Time to Leave AMD for Intel?

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UMASS

Gawd
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Jan 17, 2008
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Guys...1st I wanted to say I've been a AMD fanboy for years now. I haven't used a Intel CPU in ages (10 years) I'm itching to build a new rig & I can't see myself buying an AMD Vishera FX-9590 for more money then a Intel i7-4770K. AMD is 220 watts vs. Intel @ 84 watts. Benchmarks give the nod to the 4770K is most cases. My rig is pretty old (over 4 years now) but still holding it's own. I could hang on for another 9 months as I don't game much @ all in the summer months.

The 4770K is appx. $300.00 which I think is reasonable. See my specs below. I really HATE to give Intel my business, but I don't think they are many options! Should I hold-on for a little while longer, or should I start ordering parts? I have already purchased everything within the last 6 months, but the MB & CPU. Any insight?
 
What do you need the rig for?

For gaming you won't notice any difference between a 8320 (can be OC'd to same freq as 8350 or higher) and a 4770k.

Most new games are going to support being able to use 8 cores.

Both AM3+ and Intel 1150 are end of line and won't get new CPUs so there is no upgrade path with either of them.
 
Long time AMD fanboy here as well but I know my next rig will be Intel. I got an FX-8320 on the cheap last Summer but am on the whole disappointed in its performance and heat. Price for performance ($150 and below) yeah its solid but now that I have a job I can afford to spend a little more... and at the $200-300 price point Intel cannot be beat.
 
Unless you're doing some super heavy CPU tasks like serious editing than the better option is the i5.
 
Being a fanboy of one CPU manufacturer is silly.

Always get the most for performance for the same money.
 
pcjunkie said:
Why do you feel the need to upgrade? Or do you just have the itch?
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Well...It's mainly an itch I would say. I purchased new Seasonic X-750 PSU, SSD, Case etc. Just sitting there. I usually will buy product when I get an awesome/insane deal & then gather up the parts for the build. I hold off on MB & CPU until I'm ready. Again, I can get by awhile longer with this rig, as it's still pretty solid overall. I have never gone this long with a build. I must admit the Phenom X4 970 has been a great CPU over the years & I o/c it out of the box (@ 4.1Ghz) with a Corsair H50 water cooler. Seems like AMD is abandoning the hardcore CPU & spending their efforts on the APU. Maybe Spazturtle is right, the 1150 socket is going away.
 
Use the right tool for the job with the best value.

If it's for gaming you're better off investing in a better GPU since CPU doesn't make that much of a difference especially with Mantle.

http://www.techspot.com/review/734-battlefield-4-benchmarks/page6.html

I went from multi-socket Xeon to single-socket Opteron since it's a better fit for virtualization, trend with multi-threaded gaming such as BF4 that takes advantage of 8-cores, performance of single-socket is about 4X compared to the previous dual-socket Xeon, runs at a cool ~20C idle and ~40C max per CoreTemp64 and the value is untouchable. Personally, I wouldn't waste my money on anything less than 8-core plus an FX-8320 is as low as $100.
 
UMASS said:
Well...It's mainly an itch I would say. I purchased new Seasonic X-750 PSU, SSD, Case etc. Just sitting there. I usually will buy product when I get an awesome/insane deal & then gather up the parts for the build. I hold off on MB & CPU until I'm ready. Again, I can get by awhile longer with this rig, as it's still pretty solid overall. I have never gone this long with a build. I must admit the Phenom X4 970 has been a great CPU over the years & I o/c it out of the box (@ 4.1Ghz) with a Corsair H50 water cooler. Seems like AMD is abandoning the hardcore CPU & spending their efforts on the APU. Maybe Spazturtle is right, the 1150 socket is going away.
Click to expand...

Intel won't be releasing any high end CPUs until 2015 now, so whats on the market at the moment is all the high end stuff for a while.

I use a Intel Xeon in my microATX rig and two AMD 16 core Opterons in my server.

You need to decide if you want IPC or high core count.

If its a full desktop and not a microATX or miniITX case then I would go with an AMD CPU, if its a smaller case then go with Intel, for gaming their won't be much difference.
 
If it's for gaming, you won't really notice a massive difference going with the Intel, you'd get a bigger boost from a new GPU, really.

If you're doing actual production work, A/V stuff like video editing/rendering and 3D modeling, then the i7 is a good choice. But if you really wanna upgrade for gaming, don't waste your money on the i7, go with the i5-4760k. 4 cores is enough, and Hyperthreading won't give you much of a benefit, if any at all on a vast majority of games.
 
falkenbd said:
Being a fanboy of one CPU manufacturer is silly.

Always get the most for performance for the same money.
Click to expand...

That's it.

This whole "fanboy" thing is ridiculous to be sure.

I buy AMDs for 1 reason; performance for the $$. For the things I do, I saved some money on a new rig and had power to spare.
Why in the world would anyone feel inferior because the CPU they had was not the most popular? What the hell does that have to do with anything?
That is little girl (someone doesn't like me) kind of thinking.
Is this what drives Fanboyism? If so they need a swift kick in the nuts to make sure they have a pair.
The question is, DOES IT WORK FOR WHAT YOU NEED?
IF that answer is yes, they You Win.
End of story.
 
Everyone...Many thanks for all of your input. I guess, the correct thing to do is stay where I'm at for now. I can get by with what I have for another 9+ months or so. I use my rig for gaming & work, as I'm in sales & work 80% out of my home office. I play a lot of strategy based games & some FPS as well. Keep in mind my 27" LG monitor is only 1080P. Also, late Fall & Winter (I'm in New England) is when I really play games for hours on end. In a couple of months my rig will be for e-mails & files, that's it.

My wife & I are boaters & that takes-up all of our time in the summer months. I really appreciate the insight. Dr. Righteous: I agree with you. I'm loyal (maybe to a fault) to AMD. I always liked what they have to offer for shorter coin for both the CPU & MB's. I can buy an 8350 with a solid Gigabyte MB (GA-990FXA-UD3) combo deal from MicroCenter for $264.98. With my current rig, I don't think that will be money well spent @ this juncture. Thanks again for everyone's insight. All of you guys ROCK!
 
Yeah bang for buck is king for me as well. I got this 6350 up to 5.2 ghz, and this thing is ridiculous performance for the money. Easy as hell to OC. Not a fanboy either although I will admit that I would rather give my $ to AMD. If I were to by right now I would probably do it again, maybe go with an 8 core though, but @5.2 the 6 core is more than fine and eats games alive.
 
You got that 6350 to 5.2ghz stable on all six cores? That's a goddamned beast OC, dude! Nice job.
 
Would a 5.2ghz 6350 beat out a 4.4ghz i7 3770k?

I don't think so, but it would be fun to find out.
 
ITSTHINKING said:
Yeah bang for buck is king for me as well. I got this 6350 up to 5.2 ghz, and this thing is ridiculous performance for the money. Easy as hell to OC. Not a fanboy either although I will admit that I would rather give my $ to AMD. If I were to by right now I would probably do it again, maybe go with an 8 core though, but @5.2 the 6 core is more than fine and eats games alive.
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5.2GHz WOW!!! Can you post your stats, cooling etc?
 
In most benchmark the Intel processors dominate.

But I have always heard that most of these benches favor Intel architecture.

Watching the presentation from Oxide Games concerning Mantle at APU13 they mention the raw throughput from AMD FX process or when it comes to keeping up with the GPU was as good as Intel processors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIWyf8Hyjbg

This is what really counts. This is a real world application and AMD proves it is up to the task.
 
In all honesty it was time to leave amd 7 yrs ago.but hey better late than never.(took me a while too:D)
 
Dr. Righteous said:
But I have always heard that most of these benches favor Intel architecture.
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Benchmarks must favor an architecture.

Buy the best CPU for the applications you use within your given budget. For the most part, Intel CPUs currently are a better choice than AMD in mid and high end gaming budgets.

Betting on Mantle may seem nice, but it's not very rational at this point.

Ultimately, it's your money and no one can stop you from buying a worse CPU because of your emotions.
 
If I were to buy all new parts today. I would go with a intel based system.

I had a 1055T and a older am2+ motherboard. I figured I would upgrade the motherboard to am3+ and get ddr3 and be ready for bulldozer. Bulldozer launched and well it wasn't very good. I still upgraded my 1055T to the 8150. It did out perform my 1055T, but the gains were small. Year later I swapped out the 8150 for a 8320.

Performance is actually pretty good with the 8320 but mines clocked at 5ghz. My next system will be Intel when ever I feel the need to upgrade. I was excited for Steamroller FX, but that never came. So Amd has no higher tier performance cpus anymore, unless you count the FX processors, but they are middle of the road.

As for the fanboy statement, well I understand a lot of folks are not biased when it comes to purchasing a cpu or any other computer part. However, sometimes when it comes to supporting a company you like or believe in weighs in more heavy to you. Personally I like AMD as a company compared to Intel. Amd has better business practices and seems to me they care about the industry more than Intel does (pc gaming for example). So is supporting the industry you love a case of being a Fan Boy? I don't think so.
 
Here is the dilemma: Get and Intel, or stay AMD. It's like asking a Chevy guy to upgrade to a Ford.

This is what I would do: Ignore the names, and look at bang for the buck. What is your budget, figure that out and find the best processor for the price.

Then, if you still feel bad you are buying an Intel CPU, buy an AMD Video Card. Or, go buy any number of Consoles, which are run on AMD.

Viola, problem solved.
 
HvyMtl said:
Here is the dilemma: Get and Intel, or stay AMD. It's like asking a Chevy guy to upgrade to a Ford.

This is what I would do: Ignore the names, and look at bang for the buck. What is your budget, figure that out and find the best processor for the price.

Then, if you still feel bad you are buying an Intel CPU, buy an AMD Video Card. Or, go buy any number of Consoles, which are run on AMD.

Viola, problem solved.
Click to expand...

This is a solid post. I think AMD dominates the $100-180 in regards to CPU. Whereas if you have more to spend, Intel takes the crown with their i5 and i7 quads. So make a budget, and if your budget only has room for a $150 CPU (remember, most games are GPU limited rather than CPU, so you should be willing to give up some CPU for a better GPU) then the AMD FX 6 or 8 core line is great value.
 
Spazturtle said:
Intel won't be releasing any high end CPUs until 2015 now, so whats on the market at the moment is all the high end stuff for a while.

I use a Intel Xeon in my microATX rig and two AMD 16 core Opterons in my server.

You need to decide if you want IPC or high core count.

If its a full desktop and not a microATX or miniITX case then I would go with an AMD CPU, if its a smaller case then go with Intel, for gaming their won't be much difference.
Click to expand...

IB-E is going to be released in September/October sometime with an 8 core CPU as the main offering with lower scaled processors as well. It looks like a 6 core will be the base.
 
^Don't you mean Haswell-E? I also really doubt hexacore will be the base. $1000 chip will be the eight-core, with some quads at the lower end and the rest will be hexacores. Though if the lower stuff is hexacores too, that will be pretty damned enticing...

If you don't want Intel to get your money, you could always just go on Ebay and get some used x58 stuff, or some Sandy Bridge stuff. Will give you a pretty big boost in CPU performance and Intel doesn't get your hard-earned cash!
 
Actually, AMD is still doing very good with their graphic card and It's a shame & difficult to accept that their CPU performance is so far behind Intel now.
 
The last Intel I had was a Pentium 60 and it was super expensive...

Since then I have purchased AMD. They have always served me well and accomplished the tasks I need. My main reason for purchasing AMD is because AMD needs to survive. Intel absolutely raped people on prices (Still does) and I just cannot support going back to a system where the only choice was Intel.

I agree that you should get the best solution for your needs, but for me the best solution is to support AMD. Someone has to do it!!!

PS: I love my 8320, I have zero issues doing anything at all.
 
NaroonGTX said:
^Don't you mean Haswell-E? I also really doubt hexacore will be the base. $1000 chip will be the eight-core, with some quads at the lower end and the rest will be hexacores. Though if the lower stuff is hexacores too, that will be pretty damned enticing...

If you don't want Intel to get your money, you could always just go on Ebay and get some used x58 stuff, or some Sandy Bridge stuff. Will give you a pretty big boost in CPU performance and Intel doesn't get your hard-earned cash!
Click to expand...

My bad, sorry...I get the two crossed sometimes with the generation thing...long day.
 
It's been time since Q6600 showed up. Only now are AMD starting to hit back with APUs. It will get quite interesting when DDR4 hits, which will certainly benefit AMD more than Intel.
 
I think AMD has contributed much more to moving the PC forward than Intel has.

-Totally unlocked FX processors.
-Affordable multi-core CPUs
-FUSION, CPU and GPU on the same die
-HSA
-Mantle

AMD innovations are usually open source. Inviting developers and the competition to join in.
(unlike Intel and Nvidia)
 
Warstopper said:
The last Intel I had was a Pentium 60 and it was super expensive...

Since then I have purchased AMD. They have always served me well and accomplished the tasks I need. My main reason for purchasing AMD is because AMD needs to survive. Intel absolutely raped people on prices (Still does) and I just cannot support going back to a system where the only choice was Intel.

I agree that you should get the best solution for your needs, but for me the best solution is to support AMD. Someone has to do it!!!

PS: I love my 8320, I have zero issues doing anything at all.
Click to expand...

Warstopper: You & I think "exactly" alike! I couldn't have said it any better. This is the reason why I buy AMD. I don't want to give my money to Intel. AMD always offered a solid CPU for the coin (see my specs below) The problem now is I think AMD is shedding their higher-end line-up because they can't keep-up with Intel. It's a damn shame if you ask me. I did purchase a Kaveri A10-7850K for my 1st HTPC build & it's wonderful. I want AMD to survive & move forward!
 
Dr. Righteous said:
I think AMD has contributed much more to moving the PC forward than Intel has.

-Totally unlocked FX processors.
-Affordable multi-core CPUs
-FUSION, CPU and GPU on the same die
-HSA
-Mantle

AMD innovations are usually open source. Inviting developers and the competition to join in.
(unlike Intel and Nvidia)
Click to expand...

I got to say that my experience is a like, Mantle allows my old Phenom II 960T to do very well in Battlefield 4. Where running stuff in medium and high with 6970 now with the 290x Nearly everything is in Ultra .
 
UMASS said:
Warstopper: You & I think "exactly" alike! I couldn't have said it any better. This is the reason why I buy AMD. I don't want to give my money to Intel. AMD always offered a solid CPU for the coin (see my specs below) The problem now is I think AMD is shedding their higher-end line-up because they can't keep-up with Intel. It's a damn shame if you ask me. I did purchase a Kaveri A10-7850K for my 1st HTPC build & it's wonderful. I want AMD to survive & move forward!
Click to expand...

You two think way too narrow-minded.

Give all your money to Intel. Everyone else should do the same. AMD will die, and Intel will become a monopoly. Then the good old US Government would come in and split Intel in two due to anti-monopoly laws, and then maybe we'll have an even, competitive battlefield.

IMO, AMD is exactly where Intel wants them to be. Big enough to provide "competition," yet small and weak enough that they're absolutely no threat. It's practically a monopoly, just not in name. And Intel would want to keep it that way, splitting of Intel would be their worst nightmare.
 
Well its good to see folks still have money to throw at stuff for little real world improvement.

I could understand the need say 12 years ago. Maybe even 6 years ago but really its been pretty stagnant for a long time now.

If someone brought out a chip with the power of a mid range i7 for $100 then I'd be impressed but I havent seen anything CPU wise in years thats made me go "Hey now thats a leap forward!"

I dont even go for the top end now. Instead I meddle with more esoteric setups. I pushed my 2012 quad core DDR3 2133 spec box aside for a 2008 Dell workstation with two 3Ghz quad core Xeons and 16GB of DDR2 ECC in it.

Much more fun, better built and cost peanuts. Superior Xeon chips go for pennies compared to say a lesser Q6600. Still does Wprime in around 7.5 seconds!

You don't always have to look to the future for fun these days. The past can still offer a lot.
 
Tsumi said:
IMO, AMD is exactly where Intel wants them to be. Big enough to provide "competition," yet small and weak enough that they're absolutely no threat. It's practically a monopoly, just not in name. And Intel would want to keep it that way, splitting of Intel would be their worst nightmare.
Click to expand...

And this is not true. AMD is on the forefront in certain areas. Intel is ahead because of the stupid amount of money that they generate.

If you look at it from that perspective you can expect more of AMD then Intel. If there is a company looking for better solutions and innovative design it is an easy choice.

How easy would it have been for Microsoft and Sony to choose Intel+Nvidia and yet they didn't . Was it about money as you will keep hearing absolutely not they can easily have higher price console at launch and even sell with a loss (yes they did that before).

So why is it that AMD picks up these important (to AMD) consoles?
 
Always makes me laugh that so many here seem to think AMD's total survival rests on a few hundred PC forum enthusiasts.

It's a much much...much bigger picture than that.

For me I feel AMD's biggest failing is not its products, nothing wrong with its products. It's the total lack of any marketing or attempt at brand awareness. I hear the Intel jingle several times a week on TV, even my customers have heard of Intel now that's going some if you get an internal tech product into the public's consciousness.

You can moan all you like that your bigger competitor crushes you at every turn but if you never bother to tell your potential customers you even exist...well you can't blame them.

If I was AMD I would have made a clause that any PS4/One advert (TV/online/printed) had to have "POWERED BY AMD TECHNOLOGY!" displayed in it.
 
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Tsumi said:
You two think way too narrow-minded.

Give all your money to Intel. Everyone else should do the same. AMD will die, and Intel will become a monopoly. Then the good old US Government would come in and split Intel in two due to anti-monopoly laws, and then maybe we'll have an even, competitive battlefield.

IMO, AMD is exactly where Intel wants them to be. Big enough to provide "competition," yet small and weak enough that they're absolutely no threat. It's practically a monopoly, just not in name. And Intel would want to keep it that way, splitting of Intel would be their worst nightmare.
Click to expand...

You are wrong though. Once AMD is gone, Intel will claim ARM as competition and who could argue that as ARM slowly invades Servers now and will be in PC's soon enough. The last thing the tech world needs is AMD dead.

I have always felt the best thing for AMD would be to be purchased by a very well managed company. The problem with that is the license does not allow them to be purchased, so they would need to purchase/acquire or merge with the other company.

I still think the 1 billion they got from Intel for blocking out the Athlon 64 was much less than they should have gotten. They should have gone to court.
 
daglesj said:
Always makes me laugh that so many here seem to think AMD's total survival rests on a few hundred PC forum enthusiasts.

It's a much much...much bigger picture than that.

For me I feel AMD's biggest failing is not its products, nothing wrong with its products. It's the total lack of any marketing or attempt at brand awareness. I hear the Intel jingle several times a week on TV, even my customers have heard of Intel now that's going some if you get an internal tech product into the public's consciousness.

You can moan all you like that your bigger competitor crushes you at every turn but if you never bother to tell your potential customers you even exist...well you can't blame them.

If I was AMD I would have made a clause that any PS4/One advert (TV/online/printed) had to have "POWERED BY AMD TECHNOLOGY!" displayed in it.
Click to expand...

Cannot advertise when you need every penny to stay alive...

The new focus is good though and they will gain market share outside the US. I realize that survival is not dependent on a few 100 forum members, however, I am sure the others, much like myself, push AMD processors for anyone it makes logical sense to purchase so a few 100 forum members could have a large impact. Some of us also have influence in our companies purchasing as well. AMD is perfect for the average home user and average workstation.

Certainly some will need the absolute performance Intel delivers. And I would never admonish someone for going Intel as usage is king when it comes to purchase. I just feel it is important to put as much toward AMD as possible (through my own and all I advise about purchases) so they continue forward.

That said, I have high hope for APU's and the eventual replacement of the Bulldozer line...
 
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Warstopper said:
Cannot advertise when you need every penny to stay alive...

The new focus is good though and they will gain market share outside the US. I realize that survival is not dependent on a few 100 forum members, however, I am sure the others, much like myself, push AMD processors for anyone it makes logical sense to purchase so a few 100 forum members could have a large impact. Some of us also have influence in our companies purchasing as well. AMD is perfect for the average home user and average workstation.

Certainly some will need the absolute performance Intel delivers. And I would never admonish someone for going Intel as usage is king when it comes to purchase. I just feel it is important to put as much toward AMD as possible (through my own and all I advise about purchases) so they continue forward.

That said, I have high hope for APU's and the eventual replacement of the Bulldozer line...
Click to expand...

Chap this is a multi-billion dollar company we are talking about here. Not Herb's Stop n' Lube. They have budget to spare, I just don't think they have the dynamics to do it.

Far smaller companies manage to put out TV adverts on prime time with far less resource. All Intel does is cheekily tack their graphic and jingle onto a electronics store advert, 'bingo' seeps into the public's consciousness for little effort or cost.

AMD is not short of money, a lot of big companies run on debt. 97% of the worlds wealth...is debt!

AMD have never got to grips with smart marketing and I do feel that it's partly responsible for where they are today.

It's time IMO for AMD to sh*t or get off the pot. Either go 100% domestic/low power APU or ditch all that and go totally server/enterprise. Maybe spin the GPU side off as a separate entity or keep it along with whatever they keep.
 
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