QOTW: AMD Ryzen or Intel Core for your next PC?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 1 November 2019, 16:31

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

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2019 has been a good year for the desktop CPU market. AMD's brought the Zen 2 architecture to bear with myriad of Ryzen CPUs. Such a move has catalysed Intel into reducing prices for popular Core processors, retailing an all-core 5GHz chip, and, next month, releasing an 18C36T monster Core i9 chip for less than a thousand bucks. How times have changed, eh?

If you don't mind going back a generation, an 8C16T AMD Ryzen 7 2700 is available for £170, which seems perfect for a powerful small-form-factor system given its 65W TDP. Or you could be just as happy with an Intel Core i5-9400F for just £140.

Wherever you look, there are decent buys to be had, but whether you choose two cores or 12, the real decision is whether you go with Ryzen or Core for your next PC?

Both camps have merit, but as it's your money on the table, which do you think offers the best deal for your needs? As always, feel free to explain why you would go with either Ryzen or Core in the comments section below.



HEXUS Forums :: 68 Comments

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Ryzen seem to get me the best value for the money on all platforms currently, so AMD, Intel seem to expensive compared to what you get and if it all comes down to that this or that game is at 150 and 162 FPS depending on what CPU then uhm… I wont be able to see the difference anyway haha :D
Personally I'd go Ryzen as I think Intel don't deserve my cash (Hyperthread security, late to the 7nm/8+ core party) however I've no ideal when I can afford to replace my still very well working OC'd 3570k… (The joys of parenthood expenses)

I also really like AMD commitment to forward/backwards socket support.
I'm a PCIe hog, so whatever provides good value-for-money in the HEDT arena. Which looks like currently:
* Ryzen Threadripper 2920X: 12 core Zen+ from Oct 2018 12nm.
* Core i9-10900X: 10-core Cascade-Lake-X from like, now ish (can't see it for sale), 14nm.

As I can't find anybody selling the Intel chip yet, going on RRP, $649 for AMD vs $599 for Intel.

Boils down to whether I think an extra $50 for 2 more cores on an already insane amount is worth the money. The Intel 12-core variant is $50 more again, that seems like a silly purchase, but saving $50 is not to be sniffed at.

Probably the rest of the platform would be the deciding factor, i.e. what the chipsets provide, motherboard options and their respective costs.
I have a spare 2200G kicking around, so probably Ryzen next time some box needs an upgrade. But even if it is one of the family machines, I suspect a 3600 would be the way to go.

Edit: Oh and the 2600X is under £120. Hardest part I think is choosing the right motherboard.
until Intel finally sort out the mess of their Spectre infested chips (and thats looking to be 2022 at earliest as Ice Lake is only partially patched in hardware and the recommendation is to disable HT completely) I'm firmly in the AMD camp. Throw on top of that if you DO use Intel chips you are looking at 20% hit in performance if you do use them with mitigation's in place (Intel benchmark with mitigation's OFF fyi).

Now if only OEMs would do a decent non throttling Ryzen laptop i'd be happy. oh and stop trying to run laptops “apple” silent. Or at least have an alternate fan profile so you can run flatout without the chip throttling cos the fan doesnt feel like making it self heard.