AMD vs Intel - or - How I got my first build (+little what's what on PC parts)

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

How long will DDR3 remain, since the first DDR4 stuff will be available in July? Also, it looks like a Haswell-Refresh is comming soon. Should I wait or is the difference not worth the wait/price?

Everything change but slowly - it will take a long time until DDR4 prices will be even close DDR3 prices and I think that CPU sockets change too ....

By the way, Haswell is good way to go ... I was trying to tell you that invest more money for GPU and buy cheaper Intel G3420 dual core (Haswell) CPU, as it is a nice combo to have Intel Pentium G3420 dual core CPU with a AMD Radeon R7 250 GDDR5 or Radeon HD7770 or even with R7 260X GDDR5, if you have budget ...

... and buy SSD Kingston HyperX 3K 120 Gb (instead of WD HDD) and you have a great system

... and do not buy AMD Kaveri A10-7850K, as you will not use integrated graphics for gaming (and it would cost you even more as a CPU + GPU combo some I suggested for you) ...

... yeah, i3-4130 is better one compared on G3420, if you have budget for it ... but more important is better GPU, so use that saving to a good GPU ... and even if you decide to upgrade G3420 later to i5 or i7, your investment was not that big for G3420

 

[Keith Wallace]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Part of that's not a bad plan. You could opt for the Pentium over the i3 for now, then upgrade to an i5 in a year or two, whenever you could afford it. Games are typically more GPU-bound than CPU, so you could survive on the Pentium for a while. Upgrade to the i5 before they retire Haswell, and it will probably last you 3-5 years itself (plenty of folks are still loving their Sandy Bridge i5s from 2011.

The other part, the stuff about the SSD, it's dead wrong. He's talking about saving about $40 (just looking at the U.S. prices quickly) from the i3 to the Pentium. However, going from the WD HDD to the Kingston SSD increases the price by that same $40 or so. On top of that, the SSD is only 120 GB. Formatting will take up a chunk of that. The OS will take 15-20 GB of it. Once you start, you'll be down to probably 80 GB for all of your stuff for the next few years. You're best bet is to get the WD Caviar Blue, then get a SSD later, when you have spare money.

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Ah, okay. So just like USB 3.0 has been out a few years and USB 2.0 is still offered on motherboards/HDDs/USB drives/...
So nothing to worry, I guess.

I think the last question I have is about PCI and PCIe slots. I get it that PCIe slots are for GPUs and PCI slots for soundcards, addictional external USB ports and stuff.
But what about the multiplicators behind the PCIe and what can I put into those slots? (like 1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4), 2x PCI -or- 1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3x PCIe 2.0 x1, 2x PCI).

 

[Qiyamata]

Re: AMD vs Intel

I'm a AMD fan myself, but I've used Intel as well. Neither has let me down. And yeah those AMD Apu's are pretty awesome.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Re: AMD vs Intel

I'm a AMD fan myself, but I've used Intel as well. Neither has let me down. And yeah those AMD Apu's are pretty awesome.

Indeed. I was part of the 2013 AMD Test Drive. They sent me for free all the necessary parts to build a system including an A10-6800K APU and 8GB of the AMD Radeon RAM.
It has performed well with anything I've done with it.

 

[Qiyamata]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Indeed. I was part of the 2013 AMD Test Drive. They sent me for free all the necessary parts to build a system including an A10-6800K APU and 8GB of the AMD Radeon RAM.
It has performed well with anything I've done with it.

Wow, really nice!

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

A friend of mine sent me this list of components for a new PC. Thought I ask you guys what you think about it:

• Intel Pentium G3420 2x3.2GHz
• ASRock H87M Pro4 micro-ATX
• Crucial Ballistix Sport Series 8GB DDR3 1600 CL9
• be quiet! Pure Power L8 500W ATX
• XFX Radeon R7 250X Core Edition 1GB GDDR5
• Western Digital Blue 1TB
• Windows 8 64bit
• AeroCool DS Red Edition micro-ATX

All together it would be about 580€. Do think this is okay or can I get get about the same performance for a cheaper price?

 

[Aldwin1999]

Depends in your budget... If its around $500-800 I would recommend the and line up of CPUs especially the x4 750k if your on a tight budget and spend the rest on gpu. Also that build is alright but there are many other better builds. Check on YouTube for Duncan.

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Intel G3420 vs AMD X4 750k

Intel Pentium G3420 vs AMD Athlon X4 750k

Either way ... but I would go for Intel Haswell ... it will be snappier one for sure

 

[Jan Tomsic]

Re: AMD vs Intel

A friend of mine sent me this list of components for a new PC. Thought I ask you guys what you think about it:

• Intel Pentium G3420 2x3.2GHz
• ASRock H87M Pro4 micro-ATX
• Crucial Ballistix Sport Series 8GB DDR3 1600 CL9
• be quiet! Pure Power L8 500W ATX
• XFX Radeon R7 250X Core Edition 1GB GDDR5
• Western Digital Blue 1TB
• Windows 8 64bit
• AeroCool DS Red Edition micro-ATX

All together it would be about 580€. Do think this is okay or can I get get about the same performance for a cheaper price?

It seems quite expensive yes. Write down individual prices, and get a cheaper case. Windows is quite expensive, there is not much you can do about that.
It's also kinda useless getting 8GB of RAM with such a low-end CPU. I have 6GB in my dual core AMD laptop and it never gets used. 4GB would be enough, depends what you use it for again.
A better CPU wouldnt hurt either. Haswell, preferably. i3-4130 or i5-4570, as long as the first number is 4.

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Recently I've read an article where some CPUs were compared. While the Intel CPUs were faster at tasks like 7zip (about 2times as fast), the AMD ones beat them in gaming (the AMDs being the new A10 series).

So it seems the choice in CPU manufacturer depends on the main use, whether you want to play games or you have lots of "office" tasks.

Is my assumption true?

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Recently I've read an article where some CPUs were compared. While the Intel CPUs were faster at tasks like 7zip (about 2times as fast), the AMD ones beat them in gaming (the AMDs being the new A10 series).

So it seems the choice in CPU manufacturer depends on the main use, whether you want to play games or you have lots of "office" tasks.

Is my assumption true?

I think that a such comparison was made just with integrated graphics, am I right ? (to be clear, not with discrete graphic card)

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

A friend of mine sent me this list of components for a new PC. Thought I ask you guys what you think about it:

• Intel Pentium G3420 2x3.2GHz
• ASRock H87M Pro4 micro-ATX
• Crucial Ballistix Sport Series 8GB DDR3 1600 CL9
• be quiet! Pure Power L8 500W ATX
• XFX Radeon R7 250X Core Edition 1GB GDDR5
• Western Digital Blue 1TB
• Windows 8 64bit
• AeroCool DS Red Edition micro-ATX

All together it would be about 580?. Do think this is okay or can I get get about the same performance for a cheaper price?

It looks good ... if you need to cut the price, then I think that 4 Gb DDR3 1600 RAM would be enough for gaming ... all others keep like that

Remark: G3420 is haswell CPU ... if you want make it better for gaming, then buy better GPU, like Radeon HD 7770 or or even R7 260X GDDR5

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

I think that a such comparison was made just with integrated graphics, am I right ? (to be clear, not with discrete graphic card)

Yes, only the onboard gpus were used in those tests.

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

It looks good ... if you need to cut the price, then I think that 4 Gb DDR3 1600 RAM would be enough for gaming ... all others keep like that

Remark: G3420 is haswell CPU ... if you want make it better for gaming, then buy better GPU, like Radeon HD 7770 or or even R7 260X GDDR5

Do you mean 4gb for now as a single stick or 2x2gb?

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Do you mean 4gb for now as a single stick or 2x2gb?

2 x 2 Gb is better, as it works dual channel (your Asrock motherboard has 4 slots for RAM modules, so you have still 2 free for upgrading later) ... but if a price difference is big, then just take 1 x 4 Gb (a speed of RAM memory is not a bottleneck) ...

By the way, be sure that YOU will buy your GPU with GDDR5 - with a true graphics memory (NOT with DDR3). It is VERY IMPORTANT ...

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

The biggest problem for me is choosing the right gpu because I can't relate them (like i3 is inferior to i5,...). Plus I don't want it to be too good or too bad. Some seem,to fit my budget but when I look them up on the internet they seem to be the first part I'll need to upgrade in the future.

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

The biggest problem for me is choosing the right gpu because I can't relate them (like i3 is inferior to i5,...). Plus I don't want it to be too good or too bad. Some seem,to fit my budget but when I look them up on the internet they seem to be the first part I'll need to upgrade in the future.

Radeon R7 250(X) 1GB GDDR5 with G3420 haswell dual core CPU is a good combo (with 4 Gb DDR3 1600 RAM), for the beginning (entry level) ... if you want better, then price will go up very fast ... if you can find a good price for Radeon HD 7770 or or even R7 260X GDDR5, then buy it (instead of R7 250 GDDR5) ...

 

[QwarkDreams]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Is there a preferred brand like Sapphire, XFX, MSI,...?

 

[Jarip]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Is there a preferred brand like Sapphire, XFX, MSI,...?

No, I think that it is not important is it Asus, Sapphire, Gigabyte, XFX, MSI, HIS, Powercolor - just check the specs (specially that it is GDDR5 model) ... some people like some certain brand, but other people like other brand

XFX R7 250 review: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_r7_250/

R7 250X review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r7-250x-graphics-card-review,3747.html