How to choose a game processor: AMD or Intel? Best gaming processor

By assembling a high-performance computer for resource-intensive dynamic games, the potential buyer always faces a choice: which processor to give preference to. After all, in addition to several brand manufacturers, there are many platforms on the market, each of which has its own flagship.

The focus of this article is a gaming processor. The reader will get acquainted with the offer of producers, find out which product is best in each price category, and also see the results of testing visually.

Weak link

It's better to start with the fact that all processors that are created on the basis of one physical core will not be considered. The point is that there has long been evidence of low efficiency of single-core platforms. Any attempt by a buyer to purchase such a game processor will not lead to anything good.

First, most modern games are created for multi-core platforms (2-4 cores). The second criterion for the failure of a low-performance crystal is the inability to reveal the potential of a video game adapter. Naturally, the user has a lot of questions regarding the inoperability of an expensive graphics accelerator.

Also, experts in their reviews recommend that potential buyers not to consider as a game solutions crystals that work at low frequencies. Set the minimum mark is better at the threshold of 3000 MHz. This condition affects not only personal computers, but also mobile devices, albeit increased power consumption.

Price policy and games producers

It's been a long time in the market that the AMD processor has the best value, and nothing can be more powerful than Intel's in performance. There is some truth to this if we consider the problem from the same angle, when we compare the number of cores and their operating frequency, but IT experts recommend that they focus on the needs of the end user.

Virtually all AMD crystals are perfectly dispersed, and attract the attention of potential buyers who want to save money. That's only in the reviews and tests for some reason, there is no information about the heating of crystals and the necessary cooling. On the other hand, Intel processors are attributed too many merits, which are not necessary for a modern game lover. Therefore, a buyer who wants to acquire a sufficiently productive device at a minimal cost, will have to get acquainted with the processors presented on the market closer.

Crystals of the past generation

It's not a secret that Intel processors based on 4 cores are still in demand among many fans of resource-intensive games. However, this solution is useful only to those users who own a full-fledged motherboard of the ATX format, which supports 8 GB of RAM (4 2 GB slots). Also pay attention to the recommended and processor support. Very often manufacturers of cheap motherboards do not work with powerful multi-core chips.

A budgetary Core Quad processor or Xeon server solution pairing with a video game adapter and SSD solid state drive will cope with any existing game in the world. Only here the ideal of realistic quality can not be achieved - there is a serious limitation on the average graphics settings. But such an inexpensive solution suits many users, so the crystals for the platform socket 775 will be in demand for a long time.

Do not forget that the availability of server processors with two and four cores based on Xeon does not limit the performance of the old platform. In the market there are still ultrafast crystals Extreme Edition, which can increase the performance of the corresponding system (we are talking about Socket 775) twice, or even three times.

Available segment

The initial class of modern components is opened by AMD processors with two cores of the A4 line. It would seem that it could be better than 2 physical cores running at a frequency of 3200 MHz! In addition, the chip has a built-in graphics core AMD Radeon HD7480. However, in the testing process it is found that with mathematical calculations the processor has obvious problems. The main reason for this is the small amount of cache memory (and the processor has only two levels).

In the price category up to 2000 rubles, the A4 line has only one competitor - Intel Celeron 4-th generation. As practice shows, this budget crystal also has built-in graphics, but, unlike AMD products, it does not give in to overclocking.

Both budget products are clearly not included in the top gaming processors, but fans of low-power games (for example, World of Tanks) will like them, because with the built-in graphics, at a resolution of 1600x900 dots per inch, the user will be able to achieve 50 FPS at medium quality settings.

Diver's distracting maneuver

Readers have repeatedly encountered Intel Pentium G-series processors for the Socket 1150 platform . The manufacturer says that the new crystal is able to surprise any customer. Yes, the owner's surprise will not be the limit when he decides to purchase such a product in exchange for a morally obsolete Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Any testing (synthetic or game) will confirm that there is no difference in the performance of both processors.

In fact, this is one and the same crystal, which was slightly improved. After all, the best gaming processor for socket 775 simply could not disappear from the market. However, the transition of the buyer to a new platform opens up more opportunities for the player. Over time, you can increase the amount of RAM, change the processor or graphics card, which could not be done with an old motherboard.

Leader of sales

In the initial game class, AMD crystals of the X4 series with 4 physical cores are in great demand. The fact is that this product has become a real golden mean for many users in terms of price-performance ratio.

For many potential buyers who wanted to have 4 physical cores on one platform at hand, the choice of the gaming processor ended with only one manufacturer - AMD. The fact is that in the price category up to 10,000 rubles Intel companies have nothing to offer.

In this class, the FX processors with 4 and 8 cores on board are also quite good. The manufacturer tried to saturate the demanded market with interesting and affordable products. Here the buyer is better to focus on the first level cache and choose a crystal with the highest core frequency. After AMD processors, these parameters primarily affect the performance of the entire platform.

Winged swings

Intel's game processors are also present in the initial class, but they are all limited to only two physical cores. Naturally, the buyer obviously will not like such a proposal, but it is not necessary to hurry with the conclusions. As practice shows, Core i3 crystals are capable of much, and in performance even surpass the performance of all competitors.

Intel processors have a large amount of cache and are good at math calculations, but they have serious problems with working memory. This is what competitors use, selecting special tests, where the speed of information exchange between the processor and memory is required. In resource-intensive toys, where you need a large amount of memory (for example, GTA 5), you can see the difference in the performance of two processors (Intel and AMD), but not all games are so dependent on the memory frequency.

Higher, faster, stronger

A powerful game processor in the price category of up to 15,000 rubles is not so easy to choose. On the one hand, Intel offers its Core i5 solution, which can cope with any resource-intensive games that exist on the market. On the other hand, the AMD team is performing, which prepared a surprise for all its fans, providing the crystal with a powerful video game adapter integrated directly into the processor.

Naturally, many buyers prefer the system "2 in 1", because discrete graphics accelerators are not expensive and users just do not want to overpay. But there is also a downside to the coin - an integrated graphics card "steals" RAM for its own needs, and the speed of the exchange of this memory between the graphics processor leaves much to be desired (DDR3 vs. DDR5).

How to deal with business?

In the mid-price category, it's not so easy to choose a gaming processor. "Which one to choose - Core i5 or A10?" - almost every second customer is interested. Experts in their reviews recommend newcomers to take their time and prioritize their needs.

A powerful multi-core Intel chip will be more interesting to owners of performance video adapters of the game level, because only it is able to fully unlock the potential of the graphics accelerator. Also, the Core i5 should also be looked at by people who are not only addicted to games, but also work on a professional level with 3D graphics, modeling or video editing.

But the owners of budget video adapters who use all the resources of a personal computer for games, it is better to give preference to the AMD A10 processor. And do not be very keen on overclocking such a crystal, because a thermal package of 95 watts requires decent cooling.

Unique processors

The AMD processor with six cores on board is clearly capable of attracting attention. After all, this is one of the few products on the market that combines affordable cost and high performance. Let many users in their reviews reproach the manufacturer for using 8-core solutions with blocked kernels to create such crystals, but the fact remains that in the middle segment this processor is still considered the best choice.

An important factor in charge of performance is not the core frequency, but the installed cache. All 6-nuclear platforms with this parameter have full order: the crystal perfectly copes with mathematical calculations and is quite competitive with Intel Core i5 products. Confused by the lack of an integrated graphics accelerator, which is so used to all fans of AMD products. But all the same, the performance of the entire platform is more interesting to the buyer than an inferior symbiosis.

Powerful gaming platform

Intel company managed to attract the attention of potential buyers to its unique socket platform 2011. The best gaming processor Core i7 Extreme Edition still ranks first in the rating of performance of all platforms. Confuses only the price of this decision - 50 000 rubles for one crystal, not every buyer is ready to give.

The main feature of this system is support for three-channel operation of RAM. Do not forget about the PCIex16 slots for graphics accelerators - they all also support accelerated data transfer and are oriented to the high performance of the entire gaming platform.

The only negativity that owners pay attention to in their responses is the cost of all components. The processor, memory, motherboard and several video adapters require the buyer significant financial resources. On the other hand, such a platform is able to cope with any resource-intensive game.

New technologies - the key to success

After the appearance on the market of a new format of DDR4 memory, Intel hurried to surprise its fans with new crystals in the Core i3 / 5/7 line. True, under the slogan "We choose a game processor!" The famous American manufacturer forgot to add that in practice the overall system performance increases not in proportion to the cost of the crystals. As for professional computer use (3D modeling, video processing and work with complex mathematical calculations) such a platform is hardly suitable. At least, by the ratio of "price-quality" you can build a platform much cheaper.

Perhaps in the next few years, manufacturers will manage to significantly increase the speed of the platform, but at the moment there is no sense in overpaying for switching to Socket 1151 and 2011-3. Here it is better to take an example from the company AMD, which did not dare to such an insidious plan to attract potential buyers to their products.

A new trend dictates the conditions

In pursuit of a powerful crystal, most buyers are trying to save on the video card. But gaming graphics processors are the basic devices for launching any resource-intensive games. As practice shows, it's better to save on the processor and take a powerful video adapter than to be content with a budget accelerator with a high-performance processor.

In fact, the media can be found quite a lot of comparisons of both video cards and crystals, but experts recommend focusing on segmenting the market. Do not forget about integrated solutions. Often, such a purchase allows the user to get good performance and benefits.

Inexpensive AMD processors with four cores, which have a small amount of cache, it is better to purchase with integrated graphics. The crystal can not disclose the potential of a discrete game adapter, but the user can save a lot.

Mobile market with its own terms

Game processors for laptops almost do not differ from the components of a personal computer. All the same price segmentation and performance sharing. True, there is another branch, which greatly influences the choice of buyers. Intel's chips installed in laptops have low heat dissipation, and AMD products have a property to become very hot due to increased power consumption.

As practice shows, for most users, a powerful AMD processor in a mobile device often delivers troubles. However, experts in their reviews claim that the whole problem boils down to the human factor. The fact is that all gaming laptops need to be cleaned (2 times a year) from dust. Naturally, most users do not do this, blaming AMD for producing low-quality processors.

Gaming Notebooks

With mobile devices everything is simple - the buyer does not need to look for which processors are gaming and which are not. In an expensive segment, the manufacturer has independently calculated the productivity of the entire platform and provided the end customer with a decent result. True, the choice is not so great as in the personal computer market.

Users can give preference to AMD's A10 chips or look towards Intel Core i5 / 7 processors. This completes the whole choice, and the potential buyer faces a problem with the choice of a video game adapter, which is equipped with a laptop. Once again, experts in their reviews recommend newcomers to give preference to a powerful discrete graphics card in the performance of the processor.

The right approach

Among sellers on the computer market there is a special technique that allows you to quickly build a personal computer. Strangely enough, the game processor is not chosen in the first place. Preference is given to the motherboard and video adapter. Well, then comes the turn of the choice of the crystal and RAM. This completes the layout by negotiating the final cost.

And then everything is simple: the cost of a hard disk, power supply, case, monitor and other computer components is alternately announced. And the buyer decides whether he is willing to pay extra for the equipment, or for the sake of buying the right component, he will have to sacrifice the performance of the personal computer as a whole.

This technique provides an opportunity for a potential buyer to understand what is the difference between components in different price categories, because the seller, when changing the configuration, comments on what games and on what settings will be used on the assembled computer.

Finally

Choose a gaming processor in the domestic market is easy enough. You just need to find out the system requirements for your favorite toy and choose the right components for building a gaming platform, focusing on your own finances. At first it seems difficult, but in practice everything is solved in a matter of minutes. The main thing is to always remember that the performance of the whole system depends not only on the processor, but also requires a powerful graphics accelerator with fast enough RAM.