The process of building a new rig always brings to mind a very common
dilemma- Intel or AMD, as a platform to build on. Both are really great
brands which are often engaged in a royal kind of tug of war! Both
insist on having a better product than the other or make ever-so-slight
changes in order to get performance advantages to tip in their
scale! You might have noticed that Intel processor and supported
motherboards are much more expensive than the AMD ones, even though
sometimes AMD processors offer seemingly better features in same price
range. Here, you’re going to see how you can confidently and coolly make
that oh-so-important choice between AMD and Intel.
Selecting a platform always comes down to two major things- the
primary factor being how much you wish to cough up for that particular
processor platform, and the other being what you intend to use your new PC for! Why AMD?
AMD offers an8 core FX 8350 processor which
is their top-of-the-line pile driver based (which is an improved
bulldozed architecture) processor at the moment. You’re probably
thinking, “Why the hell should I go for Intel which offers only 4 cores on the same budget?”
Here’s the thing, there is much more to consider than just number of
cores! There are various software apps like Photoshop and media
encoding software which require multiple cores in order to encode the
media. The FX 8350 would be the ideal solution if your budget is very low. This processor simply smokes other
Intel processors which come in same price range in the case of
multicore intensive apps. But in case of sheer performance the Intel
processors win without a doubt. You can notice the difference of frame
rates in games. The difference however, is minimal and not very
glaringly obvious with the naked eye unless you use some kind of
benchmarking tool. But again AMD wins in the price-to-performance ratio
as it offers a delicious amount of raw power at a low price.
With the AMD platform you can expect full backward compatibility whereas
you need to change the motherboard in order to support new processors
in case of Intel. Going with AMD may save you from expensive upgrades in
the future when there is an ongoing battle raging on between processor
manufacturing giants.
And, Why Intel?
Intel processors have better architecture and greater efficiency than
their AMD counterparts. Their current generation Ivy Bridge processors
run on only 77W TDP, resulting in lower power consumption, lower heat
generation and better performance, (though new Ivy-Bridge processors do
get hot if overclocked). Which is why even an 8 core AMD processor can’t
win against a 4 core and 6 core Intel i5 3750K or i7 3770K in gaming
applications or performance exclusive applications. This can however,
always be an ambiguous statement between Intel and AMD elites as you can
always overclock the processor by tweaking voltages and frequencies.
The thing is, each processor core in an Intel processor is undoubtedly
more powerful than the AMD cores.
Intel does offer extreme series Sandybridge processor i7 3950x, which
is insane for the kind of performance it offers at similar insanely
high prices. A 6 core i7 will win against AMD fx 8350 every single time
in each application. This processor’s an enthusiast’s choice- the kind
who want top of the line computer systems with the latest and most
powerful combinations technology can offer at the moment without caring
about their pockets.
I’m kinda price-conscious. What should i go for?
One of the nicer features of AMD is that it puts your pocket at ease
without compromising on performance in a big way. Their product
offerings always attract consumers who are in need of low cost solutions
and getting more value for money around the same price bracket.
What about the visuals?
I do not need to say how hair tearingly frustating it is, to play
modern games which run like power point slides on your your outdated
desktop or laptop, while you watch in helpless wonder, how your peers
drool while playing thge same on their outrageously overpriced custom
gaming rigs. Well there is a little bit of good news to give your aching
scalp some respite. The processor industry is moving towards making
onboard GPUs built in processor chip as strong as possible so as to make
them comparable to entry level graphics cards. If you look closely at
the new generations of processors, you should be able to notice that
there are huge improvements in onboard graphics. Incoming Haswell
processors are also going to come equipped with a much better GPU. AMD’s
trinity processors and Intel’s ivy bridge processors are great examples
of this revolution.
Although in case of onboard GPUs, AMD’s trinity lineups literally
demolish Intel’s HD4000 solution even in the i7 3770k processor. AMD is
way ahead of Intel in this case. Piledriver based trinity processors can
run new games like Sleeping dogs, dirt 3, Assassins creed 3, etc in 30
fps on medium settings. Even if these frame rates are not satisfactory
they sure as hell are playable! Whereas Intel’s HD4000 graphics can only
run them in 15 fps on low settings. GPUs built in trinity processors
are identical to dedicated low end graphics cards. This was not possible
before. So you can build yourself an htpc or a small computer rig which
is decent enough to run new games without buying any expensive
dedicated graphics card. I recommend waiting for this solution to be
implemented in laptops in case you’ve got plans on getting your hands on
one. With this chip, any cheap laptop can run the latest games, that
too in style. This feature can be a really awesome advantage in case of
mobile gaming as windows 8 tablets were just launched. Games on tablets
could use some GFX boost you know! Just imagine the possibilities! ;)
And how about overclocking?
All AMD processors are unlocked from start- so you can squeeze more
juice out of them by overclocking them where as you need to play more in
order to get an unlocked processor from Intel. There you have it! One
more reason to choose. Overclocking the processor can get you the
maximum performance you desire.
What about The Chipset!
The most crucial point you should notice is that the features the
particular chipset that manufacturer (lntel or AMD )offers. Chipset is
the main component on the motherboard which provide the features and
thus performance offered by a particular system combining it with
compatible processors. The latest chipsets from Intel are Z77, H77, and
the B77. While those from AMD are FX990, X990, X970. Chipsets are the
main reasons for which motherboards support certain processor sockets,
features and hence a particular range of processors.
Platform Exclusive Features you might need…
Features offered by Intel’s Z77, H77 with Ivy-Bridge processors:
Intel 2nd & 3rd gen core i3, i5, i7 processor support
Intel smart response technology: This is what is used to boost up
your booting performance and overall system performance by utilizing SS.
SSD is very high speed drive which offers speedy read and write rates.
Basically Intel smart response technology uses SSD as cache drive to
improve system performance.
Lucid virtu mvp: It is used to boost your graphics performance by
combining onboard graphics with dedicated graphics. It also enables us
to connect monitor input cable to either of dedicated card or
motherboard display ports.
mSATA ports: mSATA can be used to connect to a small SSD chip to
boost system performance by utilizing Intel’s smart response
technology.( As this is relatively new, we hope to see this standard
used in incoming chipsets offered by AMD.)
Dedicated PCI express gen 3 and USB 3 support
Features offered by Intel x79 chipset:
Intel core i7 3820, 3930k, 3960x,3970x
Quad channel memory support
Features offered by Intel b75 chipset:
Perfectly optimized for small business use
Intel 3rd gen processor support
You can lock usb ports so as to limit the connecting of pen drives
Intel Rapid Recover Technology
Features offered by 990FX, 990X, 970 chipsets with piledriver based or bulldozer processors:
AMD Athlon™ II, AMD Phenom™ II, AMD FX support using AM3+ socket
Sata 6Gbps support
Quad-gpu sli amd quad-crossfirex support
Features offered by AMD A85X FCH chipset:
AMD trinity processors, Athlon processors
Native usb 3 suppport
Sata 6 Gbps support
(Please note that not all provided features are mentioned here. Only
those which are competitive and matter most to customers are included
here)
All you need to know is your budget and requirement. Then select the
processor which attends to your needs and wants and search for the right
motherboard with the best compatible chipset which offers enough
features. Compare different processors and motherboards in the same
category and select that combination which best fits in your budget.
Always remember to allott separate budgets for your platform which
include processor and motherboard while building a new system so that
you don’t end up compromising with the other aspects of the system
And finally, HOW should you should choose? 1. For video encoding, video editing, Photoshop, animation:
AMD: 8350k plus any suitable 990fx motherboard
Intel: Intel extreme series processor with x79 motherboard
2. For gaming:
AMD :
8350k plus any suitable 990fx motherboard
A10 trinity processor with FM2 socket motherboard (low cost gaming
solution if you don’t want spend bucks on expensive graphics card)
Intel :
Intel i5 or i7 processor with z77 motherboard (h77 if you don’t intend to overclock)
Intel i7 extreme processor with x79 motherboard
3. For business:
AMD :
Phenom II with 990fx or 990x motherboard
fx processor with 990fx or 990x motherboard
Intel :
Intel i3/i7/i5 processor with b76 motherboard
Though there are quite some more deciding factors to hit upon the
best configuration for the perfect rig, this should be enough to give
you the boost you require in deciding the things you want in your
system.
No comments:
Post a Comment