Many people choose AMD for their PC builds because of its strong performance and good value.
Many people choose AMD for their PC builds because of its strong performance and good value.
Over the years I've owned shares in Intel, so I stick to their processors. I'm not a gamer, but I handle financial and other calculations. Recently I completed a new build using an Intel i7-8700k, and it performs perfectly for all my needs without any issues. It stays cool even when running on my Fractal Design R6.
Intel remains focused on the 14nm process, building CPUs using traditional methods with all cores on one chip. This setup delivers the highest single-core performance, while scaling up to 8 cores offers strong power at a lower cost. AMD employs multiple dies within a single CPU, enabling more affordable options ranging from 12 to 64 cores. They operate at 7nm but lag behind Intel in clock speeds. In the end, Intel edges out AMD when it comes to 8 cores or fewer, whereas AMD excels with higher core counts. Personally, I remember in late 2019 I built an Intel system using a Xeon 1660v3 QS (essentially an i7 5960x) on the x99 platform as a Ryzen 1600 upgrade. The investment was around $112 for the CPU and $75 for the motherboard. For less than $200, I achieved better performance than a 2700x in nearly every metric at 4.5ghz, rivaling the speeds of 9900/3700x.