Intel or AMD in April 2018?

[jovan23stojanovic]

Hello, as the title says, what should I pick up for my first "better" PC Build?
I have some options to choose from:
- Intel i7 8700 = $335
- Ryzen (7) 1700 = $310

The prices are the cheapest for my country (Serbia).
I know that if I get i7, I'll need better CPU fan, but as I will be using HD 630 (integrated Intel GPU) and I won't be playing hard games or maybe I won't be playing games at all, for now, I won't need better CPU fan for now.
When GPU prices stabilize or even when new GPU Gen release, then I'll get a GPU and also better CPU fan for i7.

I also know that if I go with Ryzen (7) 1700, I won't need CPU fan at all because from what I've seen, the stock cooler is more than enough.

I know that AM4 will be supported by the 2020 year, but I am looking for CPU which will be in the long run.

I don't want to buy RAM which is faster because of difference between 2133MHz price and 2667/3000MHz price... (this is an issue in my country, nothing related to this price increases in RAM...)

Just to say so, all of this was written considering that I won't be OC-ing my CPU ever! (Also that's why I'm looking for i7 8700 non-K model).

The CPU fan won't be a problem, I can get one when I get new GPU (around July/August or later; it depends on new GPU Gen announcement...)

Also, I think that when Ryzen 2 releases (18/19 of April), we'll see new H310/B360/H370 motherboards that support Coffee Lake.

Okay, so when I get a discrete GPU (gtx1070 or equivalent from new GPU Gen), I would mainly play games and occasionally I will do some work in programs like Adobe family programs, VEGAS, 3DS Max Studio, Animations... nothing too hard, maybe maximum 10 times a month.

So considering all of this that I wrote, can you tell me what would be the right choice? i7-8700 or Ryzen 1700?

 

[ehmkec]

You have done a lot of homework. I had a similar decision to make last year and I selected INTEL. I think the community here at Tom's is split about 50/50 so good luck.

 

[Eximo]

i7-8700k doesn't come with a cpu cooler at all. So factor that in to your cost. If you do find a standard i7-8700 then it will come with one.

Ryzen chips don't have onboard graphics. So you would need a GPU now to run one. (Exception would be the R3-2200G or R5-2400G)

Intel CPUs are less sensitive to memory speeds, so DDR4-2133/2400 should be fine.

Ryzen CPU's infinity fabric is tied to the memory speed, so more speed is better. A DDR4-3000 kit run at 2933Mhz is the common recommendation. (You can attempt to get cheaper ram and overclock that)

 

[jovan23stojanovic]

i7-8700k doesn't come with a cpu cooler at all. So factor that in to your cost. If you do find a standard i7-8700 then it will come with one.

Ryzen chips don't have onboard graphics. So you would need a GPU now to run one. (Exception would be the R3-2200G or R5-2400G)

Intel CPUs are less sensitive to memory speeds, so DDR4-2133/2400 should be fine.

Ryzen CPU's infinity fabric is tied to the memory speed, so more speed is better. A DDR4-3000 kit run at 2933Mhz is the common recommendation. (You can attempt to get cheaper ram and overclock that)

Thanks for your elaboration. In this situation, I see Intel as a better option to go with, I just wanted to see what others think for this certain situation in which I am now.

 

[g-unit1111]

I also know that if I go with Ryzen (7) 1700, I won't need CPU fan at all because from what I've seen, the stock cooler is more than enough.

I know that AM4 will be supported by the 2020 year, but I am looking for CPU which will be in the long run.

If you're not going to overclock then there's no point in going with Ryzen. Ryzen is tailor made for overclocking and requires a bit more tweaking than your average Intel CPU. The one reason you would go with Ryzen over Intel in your situation is longevity purposes - AM4 will be good to work with the next two, possibly 3 generations of AMD CPUs.

I don't want to buy RAM which is faster because of difference between 2133MHz price and 2667/3000MHz price... (this is an issue in my country, nothing related to this price increases in RAM...)

You'd only really worry about the higher RAM speeds once you start getting into serious overclocking. Most DDR4 boards default to 2133 and if you run XMP (extreme memory profile) then you'll get the full benefit of your RAM, but running on default settings you won't need to worry about that.

Also, I think that when Ryzen 2 releases (18/19 of April), we'll see new H310/B360/H370 motherboards that support Coffee Lake.

Well we should have those already. I think Intel was promising them by April / May so within the next couple of months.

So considering all of this that I wrote, can you tell me what would be the right choice? i7-8700 or Ryzen 1700?

That's kind of up to you - you can't go wrong with either one. The one thing you need to keep in mind in this decision - Ryzen does *NOT* have onboard video support. Only the new Ryzen G series does, and most currently available AM4 motherboards would need a BIOS update prior to running those CPUs. With that in mind if I were you, I would go with the stock i7-8700.

 

[jovan23stojanovic]

I also know that if I go with Ryzen (7) 1700, I won't need CPU fan at all because from what I've seen, the stock cooler is more than enough.

I know that AM4 will be supported by the 2020 year, but I am looking for CPU which will be in the long run.

If you're not going to overclock then there's no point in going with Ryzen. Ryzen is tailor made for overclocking and requires a bit more tweaking than your average Intel CPU. The one reason you would go with Ryzen over Intel in your situation is longevity purposes - AM4 will be good to work with the next two, possibly 3 generations of AMD CPUs.

I don't want to buy RAM which is faster because of difference between 2133MHz price and 2667/3000MHz price... (this is an issue in my country, nothing related to this price increases in RAM...)

You'd only really worry about the higher RAM speeds once you start getting into serious overclocking. Most DDR4 boards default to 2133 and if you run XMP (extreme memory profile) then you'll get the full benefit of your RAM, but running on default settings you won't need to worry about that.

Also, I think that when Ryzen 2 releases (18/19 of April), we'll see new H310/B360/H370 motherboards that support Coffee Lake.

Well we should have those already. I think Intel was promising them by April / May so within the next couple of months.

So considering all of this that I wrote, can you tell me what would be the right choice? i7-8700 or Ryzen 1700?

That's kind of up to you - you can't go wrong with either one. The one thing you need to keep in mind in this decision - Ryzen does *NOT* have onboard video support. Only the new Ryzen G series does, and most currently available AM4 motherboards would need a BIOS update prior to running those CPUs. With that in mind if I were you, I would go with the stock i7-8700.

Thank you so much for helping and explaining section by section.
Cheers!

 

[g-unit1111]

Thank you so much for helping and explaining section by section.
Cheers!

Sure! That's what we are here for!