How come the i5 4670k is up there with the AMD FX 8xxx Black despite having less GHZ and cores?

[zandola]

Please explain; it doesn't make sense to me
Thanks

 

[stickmansam]

Intel has higher IPC (instructions per clock) and effiency, allowing it to catch/beat the FX 8xxx in most gaming situations. In productivity, however, the FX 8xxx is closer to the i7s

 

[gamer1411]

i5 is much better then that intel. Less heat,less power using,less noise,better perfomance,also you can clock it on 4.6ghz and put evo 212 on it, and you won't have any problems with it.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

The first thing to clear up is that Intel and AMD are different manufacturers; they have different priorities and different manufacturing processes. As a result, certain tasks (and benchmark figures) will favour one over the other. Making a direct comparison is also difficult and somewhat inaccurate right from the off.

Processor performance doesn't just come down to the clock speed and cores, you also need to consider how the chip is designed and manufacturered. Simply put, Intel focus their attention on per-core performance whilst AMD focus on multi-threaded performance. In gaming terms, multi-threaded performance hasn't really taken off yet (with a few exceptions), so per-core performance comes into play. This is why an i5 will typically outperform an FX-8xxx in gaming benchmarks. This could all change in the next few years, but right now, per-core performance is where it's at for gaming.