Is Intel more "future proof" than AMD?

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Pyotr

New Member
Hello. As probably none of you know, I'm in the process of theorycrafting a new gaming computer, and to be honest it's going quite well. I'm pretty much only stuck on deciding which case and which CPU to get. I think the case part will sort itself out eventually, but the CPU one might need a bit more thought.

I know Intel processors are generally seen as "better" in benchmark and real life tests (sources?). I also know that either option with the right hardware would give me a super nice gaming computer. BUT, someone who I think knows more about computers than I do claim Intel are simply more future proof. Is that true? He said something about Intel motherboards supporting PCI express 3.0 and AMD motherboards not supporting that. Might have been more things, I'm not sure. :(

On the other hand, CPUs seem to become slightly less valuable for gaming, while good graphics cards increase in importance.

So what is the truth? Will an Intel last me longer or is that pretty much bullpoop?
 
Intel will last you longer since they have more power, plain and simple. As for pci-e 3.0, that depends on the motherboard, really i'm thinking AMD might have gotten it first, but they sure do use it better, the 990FX chipset supports a lot and some of the high end mobo's on newegg have 3 slots running either dual x16 or x16 and dual x8, which is rediculouse because even the GTX680 barely get anything from x16 over x8, the 690 might get a good boost from it because it is 2 680's on one card.Really, either will last you a good while, but right now, intel would go further.
 
Well, yes, but if money is tight, a fx 6100 is a great CPU in the middle of a i3 and i5, but a i5 is better, and I would get one.
 
What about the new Bulldozer ones? FX-8120 and FX-4100? Or is FX-6100 better for gaming?

Money might be tight for the build, and I have always kind of liked AMD, but at the same time I want something that lasts a decent amount of time.
Not that either of them would be a bad choice, I might just be a bit picky. ;)
 
Pyotr said:
What about the new Bulldozer ones? FX-8120 and FX-4100? Or is FX-6100 better for gaming?

Money might be tight for the build, and I have always kind of liked AMD, but at the same time I want something that lasts a decent amount of time.
Not that either of them would be a bad choice, I might just be a bit picky. ;)
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Well, the fx 8100 is almost the same price as a i5, so I would never get a 8100, as the i5 is better. The i3 is better than a 4100, so I would go for a i3 over a 4100. So, for something for $160, the 6100 is in the middle of price and performance of the i3 and i5. However, a 4100 will be a better choice for heavily threaded games like BF3, but a i3 is better in anything else almost.
 
Weird. Where I live (socialist Sweden :p) the 8120 is about 30% cheaper than the i5. And since it's pretty much a low clocked 8150 I could just clock it right back up there, no? :) The 8150 is the same price as i5 though.
Edit: That's kind of off-topic though, but still. :p
 
Yes, you can clock it up to the same levels. But you'd most likely not use all those cores for gaming. A 6100 is a good price for what it does.

For the future-proof argument, one could argue that Intel is more future-proof since its faster, but the Ivy Bridge CPUs are most likely the end of the line for the 1155 socket. PCI-e 3.0 is a good feature to have, but like said, graphics cards won't use the benefits of 3.0.

As for AMD, its slower, yes, but my 60fps+ on ultra settings for BF3 says otherwise. (but paired with a $400 graphics card...) There are new CPUs coming out for AMD that will work with the AM3+ motherboards.

This discussion comes up every week, pretty much.
 
I figured. Just couldn't find any threads with what I actually wanted to know by searching. Maybe I'm just a bad searcher. :p
Thanks for the answers. From what I can gather, an AMD will be just fine for a good while to come.
If anyone else has anything to chip in, feel free. :)
 
They are fine, but there's another generation that is projected to launch mid Q3 this year, so within the next few months we should know how it performs, but when you compare Trinity which uses an early version of the processor to Llano which is about equal to an athlon, then they have taken a good step forward with them, and by the time the desktop processors are out they should be a bit better than that.

Is this actually going to be a build? didn't you say it was like a dream build or something?
 
byteninja2 said:
Well, the fx 8100 is almost the same price as a i5, so I would never get a 8100, as the i5 is better.
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How do you figure that? The 8120 is unlocked and runs 169 bucks. A Intel i5 2310 thats locked is 179 bucks. The closest Intel has is the i5 2500K thats unlocked, but its 219 bucks. Get you a locked i5 2310 for 10 bucks more and lets see which one can be faster or any Intel under 200 bucks. If not quit talking BS.
 
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jonnyp11 said:
Is this actually going to be a build? didn't you say it was like a dream build or something?
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To be honest, I don't know yet. :D I'm just theorycrafting right now until I can free up some actual funds to buy anything. I have mostly made up my mind on most parts, but processor and some minor other things are things I don't know much about. Actual user experience is pretty much invaluable in my eyes.
 
StrangleHold said:
How do you figure that? The 8120 is unlocked and runs 169 bucks. A Intel i5 2310 thats locked is 179 bucks. The closest Intel has is the i5 2500K thats unlocked, but its 219 bucks. Get you a locked i5 2310 for 10 bucks more and lets see which one can be faster or any Intel under 200 bucks. If not quit talking BS.
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ha, i can get a 8120 for 150, when i sell this if i can convince my dad to let me do this again i'll try to grab one, at least a 6100 for 120, prob will be a 6100 so i can get a better mobo. For the money a FX and a 212+ would kill an intel as far as i'm concerned, but if you can afford it i'd take a 2500k/3570k and cooler over it.
 
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