AMD vs. Intel Processors

Looking at buying or building a new desktop PC, but I'm trying to keep it at a reasonable price.

I could save a good chunk of gil by going with an AMD CPU (something equivalent of an i5) but I was curious as to if anyone has any performance recommendations when it comes to CPUs? (I'd like to stay with i5 range performance either way, i7 is a bit out of my range).

I have an SSD, Nvidia GTX560 and 800w power supply that I'll be using with the new CPU if that makes any difference. I remember for awhile Nvidia / AMD weren't playing too well together.

Leaning towards buying a PC because I dont feel like the hassle of building one again, but for the right price I'd go that route.

Thoughts?

I upgraded components of my PC ~6 months ago. If you want to stay with an i5 (More than enough to play XIV) The 3570K model is what I own and love. Otherwise you can buy the new Haswell ones. Both good choices.

I play just fine with the FX 6300 but I would build an Intel Build if I had the money for it.

If you arnt gettin an i7 then just go with an FX, or hell if you can find a good price on an Old Phenom 2 dual they are still p good.


Also don't get sucked into the more cores is better trap, highest GHZ possible is all that matters, and less cores is actually better.

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Originally Posted by dayspring83

Looking at buying or building a new desktop PC, but I'm trying to keep it at a reasonable price.

I could save a good chunk of gil by going with an AMD CPU (something equivalent of an i5) but I was curious as to if anyone has any performance recommendations when it comes to CPUs? (I'd like to stay with i5 range performance either way, i7 is a bit out of my range).

I have an SSD, Nvidia GTX560 and 800w power supply that I'll be using with the new CPU if that makes any difference. I remember for awhile Nvidia / AMD weren't playing too well together.

Leaning towards buying a PC because I dont feel like the hassle of building one again, but for the right price I'd go that route.

Thoughts?

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If you don't play any other game then just stick with what you have. I have a 550Ti and an i5 3470 and the game runs at 30-35 fps even when in a busy area. You didn't mention how much memory you have. FF14 is a well coded game and uses very little, no where near the 2Gb limit. A memory upgrade might suit instead.

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Originally Posted by MythToken

If you arnt gettin an i7 then just go with an FX, or hell if you can find a good price on an Old Phenom 2 dual they are still p good.


Also don't get sucked into the more cores is better trap, highest GHZ possible is all that matters, and less cores is actually better.

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Specifically speaking, less cores-higher speed is better for video games. Very few video games make use of the full 4 cores on any mid to high range CPU and let's not even get into hyperthreaded and other virtual cores. But for the purpose of clarity, more cores is very much better for other applications. Having 20 tabs up in Chrome is a breeze with 4 cores, video and 3D modeling don't even make my 8-core sweat. Since the OP seems more interested in the video game applications though, I agree: higher speed-lower number of cores is probably the best way to go.

Take this with a grain of salt, as all of my CPU experience in the last 3 years has been on ARM, but historically, you pretty much get what you pay for in the world of CPUs (GPUs too). AMD makes good, high quality but middling power CPUs that you can get at an affordable price, while Intel always tries to stay on the bloody edge of technology. You'll pay through the nose for a high end Intel, but it will be a much better chip for it. If you're looking for something "good enough" that is affordable though, I would definitely say AMD. As I said, take that with a grain of salt, I haven't looked into AMD or Intel in years (except for AMD's ARM chips).

get an I5, the game currently wont take advantage of I7 cpus so dont worry about, only get an I7 if you actually do some home rendering and lower level workstation work.
Intel is just beyond AMD, not to say AMD is bad, just Intel is that good, its not even funny, you be happy with an I5, will give you better minimum FPS which is what matters the most.

4-6 cores either cpu but the question here in GPU it's always GPU considering you can get a similar performance from amd/intel

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Originally Posted by raelgun

get an I5, the game currently wont take advantage of I7 cpus so dont worry about, only get an I7 if you actually do some home rendering and lower level workstation work.
Intel is just beyond AMD, not to say AMD is bad, just Intel is that good, its not even funny, you be happy with an I5, will give you better minimum FPS which is what matters the most.

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Pretty much this. Maybe 10 years ago AMD could be considered as good or even better than Intel, but since Intel released the Core i series processors AMD hasn't been able to come close.

Graphics cards are a different story, both AMD and NVidia have their pros and cons. Generally, AMD tends to have better performance while NVidia tends to have higher compatibility (but still comes very close to matching the performance of AMD cards).

I've always used AMD cpus just because I'm not rich. I've heard a lot of people say how great Intel cpus are but I've never heard anyone explain why they are. Can anyone give me an idea why I would spend 400 on a intel chip when I could get an amd with the same speed for 200? Not trolling, would really like to know :)

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Originally Posted by Maza

I've always used AMD cpus just because I'm not rich. I've heard a lot of people say how great Intel cpus are but I've never heard anyone explain why they are. Can anyone give me an idea why I would spend 400 on a intel chip when I could get an amd with the same speed for 200? Not trolling, would really like to know :)

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Hyperthreading for if the game supports it. That's about the only difference between the two companies. That and Intel tends to have larger caches which can also help... as to justifying the performance for how much more they are.. that's going to be on the consumer. Can you handle spending 400 dollars more on a 5-10 fps increase?

Issue with CPU's these days is some games work better with one chipset or another. And its not even between just Intel and AMD, but which Version. For example I'm running a Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition. Its an AMD chip. Not a new one either. However for me to upgrade, I would NOT use a next gen AMD, they actually perform worse in the games I play than my older CPU. Alot of it has to do with how they're made and much to do with their drivers being wonky.

You best bet is to find the game you wish to optimize your system for. Make a post in their forums. Ask about what people are using, seeing what settings they run at, their fps, and how often they crash. Then match their components.

For me:

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Ed. @ 3.5Ghz
ATI Radeon HD 5870
8GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium

Runs FFXIV @ 60-75fps (45-55 in large fates and hunts) at max settings and no crashes.

I run an AMD FX-8350, 8 cores, 4.0 GHz per core with 16 GB of RAM and an SSD system drive. The difference between AMD and Intel comes down to one thing really... AMD is generally cheaper but benchmarks a little lower than Intel chips if you're looking at close spec chipsets.

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Originally Posted by Eekiki

Pretty much this. Maybe 10 years ago AMD could be considered as good or even better than Intel, but since Intel released the Core i series processors AMD hasn't been able to come close.

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let me just correct you there, AMD has not been trying to compete with intel for higher end for a very long time because to them there is no money in it, somehow I doubt AMD will return from making APUs at this point.

I have a i7 2500k running at 3.4 ghz. It's using around 25% of the resources sometimes going up to 35% when running at 2560*1440 at maximum settings. I could probably run 2 copies of the game at the same time.

Still nothing out there that makes use of an i7, and AMD make expensive toasters with awful lifespans. Buy a cheap i5, clock it, never look back. I'm at 4.4 ghz on a 3570k on air, and rarely get above 40 degree CPU temps. And it destroys everything I throw at it. More than enough for the *two* 21:9 1080 FFXIV clients that I dualbox. (In a Hong Kong apartment, where ambient temperatures are considerable.)

Another Intel Fan here.
Intel i5 2400k
Nvidia Gtx 770
Never had a problem with FF game runs at 100FPS on average except for Toll. Go with an Intel I5 overall better cpu

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Originally Posted by Kaethra

For me:

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Ed. @ 3.5Ghz
ATI Radeon HD 5870
8GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium

Runs FFXIV @ 60-75fps (45-55 in large fates and hunts) at max settings and no crashes.

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Awesome thanks for the response! I'm not having any problems myself but I was curious and lol I have the same comp as you cept for XFX black edition 6800 series gpu only difference :)