Gaming in the future: AMD or Intel?

[jonnyapps]

Hi,

This article argues that an AMD FX8350 would be a better future-proof purchase than an i5-3570k for gaming in the next generation as it better matches the architecture of the new consoles and therefore will be more natively matched to new games that incorporate parallelisation etc.

I wanted to get the community's thoughts on this as I was just about to pull the trigger on an i5.

My intention is to build a new rig to achieve ultra settings at 1080p on everything over the next few years, based around a GTX 780.
My (novice) thinking is that I would achieve the required power using either processor until 2015 at which point, when devs are designing to the true capacity of the PS4 architecture, the PC ports will play best with the AMD.

Thanks in advance.

 

[8350rocks]

It's no secret that future games are becoming more optimized for AMD hardware and more cores. The i5 would be about even at this point in time with the 8350, however, that's based on games that are not well optimized for AMD.

If you went AMD, moving forward, your CPU would likely only gain in performance. If you went Intel, you wouldn't have bad performance, but future games wouldn't be specifically optimized for the hardware you're running. That would likely lead to a situation to where you could still run games, but AMD would be better at the same games.

There will be differing opinions on this, as the Intel pundits will come in and talk about "but Intel...blah, blah, blah"...though, the reality is, as a game designer...I am not designing games for Intel hardware. The game I am currently working on will be optimized on a newest generation engine, built for more cores, and we're investigating MANTLE from AMD as well...

-my $0.02

 

[rgd1101]

If you can't afford a i7, go with the FX 8350

 

[jitpublisher]

Obviously if your hardware is 15-20% slower in raw caculating speed, you need all the optimization help you can get just to keep up.
Honestly, I never heard so much BS. Either brand (processor) will handle games now, or in the foreseesble future with ease.

 

[jonnyapps]

Thanks kindly for your advice so far.


http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=701

The side-by-side here is disconcerting. Does anybody know if there's a full benchmarking website whereby I could enter all of the PC components I plan to buy to build my rig and then, ideally, get an estimate FPS on, say Crysis 3?

 

[8350rocks]

Thanks kindly for your advice so far.


http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/697?vs=701

The side-by-side here is disconcerting. Does anybody know if there's a full benchmarking website whereby I could enter all of the PC components I plan to buy to build my rig and then, ideally, get an estimate FPS on, say Crysis 3?

I don't know of such a site, however, considering the plethora of builds we see, tell me what you're thinking of building and I can give you a rough estimate.

 

[jonnyapps]

I don't know of such a site, however, considering the plethora of builds we see, tell me what you're thinking of building and I can give you a rough estimate.

Very kind of you!

The build options are as follows:

AMD FX8350
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2
12GB DDR3 1600mhz (in current rig, can't remember but fairly decent)
GTX 780 3GB

--------

i5 3570k
ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
12GB DDR3 1600mhz (in current rig, can't remember but fairly decent)
GTX 780 3GB

The intention would be to overclock either processor within reason on some water-cooling (probably Thermaltake Water 2.0) and get the OS and games on a new SSD.

I guess the bottom line is: Build a rig that can achieve 60fps on ultra for the next 3 years

 

[rgd1101]

3 years, nope.

 

[8350rocks]

12 GB RAM isn't going to happen on either system, there's not triple channel RAM. it would be 8 GB or 16 GB.

However, I will say this...

The R9-290X is cheaper than the GTX 780, and faster than the GTX Titan, building a system with a 780 right now would be pointlessly wasting money.

As far as on Ultra for 3 years...well...I can pretty much guarantee you that either system will at least play on high for 3 years...

I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't tell you they'll still play Ultra in 3 years...but they will still be good for gaming either way.

My preference would be 8350 + R9-290X

 

[jonnyapps]

12 GB RAM isn't going to happen on either system, there's not triple channel RAM. it would be 8 GB or 16 GB.

However, I will say this...

The R9-290X is cheaper than the GTX 780, and faster than the GTX Titan, building a system with a 780 right now would be pointlessly wasting money.

As far as on Ultra for 3 years...well...I can pretty much guarantee you that either system will at least play on high for 3 years...

I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't tell you they'll still play Ultra in 3 years...but they will still be good for gaming either way.

My preference would be 8350 + R9-290X

Thanks very much. I'll be sure to follow up on your advice, it's been very helpful.
I should have said that the intention would be to get a 4th stick of ram to hit 16.

'Ultra' is a bit woolly, obviously as it varies from game to game.

 

[Gabriel1987]

12 GB RAM isn't going to happen on either system, there's not triple channel RAM. it would be 8 GB or 16 GB.

However, I will say this...

The R9-290X is cheaper than the GTX 780, and faster than the GTX Titan, building a system with a 780 right now would be pointlessly wasting money.

As far as on Ultra for 3 years...well...I can pretty much guarantee you that either system will at least play on high for 3 years...

I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't tell you they'll still play Ultra in 3 years...but they will still be good for gaming either way.

My preference would be 8350 + R9-290X

Thanks very much. I'll be sure to follow up on your advice, it's been very helpful.
I should have said that the intention would be to get a 4th stick of ram to hit 16.

'Ultra' is a bit woolly, obviously as it varies from game to game.

I agree with 8350rocks you might also want to see this to prove his words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE4H5-kbOls

 

[rgd1101]

that not a good comparison as it was i7 with titan vs fx 8350 with 290x. With 290x benchmark over the titan on the same cpu.

 

[jonnyapps]

that not a good comparison as it was i7 with titan vs fx 8350 with 290x. With 290x benchmark over the titan on the same cpu.

You're right but given the gulf in price between the two rigs my eyes are popping out of my head and I'm reaching for my wallet.

 

[rgd1101]

that not a good comparison as it was i7 with titan vs fx 8350 with 290x. With 290x benchmark over the titan on the same cpu.

You're right but given the gulf in price between the two rigs my eyes are popping out of my head and I'm reaching for my wallet.

Comparing 4770k with 290x to his fx8350 w/ 290x.
About 100 point higher http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/61785-amd-radeon-r9-290/?page=3
does it worth the $150 more? but more important it that is a synthetic benchmark.

 

[Gabriel1987]

that not a good comparison as it was i7 with titan vs fx 8350 with 290x. With 290x benchmark over the titan on the same cpu.

You're right but given the gulf in price between the two rigs my eyes are popping out of my head and I'm reaching for my wallet.

Comparing 4770k with 290x to his fx8350 w/ 290x.
About 100 point higher http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/61785-amd-radeon-r9-290/?page=3
does it worth the $150 more? but more important it that is a synthetic benchmark.

firestrike extreme stresses both cpu and gpu to a great extent, the high end offering by AMD has left behind much more expensive Intel+ nvidia offerings...synthetic it is, but fair for both sides, you cant see a big difference in real life either, the truth is my fx 8350+ 7970ghz edition destroys every single game, lag free, smooth, and how much did I pay for both!? hell yeah 500$ and it chews crysis 3, bf4 I get better fps comparing to my friend's i5 4670k and 7970ghz at 1920x1080p...and I know something, that as time passes by, my cpu becomes more and more powerful, its an awesome feeling, I am already waiting for game developers go ultra crazy... am i going to buy r9-290? yes...I don't see any reasons not to...AMD cares for enthusiasts more than Intel and Nvidia, I really love this company