The Intel choice comes in around $150 less overall, covering the CPU, motherboard, and cooler.
The Intel choice comes in around $150 less overall, covering the CPU, motherboard, and cooler.
You're facing a tough decision between two powerful processors. The Ryzen 7 5800X offers more CPU cache, PCIe 4 support, and higher base clock speeds, along with 3200 DDR4 memory. On the other hand, the Intel i9 10850K provides two extra cores and four additional threads, which could benefit virtual machine workloads and build processes. Benchmarks show both have strengths depending on the use case, but overall performance differences are minimal. The price gap makes the Ryzen more attractive if you're prioritizing cost, while Intel might appeal if you need more threads for virtualization or development tasks. Your choice hinges on your specific workloads and budget. What’s most important to you—cost savings or extra processing power?
Most heavily multithreaded programs seem to function similarly, meaning those extra cores aren't providing much benefit. You might be able to reduce the amount of RAM used on the AMD board if you're looking to save costs—it feels excessive for desktop virtual machines, as they'll perform almost identically. In VMs, performance is only a few percent lower compared to using full hardware.
An $85 price tag on a $1500 build means just over 5% more cost, though saving money is often beneficial. The performance of the AMD CPU could be significantly better for your needs. I remember that having a lot of CPU cache is really useful for Unreal Engine projects.