Intel or AMD?

[vwcrusher]

I plan on upgrading my PC over the next few months, and after looking at some of the opinions regarding the above, I admit I am conflicted. The intended use will include typical surfing and emailing, but also fairly heavy use of Adobe Lightroom, and occasional gaming (Fallout 76, etc).

It seems that for single threaded use, the Intels seem best (faster clock), but the AMDs include chip coolers and might be better (not sure how much) for Lightroom.

Any direction would be appreciated...thanks.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Both Intel and AMD's current CPUs are excellent. You really cant go wrong with either CPU. It is like comparing a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Intel's CPUs have a slight edge in gaming performance (around 5-10%) and AMD's CPUs have the edge in workstation task. Since you are considering heave use of Lightroom and occasional gaming, then I would look at AMD

As far as the cooler is concerned AMD's CPUs come with a pretty good stock cooler. But this will really only matter for overclocking. Running a CPU at stock frequency, the included cooler will really just be a cost saving feature than anything else.

 

[Gaidax]

For Lightroom and Adobe as a whole? Intel. Adobe collaborate closely with Intel and software is optimized for Intel heavily.

If you are in Adobe ecosystem Intel is simply safest and often best choice.

 

[vwcrusher]

Thanks for the replies.
If I had noted equal games and Lightroom, would that have altered your guidance?
One follow on question: Which Intel (or AMD) CPU would you suggest? Keeping in mind a few months down the road?
Also, I plan on adding a Nvidia GTX 1070 to the system....thoughts?

Again, thanks.

 

[Gaidax]

Need to know your budget to suggest this. It will also affect a lot whether you should go Intel or AMD, because if budget is very strict then Intel lose a lot of luster.

In general, Intel also seems to be better in gaming, as a whole you seem to have hit all the Intel strong checkboxes. Not to misunderstand, Ryzen is very good, but as you seem to know - they rely on core count and massive multithreading to get their edge and games are still not there or maybe rather still value single core performance more than extra threads. As for Adobe, as mentioned, they are in one boat with Intel, it’s Adobe thing really.

 

[vwcrusher]

Need to know your budget to suggest this. It will also affect a lot whether you should go Intel or AMD, because if budget is very strict then Intel lose a lot of luster.

In general, Intel also seems to be better in gaming, as a whole you seem to have hit all the Intel strong checkboxes. Not to misunderstand, Ryzen is very good, but as you seem to know - they rely on core count and massive multithreading to get their edge and games are still not there or maybe rather still value single core performance more than extra threads. As for Adobe, as mentioned, they are in one boat with Intel, it’s Adobe thing really.

I don't tend to go with the latest and greatest as they tend to be way over priced.....what would you suggest from Intel and perhaps MB as well?

Thanks

 

[feelinfroggy777]

You dont have to go with the greatest, but you should go with the latest. If you are looking at Intel, then you should get an 8th gen part. Just as if you want AMD, you should get a second gen Ryzen part.

If you are looking at buying a few months from now, I would not lock into a decision today. Right now the best maintstream CPU that Intel offers is the 8700k. It is a great CPU. So it would be the latest and greatest, for the mainstream. But in a couple of months Intel may release an 8 core mainstream CPU. So by that time it wont be the greatest.

 

[vwcrusher]

You dont have to go with the greatest, but you should go with the latest. If you are looking at Intel, then you should get an 8th gen part. Just as if you want AMD, you should get a second gen Ryzen part.

If you are looking at buying a few months from now, I would not lock into a decision today. Right now the best maintstream CPU that Intel offers is the 8700k. It is a great CPU. So it would be the latest and greatest, for the mainstream. But in a couple of months Intel may release an 8 core mainstream CPU. So by that time it wont be the greatest.

Thanks for the reply. I will keep an eye on the 8700k price when Intel introduces the next gen.
On a related note, is there any specific mb that I should consider?

 

[feelinfroggy777]

For Intel, I like the Asrock Z370 Extreme4. It is a good mid-range motherboard that has good features for a reasonable price. If you are not planning on overclocking, then a budget z370 board will be fine. But I would not pair the 8700k/8700 with a cheaper "B" or "H" board. The way Intel's turbo works, those board can struggle with the power delivery to maintain the all core turbo of 4.3ghz.