads were very easy to wrap your head around until Intel ruined it.

Intel, in its 12th-generation CPUs, incorporated ARM’s LITTLE.big technology into its desktop processors. This means that Intel now features two types of processing core in its CPUs – one type being the ‘performance core’ that handles all the heavy lifting, and the other type being the ‘efficiency core’ for better power consumption.

We now refer to these split CPU cores as ‘E-cores’ and ‘P-cores’. We will expand more upon this later in the article.

Intel shenanigans aside, CPU cores are what process the instructions sent to your CPU by programs. The more CPU cores a CPU has, the better at multitasking that CPU will be.

Threads differ slightly from CPU cores but can be thought of in the same manner. Threads are the ability given to CPU cores through multithreading technology to process two instructions simultaneously, as opposed to one.

The presence of multithreading almost doubles the potential output of the CPU, but not quite.

However, threads are not created equal. Since threads are virtual and don’t occupy any space on the CPU die, they have to share resources with the CPU cores – making them slower as a result.

Your operating system indiscriminately groups both cores and threads together and labels them ‘logical processors’, as both can perform an instruction cycle.

Clock speed

There are usually two types of clock speed when referring to CPUs, we have ‘base clock speed’ and ‘boost clock speed’. Both of these are measuring the same thing, the speed of a CPU core, just at different stages.

Base clock speed

Base clock speed is the lowest expected frequency of a CPU core. For example, if a CPU’s base frequency is 3.2GHz, you would expect to be constantly achieving a core speed of 3.2GHz.

Boost clock speed

Boost clock speed is the exact same as the base clock speed, only this is measured when the CPU core is being boosted automatically by either Intel or AMD’s proprietary core boosting technology. The Boost clock speeds get a little more complex when we throw in the ‘all core boost speed’.

All core boost speed is the speed all CPU cores can achieve simultaneously. This differs from boost speed, which usually refers to the maximum speed any one core can achieve at any given time. CPUs only have a finite amount of power and can delegate between CPU cores. While a CPU may be able to boost all the way up to 5.2GHz on one or two CPU cores, that does not mean it is able to do this on all cores, because of its power constraints.

All-core boost speed is usually a couple of hundred MHz lower than the maximum boost speed, so if a CPU has a boost speed of 5.1GHz then the all-core boost speed maybe somewhere around 4.9GHz.

IPC and clock speed

Core speed is important for performance and IPC (instructions per cycle). This is the number of instructions a CPU can execute every CPU cycle. This ‘cycle’ refers to the instruction cycle that consists of three actions, fetch, decode, and execute.

A CPU clock speed is how many instruction cycles a CPU can perform every second and since it’s measured in gigahertz (GHz) we’re talking about billions of instructions every second. Not all core speed was created equal, however. If a CPU belongs to an architecture with a smaller nm process like 7nm vs 12nm, the 7nm process will have a higher IPC as the transistors used in its composition are much smaller, meaning more are present within the CPU itself.

This shows that CPUs with smaller transistors allows more of them to be loaded into the same footprint, meaning the CPU with a 7nm process is capable of more computations per cycle. This means that one of the 7nm process CPU cycles is worth more than one of the 12nm process CPU cycles.

So, even if both CPUs had the exact same clock speed, the CPU with the 7nm process would be more powerful as it has a higher IPC. The more transistors you have, the stronger your CPU is.

There’s a lot to take in here and we explain these subjects in far more detail in our ‘5800X vs 5800X3D’ article.

TDP

TDP stands for thermal design power and is a measure of how much thermal energy the component can output under normal operating conditions, excluding overclocking.

Power enters the CPU as it does every electrical component, and a bi-product of this electrical transference is heat energy. Heat is generated as energy is transferred between components of the CPU, but a good portion of the energy is wasted and given off as heat.

You should always get a CPU cooler that is capable of dissipating a TDP measurement higher than your current CPU’s output, the higher the better. You need to maintain a viable temperature to get the most out of your CPU, in terms of performance and longevity.

When overclocking your CPU, heat is your biggest enemy. All the extra heat generated by the increased power and workload needs to be dissipated. This is why it’s important to pick up a cooler that gives you plenty of headroom.

A higher TDP is usually indicative of a more powerful CPU, but you need a better cooling solution to keep it working as it should.

Socket

Sockets are perhaps the simplest part of CPUs. A socket is a component on the motherboard in which the CPU sits. It’s important to ensure you pick up a CPU that will fit in your motherboard’s socket – this can be easily found in both the motherboard and CPU product specifications.

A socket can be thought of as a shape, and only a CPU with a matching shape will fit into it.

Price and specifications

Here we will examine the price and specifications of a select set of AMD and Intel CPUs, which will help us determine the broader value of each company’s processors, and just how much your hard-earned money gets you when it’s given to either of these CPU giants.

As a general rule, AMD’s processors are less expensive. Not only that, but AMD technically holds the record for the fastest gaming CPU with its 5800X3D. The 5800X3D managed to surpass the 12900KS, Intel’s latest flagship CPU, in some gaming scenarios.

If you’re interested, we delve more into the 5800X3D in our Ryzen 7 5800X3D review.

So, if AMD is faster as a whole and generally cheaper, then we have a winner, right? Well no, it’s not quite so clear-cut. Let’s take a closer look at some of AMD’s CPUs and their Intel counterparts.

Let’s take a look at the two current CPU flagships, the Ryzen 9 5950X and the Core i9 12900KS.

5950X vs 12900KS

Both the 5950X and the 12900KS are incredible processors, but there are clear differences in how they operate that define them, leading to massive performance differences in some cases.

As we previously mentioned, Intel’s 12th-generation CPUs are built upon ARM’s LITTLE.big technology, splitting the CPU into P-cores and E-cores. The 5950X does not contain such technology, so its cores remain uniform. Because of this division of cores, the 12900KS has more power overhead to pump into its performance cores, allowing for its 5.5GHz max boost speed.

Despite Intel’s recent efforts to increase CPU efficiency, the 12900KS still has a 45W higher TDP than the 5950X – totaling a huge 150W. The 5950X, with its eight additional threads, manages a TDP of 105W.

When it comes to computing, having a strong cache is just as important as having CPU cores. The 5950X manages to pack almost double the cache of the 12900KS onto its die, that’s twice the stored and qued instructions ready for execution – lowering latency and increasing speed.

You’d think that with the 5950X having more threads, almost twice the cache, and a lower TDP, the 5900X would be magnitudes more expensive than the 12900KS – but it isn’t.

The 5950X is around $250 less than the 12900KS, but it is older.

We’re still waiting for AMD’s response to Intel’s 12th-generation CPUs. That response is coming in the form of Zen 4 Raphael CPUs – more on that later. But if AMD can pack this much of a punch into a CPU that is a generation behind, then we can’t wait to see what the next generation of AMD CPUs can do.

We have a review of the 12900KS, you can check it out here.

With the flagships out of the way, let’s jump more towards mid-level processors.

5800X3D vs 12700K

Okay, admittedly the 5800X3D isn’t exactly a mid-level processor, as it holds the title of the world’s fastest gaming CPU. This is all thanks to AMD’s 3D V-cache – the 5800X3D is the only desktop processor to feature this caching technology.

Technically speaking though, in terms of specifications the 5800X3D is pretty mediocre, and at a first glance would be a good match for something like the 12700K – however, looks can be deceiving. This example serves as a reminder that the CPU industry is ever-changing, and it’s not quite as easy as it once was to analyze CPU specifications and come out with a clear winner.

The 12700K has four more threads than the 5800X3D and four more processing cores. This makes the 12700K the better processor, right? Wrong, the 5800X3D has a huge advantage over the 12700K thanks to its 3D V-cache, despite its shortcomings in core speed, core count, thread count, and TDP.

The 3D cache is stacked vertically as opposed to laterally, all thanks to recent technological advancements in 3D printing.

Stacking the cache shiplets vertically drastically increases the number you can fit into one footprint, without compromising speed or efficiency. This vertical cache stacking has allowed AMD to pack 96MB of total L3 cache with access speeds of up to 2TB/s into the 5800X3D.

This technology increases the amount of cache present and decreases cache latency, making for a better CPU overall.

It seems as though AMD has the upper hand, even at the lower end of current-generation processors.

5600 vs 12400

On paper, these two CPUs seem incredibly similar, with the only real differences being in cache, and base clock frequency.

Both are priced at around $180, making them the ideal ‘budget’ CPU. The 5600, with its larger cache, outperforms the 12400 in most cases.

That being said, however, single-core performance is something the 12400 shines at, always scoring higher in single-core synthetic benchmarks. There’s not too much to say about these CPUs, as they’re incredibly similar, but there’s still a performance difference between the two. AMD almost always outperforms Intel in multi-core workloads, and Intel almost always nips the top spot in terms of single-core performance.

The value of AMD

AMD seems to be aiming for the multi-core performance side of computing, and if it can do that at a lower price point than Intel then it will, as it has proved time and time again.

You can expect an AMD CPU to be efficient, easy to cool, and dominate in the multi-core performance aspect of computing. Every AMD CPU generation gains ground towards taking the top spot from Intel, both in single and multi-core performance.

AMD will always be a fan favorite, devoted to bringing the best performance possible, all while undercutting the competition in terms of price. At the heart of most budget PC builds, you’ll probably find team red.

That’s not to say that budget builds are all AMD is good for. AMD is pushing the boundaries of CPU and caching technology with the 5800X3D, and swiping the top CPU for gaming spot off of Intel with that very same CPU.

The value of intel

Intel aims to be the single-core rocket of the industry, putting all of its eggs into one CPU core. Intel has made progress towards higher frequencies on multiple cores, with its 12th generation of CPUs, instead of just one.

As you can see, Intel dominates the single-core performance space, with titans like the 12900KS and the 11900K tearing holes through what we thought was possible – with blistering core boost speeds over 5GHz.

However, Intel CPUs are a lot more pricey. We doubt you’d find many new Intel CPUs at the heart of many budget builds, but if you have money to burn and want the best of the best, Intel is a good way to go.

If you’re a tech and PC enthusiast looking to push a component to the maximum, the favorite is always a CPU from team blue. Overclocking is an Intel game – something we’ll explore in more detail later on.

AMD 5000 series CPU list

Below we will list all of the desktop AMD 5000 series CPUs and their prices, so you can get a better feel of the wider market, and what each manufacturer has to offer.

Entry-level Ryzen 5 CPUs

High-performance Ryzen 7 CPUs

Enthusiast Ryzen 9 CPUs

As you can see, the Ryzen 5000 series desktop scope covers less than you might be used to. There are no Ryzen 3 entries, all of those were reserved for OEM only, and there are only a few CPUs in each category.

Something else to note is that every AMD Ryzen CPU is overclockable, but not every AM4 motherboard allows for it.

Intel 12th Generation CPU list.

Below we will list all of the 12th generation Intel CPUs and their prices, so you can get a better idea of how Intel stacks up against AMD, in terms of CPU production.

Entry-level Core i3 CPUs

Mid-level Core i5 CPUs

Performance-level Core i7 CPUs

Enthusiast-level Core i9 CPUs

Intel offers a much larger selection of CPUs in every category. Intel includes low-power versions of their CPUs, alongside versions of processors with the iGPU removed – something AMD doesn’t bother with, for the most part.

Intel’s main aim was probably to saturate the market, and leave no space for AMD to cover a piece of the market Intel doesn’t.

CPU identifiers

Both Intel and AMD have CPU suffixes or ‘identifiers’ that help us determine what type of CPU it is, whether that be low power, with or without integrated graphics, or if it’s unlocked for overclocking. These identifiers come in the form of one or two letters at the end of the SKU.

Here are the Intel CPU identifiers.

Here are the AMD CPU identifiers.

As you can see, there is a multitude of different CPU identifiers – this isn’t even all of them. We only outlined the ones that may still be relevant, even to those of you that have some of the older CPUs. But how does all this equate to performance?

Performance

For the purpose of this article, we have split this performance section into two, gaming performance and workstation performance. CPUs, being multi-core and multithreaded, now have two main areas to focus on in terms of performance – single and multi-core performance.

Single-core performance covers gaming for the most part, and multi-core performance covers workstation tasks, although more and more games are utilizing multiple cores these days.

So, with that out of the way, let’s get into it.

Gaming

We’re basing this portion of the article on data from Primate Labs, the company behind the Geekbench benchmark software.

First of all, let’s cover single-core performance.

As we mentioned earlier, and as you can see from this graph, Intel still very much dominates the single-core performance scene, with the Core i9 12900K scoring almost 2,000 points in Geekbench benchmarks.

Interestingly enough, our 12900KS only scored 1,998 in single-core benchmarks, but we have no idea what kind of system this data was collated on. But it is safe to say, in our testing, the 12900KS outperformed the 12900K by about 1.36%, cementing the 12900KS atop the leaderboard for the fastest single-core performance in the world.

You may notice that there’s not a single AMD CPU listed here. You may remember us mentioning that AMD isn’t really in the running for great single-core performance just yet, although we expect that to change with the release of Zen 4.

Workstation tasks

We’re again basing this portion of the article on the same data from Primitive Labs, only this time it’s for multi-core performance.

Okay, what’s going on here? What’s a Threadripper? A very valid question, let’s briefly discuss what these new types of CPU are.

Threadrippers and Intel Xeon processors are specially designed workstation processors, designed with a high core count, massive cache sizes, and lower clock speeds. Xeon processors are more geared toward server setups, but the same design principles apply.

Since these CPUs aren’t really gaming-focused, we haven’t touched upon these much at all. In fact, there are multiple types of processors we haven’t discussed. The CPU world is large, vast, and very populated with things the general public never really sees.

Tangent aside, note that these CPUs have up to 64 cores/128 threads, and make a 5950X look like a Tamagotchi.

Observe that a good 60% of this graph belongs to team red, but it’s not just how many AMD CPUs are up there, it’s also the score they lead by.

The best CPU on this list, as of February 2020, is the Threadripper 3990X. This CPU has a full 5,000-point lead over the best Intel can come up with – that is a very impressive lead.

Remember when we mentioned that AMD has multi-core processing locked down? Well, we meant it. We also expect this to change somewhat with the release of AMD’s 7000 series CPUs.

Note: this data is from February 2022, and will be updated with dates from newer CPU releases as soon as it’s available.

Integrated graphics

Whether you’re building a gaming PC or a beefy workstation, you’re probably going to be incorporating a dedicated GPU. However, both AMD and Intel offer CPUs with integrated graphics. AMD refers to theirs as APUs and Intel tends to refer to theirs as “CPUs with iGPU” – catchy we know.

Neither Intel nor AMD’s integrated GPUs are going to allow you to run your games at 4k, as nice as that would be. They are not exactly RTX 3090 Tis.

For the budget-orientated gamer, an APU can be a fantastic place to start, especially since APUs are a GPU and a CPU in one neat package.

That’s all well and good, but which integrated graphics are better?

AMD’s current iGPU component is the RX Vega 8 chip, whilst Intel’s is the UHD 770.

By far the better iGPU component is the RX Vega 8, belonging to the 5700G. When Intel’s 12600K and AMD’s 5600G went toe-to-toe, the 5600G came out with almost double the FPS in some cases.

Tiffany Garrett Editorial Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central The central processing unit (CPU) is at the heart of any device, whether it be a phone, tablet, router, laptop, smart TV or desktop PC.<img loading='lazy' src='' /> It’s what handles all the tasks put forward by the operating system (OS) in order to function properly and allow you to do amazing things. Just like the OS discussion, the debate between AMD and Intel has been going on for decades. When choosing a new laptop or desktop build or upgrade parts, should you choose Intel or AMD? I’m going to take you through a short history lesson and look at prices and performance figures for various processors to come to a conclusion. <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_fxflL_FuY?modestbranding=1" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""/>

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Intel vs. AMD: A history of chip manufacturers

Source: AMD

Both AMD and Intel go back to the origins of the computer. Both companies are responsible for the x86 platform, which is still used today as the base architecture for building processors. However, it was AMD that made a huge breakthrough by developing a 64-bit version for their Athlon processor series, hence the AMD64 (later x86-64) brand. Intel was on the losing end.

Intel’s position hasn’t improved much since it went into 64-bit computing on its own, thanks in large part to AMD’s release of the world’s first dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor. But AMD’s time at the forefront of processor development was coming to an end, and Intel began to innovate with its Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Things then escalated with the introduction of new Intel mobile processors for laptops and desktops that far exceeded what AMD could put together.

AMD vs. Intel in the 2010s

Source: Windows Central

Intel and AMD have been competing against each other for decades, and we’ve looked at some of the seismic changes that have taken place from 2010 to today.

Review of the Decade: AMD vs. Intel

AMD introduced its Bulldozer architecture in 2011 and it didn’t go well. While the processor family offered amazing value, especially the FX-4100, the processors simply couldn’t keep up with what Intel was offering at the time. Ironically, AMD’s architecture has allowed enthusiasts and PC owners to push their processors to insane levels.

The AMD FX-8350 holds the current record for maximum clock speed at a whopping 8,794.33MHz. This can be rounded up to 8.5 GHz, which doesn’t seem high until you compare it to an average between 3-4 GHz. All AMD processors at the time were unlocked and Intel fans had to pay extra for luxury.

The company continued to improve the platform in every possible way, which led to the release of new generations of processors that received mixed reviews. Intel was able to stick to its Tick Tock approach and price its hardware accordingly without seeing an immediate threat from AMD. The once-heated market has now been completely frozen in the freezer.

AMD couldn’t share its internal project with the world, but what was on the horizon would change the situation for both companies in the coming years. Q, Reisen. In 2017, AMD launched Ryzen and we are where we are today, with both companies once again offering processors with the same price and performance.

Intel vs. AMD: Price vs. Value

Source: Intel

This is perhaps the most important deciding factor between AMD and Intel and has been the subject of debate for a long time. Traditionally, AMD has been viewed as low cost, less power efficient processors that have more cores attached to silicon that you know what to use for. Older AMD processors like the FX series are coming is hot , but they offered some compelling use cases.

Intel was able to calm down due to the collapse of AMD.

Intel has been trying to stay competitive on pricing while marketing its processors as plain better than , and they pretty much were until recently. During AMD’s downfall in the early decades of this century, Intel was able to essentially charge processors more than usual because AMD didn’t have a competing product. If you want Intel performance, you pay Intel for the price.

Marketshare heavily favored Intel for years until AMD finally hit back at the team with Ryzen and the Zen architecture. AMD was on the verge of no return and the Ryzen launch should have been a success. Luckily for AMD fans, this new platform is an incredible step up from the previous generation of processors.

But since AMD was on the losing side and had to regain market share, it aggressively priced the first generation Ryzen family. These new processors from AMD were just as good (if not slightly better) than the ones Intel had on the market and cost less. Intel was caught off guard, leading to a rush to launch the Core X series and fiasco due to the price cut of the Core i9X by 50%.

Source: Windows Central

These days, processor prices are in a good position for PC builders and those looking to upgrade the CPU inside their machine. You can buy a six-core processor for less than $300, which provides significant per-core performance. AMD still offers the best core/thread ratio without sacrificing too much performance.

Even after benchmarking Intel against performance, AMD remains aggressively priced for processors.

The Ryzen 5 3600X is an amazing mid-range processor, just like the Intel Core i5-9600K. The suggested retail price of the first at launch was $199. The Intel Core i5-9600K cost $269. Both processors can be found today for about the same price, but they are not identical. The AMD Ryzen 5 3600X comes with six cores and 12 threads. The Intel Core i5-9600K is also unlocked but only has six cores and threads. No hyperthreading.

Best AMD

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Best all-round mid-range processor

This may be AMD’s mid-range processor, but six cores and 12 threads are available for some serious performance metrics. Perfect for gaming or creative work.

$200 from Amazon
$220 at Best Buy

Best Intel

Intel Core i5-9600K

Level up your games

Core i5-9The 600K is the ideal processor for gaming with outstanding performance and huge overclocking headroom.

$195 at Amazon
$200 at Newegg
$195 at B&H Photo

Even at the low end, AMD is hitting hard. The Ryzen 3 3200G has Radeon graphics similar to the Ryzen 5 3400G our Richard Devine. reviewed most positively, and is capable of playing games with decent quality settings. Compare this to the Intel Core i3-9100 with its mediocre integrated graphics and similar price point and you have a clear winner.

Budget AMD

AMD Ryzen 3 3200G

Budget processor with

AMD Ryzen 3 3200G graphics might be more affordable in AMD’s 3000 series line of processors, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it can’t work.

$95 from Amazon

Budget Intel

Intel Core i3-9100F

Perfect choice for less than $100

Core i3-9100F delivers solid performance for everyday tasks and costs less than $100; here you get excellent value for money.

$75 at Amazon
$75 at Newegg
$75 at B&H Photo

Intel vs.

AMD: Performance and Gaming

Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

usually leads struggle with comfort. This is no longer the case with AMD’s current generation of Ryzen processors, although Intel has pushed ahead again with Comet Lake. Take, for example, the new Intel Core i9-10900K. This is a powerful 10-core processor with 20 threads. To make it even more capable, there’s an AI that controls the frequency on the fly based on temperature readings.

It can reach 5.3 GHz on a single core using a new algorithm, and that’s what Intel fans have been calling for. The best part is the $488 price tag and the fact that it’s unlocked. Performance for general computing, gaming, and even for enthusiasts is what this monster has created. But it’s not all good for Intel, which is still using the 14nm process and doesn’t yet support PCIe 4.0 on any processor.

The Intel Core i9-10900K could be a monster processor.

However, AMD is not far behind. The Ryzen 9 3900X is still considered by many to be the best choice for gamers with a whopping 12 cores and 24 threads and a 4.6GHz clock speed. Both the Ryzen 9 3900X and the Core i9-10900K are incredible processors at reasonable prices.

For general use and gaming, both processor platforms deliver strong performance and you’re likely to avoid any bottlenecks no matter which high-end processor you choose. Still, all things considered, Intel is pulling ahead. AMD forced Intel to return to innovation, and now we are seeing results with aggressive pricing. It’s a win-win for PC owners.

Intel Enthusiast

Intel Core i9-10900K

Best of Intel

With ten cores, 20 threads and 5.3 GHz, the Core i9-10900K is the best desktop processor Intel has released to date.

530 dollars in NEWEGG

599 in B&H Photo

Enthusiast AMD

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x

Expressive 12-core performance

,

If you are fond of games and want to start a processor or you need a processor with a large number cores for work and play, this is what you need.

$419 off Amazon

Intel vs. AMD: Mobile Notebook Processors

Source: Windows Central

The laptop market is still dominated by Intel. While AMD managed to gain some traction with the general public after the launch of Ryzen, it has been slow to enter the mobile market. AMD has finally released some new Ryzen 3000 processors for laptops, but they are disappointing compared to what Intel already had.

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That changed with the release of the new Ryzen 4000 mobile processors, which were actually good enough for product use. The Ryzen 9 4900HS is a monster 8-core, 16-thread processor that can go up to 4.3GHz. This monster has outperformed Intel’s high-performance mobile processors, which should pave the way for significant market share.

Our own reviews of AMD laptops have also been positive. Intel hasn’t come out yet and the market is still dominated by blue stickers across the budget range. Buying a laptop today will most likely contain an Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9 processor. Intel has the edge in mobile performance (not counting the Ryzen 9 4900HS), but AMD-based laptops offer significantly more value.

So which is better?

Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

It’s hard to make a wrong decision when buying a processor unless you try to install the processor on an incompatible motherboard. Whether you choose AMD or Intel, you’ll have a powerful machine that can handle a wide variety of tasks. However, there are clear differences in price and value.

AMD’s collection of processors, especially the Ryzen 3000, offers a lot more value for your money. Whether you install the Ryzen 3 3100 or the Ryzen 9 3950X, you’ll likely get more cores and threads than a competing Intel processor without sacrificing too much per-core performance.

If you’re already platform locked and don’t plan on changing motherboards, upgrading to a more powerful processor can make a big difference. You just need to keep in mind that Intel only supports the chipset for two generations, while AMD is much better at supporting older motherboards for newer processors.

Intel has a slight lead over AMD when it comes to performance, but it’s hard to notice such results when you’re not running a synthetic benchmark. We’ll have to keep an eye on the battlefield as Intel and AMD continue to trade blows with Ryzen 4000 and 11th gen Intel moves to 10nm.

The processor market has a bright future, and it’s better for all of us.

Which processor is better Amd or Intel

At the heart of your pursuit of a new or upgraded PC is an important decision: should you use an AMD or Intel processor? Like MacOS vs. Windows, the AMD vs. Intel rivalry is one of the biggest contentions for PC enthusiasts, and with Intel’s new release, the competition is heating up.

AMD outpaced Intel’s 10th gen processors with the launch of Ryzen 5000, holding a clear lead in gaming and workloads. However, Intel is catching up with the release of 11th Gen Rocket Lake processors and lowering AMD’s price. As far as laptops go, AMD offers its Ryzen 5000 mobile chips, but they aren’t used in nearly as many machines as Intel’s Tiger Lake processors.

Every new product launch marks a shift in the balance between AMD and Intel. Here is the state of affairs today.

Desktop processors

In the past, AMD processors were the best option only for the budget and entry-level market segments, but this has changed with the introduction of AMD Ryzen 3000 and AMD Ryzen 5000. some features, even in the upper segment.

The most affordable AMD or Intel chips will cost between $40 and $60 for a pair of cores and an energy-efficient clock speed. The best mid-range processors will set you back between $200 and $350, while the best gaming processor costs around $500. If you want to speed up intensive tasks like video editing and transcoding, you can spend over $1,000.

Both Intel and AMD have great processors for gaming and high performance tasks like video editing and transcoding, but they also have their own quirks. AMD’s current top picks, the Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X, have surpassed everything Intel has to offer with 12 and 16 cores respectively.

Intel’s best processor right now is the Core i9-10900K. Intel has already released its 11th generation desktop platform, with the 11900K intended to replace the 10900K. However, the latest generation chip offers much better value for money. 10900K works about the same as 11900K, but the price drops. The 11900K also has some temperature issues, making the 10900K an easy task for the blue team.

However, you don’t have to buy the best to get a great processor for gaming or work. Priced at around $300, the six-core, high-clocked AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a fantastic AMD chip for work and play. Intel has the 11600K at this price point, which matches the 5600X with six cores and 12 threads. However, the 11600K has high power and heat requirements. On paper, the 11600K already consumes twice as much power as the 5600X, and in real life it can consume even more.

In the more upstream market segments, the AMD processor tends to offer the best value for money, and outstanding processors such as the 3300X and 3600 offer amazing multitasking and gaming performance.

Inexpensive options like the AMD 3200G and Intel Core i3 10100 let you run your system without an extra graphics card, making them great for general office work and watching Netflix, though nothing more. If you want to dive into light gaming, AMD offers the Ryzen 5000 APU with Radeon graphics.

Factors unrelated to performance may cause you to prefer one manufacturer over another. The latest generation of Intel processors have much better support for Thunderbolt 3 ports if you can use that. On the other hand, AMD offers overclocking capability on its cheaper B-series chipset, allowing builders on a tight budget to squeeze the best performance out of their machine.

AMD is the best option for desktops right now, but that could change soon. Intel is about to release its Alder Lake APUs. This new architecture combines two types of cores to increase the number of cores, and they will be able to run much faster than Intel’s current offerings.

Notebook processors

The notebook market is a different story. Most of the laptops you will find are based on various generations of Intel processors and integrated graphics. As a Dell rep once pointed out, Intel’s portfolio is huge compared to AMD, and its current lineup of laptops and the processors inside them are better than ever.

While development of Intel’s desktop processors has slowed in recent years, its enhancements to mobile devices have been much more exciting. Ice Lake processors introduced a more efficient design with much faster 11th Gen graphics, offering enough performance to play many esports games at around 60 frames per second (fps) without the need for a graphics card. 11th gen Tiger Lake mobile processors are even better, such as in the Acer Swift 5.

For even more overall computing power, Intel offers Tiger Lake H processors. These high-performance chips use the Tiger Lake design but push the power limits even further, offering higher clock speeds and more cores. You can find Tiger Lake H chips on high-end gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 15. In mid-2021, you’ll also find many machines with Intel’s 10th Gen processor based on the Comet Lake design. These machines are often discounted compared to their Tiger Lake H counterparts.

A wide range of options and manufacturing support means that most laptops still offer Intel processors as standard, but just like in the desktop space, AMD is also making headway in mobile devices.

The

Acer Swift 3 and 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 were some of the first examples of AMD’s recent mobile push, and while they weren’t stellar, they showed promise. That push has continued into 2020 with stronger releases like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 serving as a launch pad for AMD’s new Ryzen 4000 laptop chips. In July 2020, Lenovo updated its Legion gaming laptops with Ryzen 4000 mobile processors, pairing them with RTX 20-series graphics. Now there are dozens of options worth considering.

AMD announced Ryzen 5000 mobile processors at CES 2021, introducing the new Zen 3 architecture for thin and light laptops. You can find these processors in the HP Pavilion Aero 13 and HP Envy x360 15.

The 35-watt Ryzen 5980HS has matched the performance of the desktop Ryzen 5 5600X in rendering tests, far outperforming the Ryzen 4000 and anything Intel currently has to offer. Similar to the desktop Ryzen 5000, the new mobile lineup seems to be topping the charts across the board.

Other tests show equally impressive performance. The octa-core Ryzen 9 5900HS outperforms the Intel i9-10980HK, which is one of the most powerful mobile processors available today. AMD chips are competitive with Intel in laptops. However, you are still more likely to find an Intel processor, making this market an easy win for Team Blue.

Both AMD and Intel offer solid performance for work and play, and there are many more factors to consider when buying a laptop than a processor, so looking at individual model reviews is a must. This is especially important in 2021, when the Ryzen 5000 mobile platform will challenge Intel, which has long won the mobile throne.

What is best for you?

For everyday web browsing, watching Netflix and answering emails, Intel and AMD processors give you superior performance right out of the box. However, there are certain challenges where one company’s options perform better than others.

If you want to work with a processor doing intensive multi-threaded tasks like video editing or transcoding, or multitasking intensively with dozens of browser tabs open, AMD is your best bet. Intel undercuts AMD with its high-performance chips, but the difference in performance is greater than the price.

Whether you’re working and playing on a desktop or just gaming, an AMD Ryzen 5000 processor will still be your best bet. Everything from the 5600X to the ridiculously powerful 5950X offers the best in gaming performance and performance. Intel options are becoming more available to make them more competitive, which could make them worth it. But in terms of raw power, AMD holds the lead.

If you’re buying a laptop, things are a little different. Intel Tiger Lake offers the best integrated graphics and its Tiger Lake H processors are exceptional. Ryzen 5000 chips with Zen 3 cores are also great and very efficient. The crown of mobile technology right now belongs to Intel. However, you’ll want to look at reviews of the machine as a whole, rather than just focusing on CPU performance, to get a full picture of which laptop is best for you.

The good news is that there really isn’t a bad choice in the CPU market — AMD and Intel are in full swing, so the AMD vs. Intel comparison won’t stop anytime soon. Your best bet is to choose a processor that is cheaper, affordable, and works with the components you already have.

TAGs: Processors, AMD processors, Intel processors

Which is better Intel or AMD

Which processor is better Intel or AMD.

Intel and AMD are still the two main processors for a PC or laptop. In this article, we’ll take a look at how these huge companies competed, how they failed to foresee the era of tablets and smartphones, and what they’re doing now.

Now is an interesting time for CPU manufacturers. Gone are the days when laptop battery life was measured in just a few hours and considered efficient, and when the majority of computer enthusiasts had noisy, hot desktop PCs in their homes. Desktop PC sales fell 9.8 percent. In new markets, the story is even worse: a drop of 11.3 percent. Quite simply, users now prefer smaller, cheaper and less power-hungry devices.

In 2014, desktop PCs picked up a bit, and that was only because firms were replacing their PCs with the no longer supported Windows XP, but in 2015 sales dropped again. Analysts say there will be «moderate declines» across the board as sales of Windows tablets and 2-in-1 laptop/tablet hybrids have increased.

Contents:

1 AMD or Intel

1.1 Why AMD and Intel

1. 2 History and breakthroughs

1.3 Intel or AMD problems

2 New Form Factors

2.1 Which Intel or AMD is Best for Gaming

2.2 What to Buy AMD or Intel

AMD or Intel

This has been a game changer for the major players. Just ten years ago, Intel and AMD had peace and quiet. The distinctive Intel logo was everywhere laptops were sold, and AMD’s future was serene thanks to ATI’s acquisition of graphics. And in such a cloudless atmosphere, these giants gradually began to lag behind the times. The tech environment was changing rapidly, and Intel, and especially the slower AMD, were slow to make the switch to mobile devices, allowing other chip makers, notably ARM, but also VIA and Qualcomm, to dominate this huge new market.

Why AMD and Intel

If you’re buying a traditional laptop or PC, you only have two options for processors — AMD and Intel, and the slump in PC popularity doesn’t mean they’ve gone beggars. Keep in mind that Intel’s total revenue in 2014 was $55.8 billion. But, of course, Intel gets its income not only from the sale of processors for PCs and laptops. The company also manufactures GPUs, wired and wireless network adapters, servers, workstation processors, and more. And although you are unlikely to find Intel processors in most smartphones or tablets, the company produces quite a lot of SoCs for mobile devices.

AMD is the weaker of the two in some ways. On the one hand, while Intel is building its own manufacturing by opening more than a dozen facilities in the US, Ireland, Israel, and China; AMD sold off its last factories back in 2009. Today, just like ARM, VIA, MediaTek and many others, AMD designs its own chips but manufactures them on the side. Microprocessor manufacturing is terribly expensive and AMD, compared to Intel, looks pale, only $5.51 billion.

History and breakthroughs

Both companies have their own history. When Intel released the 8080 processor in 1974, it laid the foundation for all x86 processors, which provided the basis for all desktop PCs for nearly 30 years. Later, they also demonstrated commercial acumen: in the mid-2000s, the Centrino platform, consisting of a low-power processor, a wireless chip, and a mobile chipset, took the market by storm, with a reputation for desktop-class processing power and long battery life. And the company’s switch from the x86 brand to «Pentium» was like the brush of a PR genius.

Intel marketing’s ability to think continues to this day. True, the success of the Intel-branded ultrabook was perilously linked to Microsoft’s efforts to push its Windows 8 operating system.

AMD’s position as a loser is consistent. AMD now has a 17 percent market share, partly due to console gaming devices: at the core of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the built-in 8-core AMD «Jaguar» processor.

Perhaps AMD’s biggest relatively recent innovation has been the acquisition of ATI’s graphics processing unit (GPU). Due to this, AMD almost caught up with Intel in the ability to install integrated graphics processors — that is, GPUs located on the same chip as the CPU. The result is less graphics power, but a significant reduction in power consumption and heat. Forget fire-breathing, discrete graphics cards (last year’s Radeon R9The 280X ran at 250W at its peak and needed two fans). AMD realized that the future of silicon is not only in increasing computing power, but also in reducing power consumption and size. These days, most people don’t need more computing power, they want the best battery life on portable devices.

Intel or AMD problems

At first glance, AMD and Intel were in a good position in the market and answered all the needs of mobile device users. The desktop PC market is in a steady downturn, laptop sales are on the rise, and mobile phones need a rethink. Intel, with its Centrino-based laptop, already had an incredibly high reputation, and its Turion rival AMD was only a second behind, racing to win a market that already knew mobility was the future of computing.

Intel started strong. Remember netbook? The first netbooks — such as the Asus Eee PC 701, launched in the UK in 2007 — cost less than £200, weighed less than a kilo, and yet offered enough processing power to run basic workloads and apps running in web browsers. What processor is it based on? An ultra-low version of the humble Celeron.

The netbook was a major commercial success and Intel capitalized on its Atom processor. It was Intel silicon at its cheapest. Thousands of the earliest CPU Atom netbooks cost manufacturers less than $30. Consumers wanted small, cheap computers, and Intel, with its rich experience in mobile processors, was able to answer the challenge.

The problems started in the tablets. «We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that isn’t junk,» Steve Jobs said in 2008. «A netbook is worse than that,» he added as he launched the first-generation iPad in 2010. Apple COO Tim Cook agreed, describing the netbook as «not a very good consumer experience.» This is how the iPad was born.

The problem for Intel and AMD was not that they didn’t expect consumer preference for mobile devices. The problem was the form factor: on the first day of sales in 2010, 300,000 iPad units were sold. Choosing between traditional laptops and netbooks, with traditional desktop operating systems built on traditional x86 hardware, Intel and AMD have bet on the wrong horse. In fact, Intel, Microsoft, and HP tried to push the tablet long before the iPad, but the combination of Windows (an OS designed for keyboard and mouse), short battery life, and heavy hardware meant no one wanted to buy it.

The problem for Intel and AMD was not that the iPad and later tablets from Sony, Samsung and so on didn’t need processors. They still needed it, but in processors of a new type. And the kingdom of SoC (system on a chip) — in which all the functions of a computer are built into a single chip — was already ruled by the British giant ARM.

ARM processors have a completely different architecture than traditional Intel and AMD chips. The ARM Reduced Instruction Set (RISC) architecture is physically simpler than x86 processors, which means they are cheaper and consume less power. The strong rise of the iPad and the sharp decline of Windows tablets have shown that AMD and Intel are too late for this boat. Fast forward in 2015 to the netbook proved to be stillborn, nipped in the bud by high-end tablets that perform well, offer long battery life, and cost far less than a standard laptop.

New Form Factors

Even Microsoft, a longtime ally of x86 bit hardware, has added misery for Intel and AMD. RT Windows, released in late 2012, was the first version of Windows to run on ARM devices, theoretically giving Microsoft access to cheap tablets. However, the RT Windows platform has taken a hit: Microsoft lost $900 million on its unsold RT Windows devices in 2013, and the company’s CFO Amy Hood said, «We know we have to do better, especially on mobile devices.»

While we were all impressed with the Surface Pro 3, it turned out to be the best of a relatively poor selection of so-called ‘two-in-ones’ that supposedly offer the best of both worlds: a minute full of Windows laptop, another minute a tablet . The problem is that Windows 8’s touch interface isn’t that great, and few developers write apps for it. Now, Microsoft’s immediate future depends on the success of Windows 10.

However, Intel didn’t place all of its hopes on Microsoft alone. In 2015 came the Curie module, a miniature button-sized module. It uses a Quark SE SoC that can be powered by a coin-sized battery. And while its expansion into the world of tablets and ultra-thin computers has yet to be called triumphant, Intel still has a lot in store.

Intel or AMD, which is better for gaming

Targeting games is a different story. Intel is betting on graphics processing, but its interests are in integrated graphics. The integrated graphics are ideal for small laptops. The integrated GPU doesn’t add much to the price of the laptop, doesn’t draw too much power, and — contrary to popular belief — does provide decent enough 3-D processing for lighter-demanding games.

For anyone playing, trying to run the latest game releases at high detail settings has shown the failure of recent consoles. Nevertheless, discrete graphics cards have always been a worthy alternative, and here AMD has a significant advantage. Today, there is a whole palette of AMD graphics cards, from low-profile passively cooled cards to the R9 390X, which retails for $500. However, discrete graphics are not AMD’s only strong point. As a supplier of its chips for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, AMD has not bypassed the attention of the Wii U Nintendo. And although they are not able to announce their new platform developments, for example, tablets or hybrids, today, avid gamers have something to thank them for.

What to buy AMD or Intel

If you are building a desktop PC, the choice between AMD and Intel is as always obvious. But on the other hand, it is also difficult, since in any well-known store you will come across a huge selection of 600 CPUs. If you’re on a budget, AMD has a good selection of not bad processors at lower price points. But choosing AMD doesn’t mean giving up on high performance computing, the Athlon’s upper limit is comparable to the leading Intel Core i7 processor.

And yet, Intel dominates both the mid-range CPUs and high-performance processors, where there are a huge number of them. For powerful, everyday computing, the Core i5 is great. You can buy it for about 250-300 dollars. More advanced users — those who do video editing, 3-D animation, or those who participate in the [email protected] leaderboard — can choose the Intel Core i7 chip.

So, when buying a desktop PC or laptop, Intel is preferable to AMD. True, if you are not strictly limited by the budget.

Intel or AMD? Which processor to choose for games, work, home?

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Intel or AMD? Which processor to choose for games, work, home?

What are AMD and Intel processors?

Which is better for gaming — Intel or AMD?

What to choose for Intel or AMD?

Which is better for an AMD or Intel home?

They say that the processor is the heart of the computer. It’s hard to disagree with this. As the name implies, it is he who is responsible for the execution of all processes, that is, for coordinating the work of the entire machine. Using a computer with good accessories of this type should be pleasant and hassle-free. How to choose the right model? Which is better: AMD or Intel? These are the main questions that arise when choosing this equipment. In this article, you will find some practical tips to help you decide which equipment to choose.

What are AMD and Intel processors?

Various products are available on the market. The most famous are still Intel processors. For several years, AMD devices have also been gaining more and more popularity. Both manufacturers offer models that differ in their intended use, parameters and price. When starting to buy a processor, it is worth studying at least basic information about this part of the computer. Below you will find a description of the most important parameters that you should pay attention to.

First: cores and threads. It is worth accepting the rule that the more cores and threads, the more efficient the processor. Popular devices with 4 cores and 8 threads will be suitable for home and office computers, and equipment with at least 6 cores and 12 threads will be better for the gamer. The second important point that should not be overlooked when making decisions is clock speed. The base frequency of most processors is from 3 to 4 GHz and more than 4 GHz in turbo mode. It is worth knowing that there are models that allow you to overclock power (they should have the letter K in their name). The choice of such equipment makes it possible to adapt it to various tasks. Another important parameter is the cache size. Of course, the more megabytes, the higher the performance.

Many people wonder which processor is better: AMD or Intel. The answer to this question varies depending on what tasks the user will face and what is the budget for purchasing this vital part of the computer. Not in every case, more expensive equipment with more advanced parameters will be the best solution. It makes no sense to overpay if the device will work on a home or office computer. However, if you’re going to be doing advanced graphics work on your computer or playing games, it’s better to invest in more reliable hardware. That is why, before you start thinking about which model to choose, ask yourself what its main tasks will be. In the following paragraphs you will find a description of the parameters that should be specific to gaming, office and home processors.

Which is better for gaming — Intel or AMD?

Computer games require a lot of resources, so before deciding to buy a gaming processor, it is worth analyzing the style of this activity. To do this, ask yourself the following questions: How often do you play? Every day or on holidays? How many hours a day? How difficult are the games? Answering these questions is extremely important, because if you play infrequently and for less complex games, a weaker (and therefore cheaper) processor is enough, while an advanced player will need equipment with really good parameters.

A few years ago it would have been easy to decide which processor to choose for a gaming PC. The obvious choice was one of the powerful Intel Core devices. However, AMD Ryzen hardware does not stand still and comparable capacities are already available on the market. Expert opinions are unequivocal — these are the best AMD gaming processors, in many ways similar to the most popular Intel tool series. Either way, you can get the performance you want with both AMD and Intel Core processors.

For everyday, very frequent games, it is best to choose a model with a large number of cores (minimum 6) and a higher clock speed. The Intel Core i9 seems like a very good choice, with a dozen cores (depending on the model) and clock speeds around 3.7GHz and 5.3GHz in turbo mode. These options will also make streaming easier. Slightly cheaper, but still very good, an Intel Core i7 or a very similar AMD Ryzen 7 processor. Each has 8 cores and 16 threads, and the base frequency is around 3.7 GHz. If you’re a less advanced gamer, or if you’re looking to play on the weekends, you can opt for the cheaper but still powerful AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core i5. The parameters of these models are 6 cores and 12 threads, the base frequency is about 3 GHz. In conclusion, if you are looking for a gaming processor, you should choose one of the described products from the Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen series.

What to choose for Intel or AMD?

Choosing a processor for work is also not easy. It all depends on the specifics of the profession. For typical office tasks, inexpensive hardware with at least 2 cores and 4 threads is sufficient. However, if your job requires the use of more complex programs, it is better to invest in more modern equipment.

Which processor: AMD or Intel is suitable for office work?

Intel Core i3 or even Intel Pentium Gold or Intel Pentium Silver. Each of them has 2 cores and 4 threads, and the clock speed is about 3 GHz. Such tools will certainly be able to work with basic programs and web browsers. They are very affordable, the cost of such equipment is about 6000 rubles. When choosing the AMD brand, you should look at the cheaper and slightly better AMD Athlon X4 model with 4 cores and 8 threads and a clock speed of 3. 5 GHz.

If your computer will be used for graphic design, image animation, or movie rendering and processing, the processor must be of the highest quality. The more cores and threads, the better. Cache memory is also an important parameter in this case. Various models from the AMD Ryzen or Intel Core series have such functions.

When looking for hardware to run complex programs or the latest heavy-duty games, look out for the latest and most efficient product in AMD’s offering, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper, which can have up to 64 cores and 128 threads, has a clock speed of around 4.5 GHz and has as much as 288 MB of total cache memory. In this case, the Intel brand has slightly less significant parameters. For both graphic design and video rendering, the most productive gaming processor mentioned above is the Intel Core i9..

Which is better for an AMD or Intel home?

A home computer is usually used for browsing various websites, searching for information in browsers, watching movies and series, or handling e-mail and social networks. The processor for the hardware applicable to such applications does not need to have the most advanced options. However, it is worth investing in relatively efficient equipment that will allow you to use a slightly more complex program in an emergency. A good home device is definitely one of the older AMD Ryzen or Intel Core series processors such as AMD Ryzen 3, AMD Ryzen 5, Intel Core i3 or Intel Core i5.

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Which AMD or Intel processor to choose for gaming?

Both AMD and Intel are suitable for today’s games, these brands have a line of powerful processors with almost the same characteristics in the same price segments.

The classic discussion about which processor to choose from Intel or AMD is even more lively when it comes to gaming computer system configuration. These two companies are in their own way giants of the computer industry, so it is rather difficult to single out a leader among them.

Spending quite impressive sums on the purchase of a powerful processor for a gaming PC, the user has the right to demand from him the corresponding return. In the end, it will largely depend on the processor how “smoothly” games will start and run. Disputes about which solution is better can be reduced to two main theses:

analogues have similar characteristics, but at the same time may differ in price;

How much more is a person willing to pay for higher performance.

AMD or Intel for gaming? What is the best processor for a gaming computer?

Processor clock speed

Most modern processors from Intel, including the Intel Core i7, have a clock speed of 2.70 to 3.60 GHz. Likewise, most AMD processors have a frequency of about 4.5 GHz. As you can see, the speed in the top processor lines of both manufacturers is very high, which can cover the shortcomings of each processor performance architecture, which all leads to the fact that the clock frequency does not affect the same as, for example, several years ago.

The cost of processors

Of course, AMD unconditionally wins in this regard, its models are cheaper and more affordable than the competitor. AMD FX processors start at $100 and are well suited for gaming.

Currently, you can choose the AMD FX-6300 or FX-6350, which costs about $120, which is about 15% cheaper than the Intel i3 counterpart, which means you can build a budget gaming computer based on it. Once the $150 budget is exceeded, Intel’s solutions tend to be more attractive because of their higher performance, but there’s always an exception to the rule. In fact, similar performance in AMD and Intel games is accompanied by a similar price, which very rarely fluctuates.

The difference in price often convinces the layman that the more expensive, the better. But not everything is so simple, some users notice that performance should be sufficient, not excessive. And I must admit that for most tasks, the performance of processors in the middle segment will be quite enough. So is it worth paying a large amount, sometimes twice as much, for power that turns out to be unclaimed. In this regard, it is a matter of perspective and financial security of the buyer.

Some users opt for a more budget-friendly option as it will provide enough performance for gaming, while others prefer to shell out for a more big-name and powerful product. Usually AMD is the leader in the middle price segment, but this is also not the rule.

Integrated (built-in) video adapter

The video card is of great importance in the gaming configuration of the computer, directly affecting the quality of the graphics. Of course, an integrated video adapter does not really matter in today’s high-performance games, but for budget saving and casual games, it will be the best option.

It is worth noting that 75% of the overall performance in games depends on the graphics card. Although both processors use excellent, integrated high-quality video adapters, for the highest realism, you should take care to purchase a video card separately.

Overclocking potential

Processors, as a rule, have a fixed frequency and overclocking potential. However, gamers prefer processors with overclocking capability for greater performance and gaming experience. This feature is called «overlocking» or, more simply, overclocking the processor. The basic principle is the ability to increase the clock frequency above the base.

If you are a fan of using the overclocking potential of the processor, then AMD is the preferred option, as it may seem at first glance, since they are in the modern FX line, they usually have an unlocked multiplier, more cores, although at a slightly lower speed.

Intel processors are usually clocked locked and therefore not suitable for those who like to fine-tune the processor, but everything is decided by buying a processor with an unlocked multiplier, while the cost, as well as the frequency of the processor, will also increase, not to mention the purchase of additional cooling and a motherboard designed specifically for overclocking, which, in principle, can also be characteristic of AMD.

Other factors to consider when choosing a processor

When deciding whether to choose AMD or Intel for gaming in these processor comparisons, it is important that they are compared on similar platforms and in the same price segment. RAM size, motherboard specifications and all other parameters must be identical. Only these subtleties will be able to identify a specific leader, albeit in a synthetic test.
Various tests will show that on average both processors are equally good, although Intel performs some tasks somewhat faster, but the price is likely to be slightly higher. But the main conclusion should be that the gamer should get the best value for money. PC gamers understand that small differences are actually small and may not make up for big price differences.

In addition, saving a little on the processor and buying a product from AMD, you can spend extra money on a good video card, the performance of which in games can depend much more.

Which AMD or Intel processor to choose for modern games

When choosing a processor, decide first of all on your needs and capabilities. From a neutral point of view, if the high price does not bother you, of course choose Intel. If you are on a budget, but still want to buy a processor with almost equal efficiency and performance, AMD will be your best bet. In addition, the versions of processors are very different, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the prices for a particular product in advance and, if possible, do not neglect reviews and synthetic tests.

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Which processor is better Intel Core i7 vs AMD Ryzen? (Choose the right processor for your desktop/laptop)

If you are a computer user who needs high performance, speed and many features from your processor, you need to make a very important decision between AMD Ryzen and Intel processors. Both brands have their own merits and features not to be missed. But the debate between AMD Ryzen and Intel is very long and endless.

You can find numerous technical reviews and comparisons of these two types of processors on the Internet, but if you want to understand both from the point of view of a buyer who simply wants the best computer, then we have it for you. We have clearly laid out the difference between both brands so that everyone can understand it.

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How to buy a suitable processor?

When choosing a processor for your computer, all you need to remember is its application. By application, you can determine the speed, flexibility, graphics, and also the price.

Clock frequency: Clock frequency refers to how many processing cycles the processor performs per second.

Colors: Number of physical CPU cores. More cores means more processing power.

Instructions per second: How many millions of instructions can a processor process?

Cache: Large CPU caches allow you to store frequently accessed information.

Front bus: The front bus allows the CPU to communicate with the rest of your system and should run at a similar speed.

Which processor is better, Intel or AMD?

Intel has been in a strong position in the high-performance processor market for several years, while AMD is struggling to keep up. But that all changed in 2017, when AMD launched the Zen microarchitecture and its high-core Ryzen desktop processors with 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 and 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 processors. AMD processors have long focused on the packaging of CPU cores, giving a theoretical multithreading performance boost, while Intel focuses on high clock speeds and individual core efficiency.

AMD Ryzen

The AMD Ryzen chip comes in three different flavors — Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3. The higher the number, the better and improved the chip is, it’s a fairly simple system.

Specifications

Each Ryzen chip is presented to compete with its main competitor, Intel. For example, entry-level Ryzen 3 is up against Intel i3, mainstream Ryzen 5 is an alternative to Intel i5, and Ryzen 7 is launched against Intel i7. Later, in 2018, AMD Ryzen introduced the second wave of processor chips. The second wave is divided into four parts, which are developed using the 12nm process and Zen + architecture. The highlighted features of this series are high speed and low power consumption.

But soon AMD Ryzen stepped up and introduced its high performance processor — Threadrippers. On the other hand, regular Ryzen chips offer a maximum of 8 cores and 16 threads. The Threadrippers series come with 12 cores and 24 threads, which is up to 32 cores and 64 threads. These additional AMD Ryzen series are compared to Intel Kaby and Coffee Lake processors.

If you like to play 3D rendered videos or high quality video games on your computer, then you should also spend a little extra money on a system with a powerful processor. High performance can offer you that edge in your video games that you’ve always been looking for. So, AMD Ryzen currently has four different processors available in the market.

Intel

When we talk about Intel in a nutshell, we can simply say that the Intel i7 is better than the Intel i5, and likewise the Intel i5 is an improved version of the i3. The numbers here do not define the number of cores, clock speed or anything technical in the name, they are just a way to distinguish one version from another. So don’t get confused when looking for Intel processors.

Miscellaneous cores

Now we have the Intel i9 core which is introduced in 2017. This is a very powerful kernel that boasts a large number of threads and cores. Top Core i9The -7980X offers 18 cores (2.6GHz) and can handle 32 threads simultaneously, while the cheapest variant — the i9-7900X boasts 10 cores (capable of 20 threads) and a base clock of 3.3GHz .

These numbers look great, but if your requirements are not very technical and you don’t need to play videos with high rendering quality, then you don’t need to invest in expensive processors. You can easily work with Intel i5 or i3 processors.

Compare Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors. Which one to buy?

Price

AMD chips are usually cheaper than their Intel counterparts. The latest Intel i9 7980 Extreme Edition processor is expected to be around $2,000, while the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X is expected to be around $1,000.

Intel has the advantage of being incompatible with other hardware. But in AMD’s hardware chip design is more reasonable.

Both Intel and AMD have integrated video cards for some processors. These integrated cards are suitable for mid-range gaming, and this is where AMD has an advantage over Intel.

Intel processors have a low TDP rating compared to AMD. This means that it consumes less heat and therefore consumes less energy. This is because of the Hyper-Threading technology. AMD Ryzen has implemented simultaneous multithreading (SMT) in its 180W TDP rated processors, but still the 165W TDP rated Intel i9 7980XE outperforms AMD. Because AMD has more cores in a single device, it can get hot, slowing down the performance of the processor.

Above, we have studied the main features and versions of Intel and AMD Ryzen processors available on the market.

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The value of intel

AMD 5000 series CPU list

Entry-level Ryzen 5 CPUs

High-performance Ryzen 7 CPUs

Enthusiast Ryzen 9 CPUs

Intel 12th Generation CPU list.

Entry-level Core i3 CPUs

Mid-level Core i5 CPUs

Performance-level Core i7 CPUs

Enthusiast-level Core i9 CPUs

CPU identifiers

Performance

Gaming

Workstation tasks

Integrated graphics

Intel vs. AMD: A history of chip manufacturers

AMD vs. Intel in the 2010s

Intel vs. AMD: Price vs. Value

Best AMD

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Best Intel