AMD vs. Intel Processors

[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?

[A-Shock]

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.

[16bitBounty]

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

[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.

[Saccharin]

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?

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.

[Hulan]

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.

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).

[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.

[Elven]

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

[Eekiki]

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.

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).

[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