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Any Intel fans that have switched back to AMD?

Associate
Joined
27 Jul 2009
Posts
375
Hi.

I have been exclusively using Intel CPUs for so long now (put it this way, the last AMD CPU I used was an Athlon XP), that I have inadvertently come to see them as the only choice.

I eventually stopped reading anything on AMD updates as they always seemed to be the lesser choice, compared to Intel - not a conscious decision but happened nevertheless.

There suddenly seems to have been a huge resurgence by AMD and I am trying to get up-to-speed with why/how this has all happened.

I was just looking for opinions on whether AMD and Intel truly are on an equal footing again or whether it is more of a "depends".

As I said, I am not an Intel fan by any means (their socket policy is particularly irritating), it just seems that AMDs progress sort of led me that way.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2010
Posts
3,069
I was always exclusively Amd but I will only upgrade when I really need to , however my first venture into intel was with a super cheap e2140 on a xfx 650i, this clocked to 3.2ghz. It Absolutely destroyed my 2.6ghz X2 4400 in gaming. It wasn't until the x4 620 that I returned to Amd and this mboard saw an x2 555 unlock to a x4 b55.

My 2600k system is still the best value as it lasted me so many years, still use it. Currently my main system is a 4770k and my laptop is an R5 2500u. I'lll see if the next zen2 is worthy.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
Posts
7,176
How did it happen? Well Intel hasn’t made any significant progress in IPC for years and AMD launched a new architecture with more cores and a competitive IPC that £ for £ usually beats Intel or is at least competitive in most scenario’s. Unless you have a specific task in mind or want to burn money (some areas still favour intel in terms of optimisation or single core speed) then Ryzen is a very good proposition and the impending launch of Zen 2 will likely press this advantage even further in terms of IPC improvements, power savings and core count.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2009
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24,765
Location
Planet Earth
My last primary system with an AMD CPU was an Athlon XP back in the day which lasted me until the Core2 was released. However,the main issue I had back in the day with AMD was its poor SFF system support. Ryzen is much better in this regard now. I recently switched over from my old IB Xeon E3 1230 V2/Core i7 3770 to a Ryzen 5 2600 when the former system started to have issues:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/cats-mini-itx-ryzen-5-review.18833557/

I did a few benchmarks comparing the two.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Sep 2010
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7,146
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
What happened was Intel grew complacent as AMD fell by the wayside with Bulldozer and its derivatives. As a result, Intel locked us into minor improvements to the same refreshed architecture for generation after generation after generation. Then AMD released a new architecture called Zen which saw some serious improvements over what they had before which brought them back into the game. Performance was pretty damn good but the price attached to it was excellent. Also there was a tangible, forward-thinking plan.

And Threadripper. Nobody expected that.

With AMD gaining some traction in both consumer and server space, Intel actually notice and finally relent and change their attitude to the desktop and give us a 6 core CPU (and push cores on their X299 platform up a lot to address Threadripper). but then AMD refreshed Zen which closed the performance gap to Intel even further, fixed a few issues, improved their own product by a good chunk, yet still kept an incredibly competitive price. At that point it looks like Intel panicked because as AMD were gaining ground with a new arch and a new process (they'd shrunk to 12nm at that point), Intel were still having major issues moving past their own 14nm process, which was holding up their future designs. So the rather half-assed 8 core Intel CPUs come out to maintain their performance crown at any cost.

Yet they still can't counter Threadripper.

And here we are now on the cusp of Zen 2 which could seriously put the hurt on Intel. Are AMD going to be better? I'm afraid it's still probably a "depends", but unless you have a specific workload or an extreme use case which will favour Intel, it's looking likely AMD are going to take the performance crown for a period. We'll find out soon.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
27 Jul 2009
Posts
375
Thanks very much for all that (great explanations) - I can't believe that most of this has passed me by.

Remarkable response from AMD then - a total monopoly is never a good thing from a consumer perspective.

The reason I am asking is that I am thinking of going much smaller (and hopefully less power consumption) for my next build and and (thanks to the advice on another thread) am seriously thinking about going with an AsRock Deskmini.

I naturally assumed that I should just go with a G5400 but AsRock are about to release another model that with AM4 - meaning that I could go with the 2200G that I have heard so much about.

Until recently, I would have instantly gone down the Intel root but based upon what you have said, the AMD version is now massively tempting.
 
Associate
Joined
31 Dec 2011
Posts
801
I wouldn't say I am an AMD fan however I am not a fan of Intel (bad business practices, big backing of Israel (not my cup of tea given the atrocities they commit)), I have been buying Intel since 2010 and the core series, Sandy bridge, Ivy bridge, and Devils Canyon, but have switched back to AMD and Ryzen 2600 and couldn't be happier with the performance.
 
Caporegime
Joined
1 Jun 2006
Posts
33,484
Location
Notts
its just normal to hate the succesful and favour the under dog. AMD is the under dog. thats why many perfer them. intel still is or has the better cpus. as for the new AMD cpus i guess we will see soon if all the hype for the last 6 months has been exactly that. this place will melt down if they havent at least matched current intel cpus. as some here are already worshipping then like its the 2nd coming. my prediction is close like the ryzen just not as fast and priced cheaper.

the real clever or sensible thing to do is not like any company more than another. just look at the raw product and buy what you need. buying a slower , worse product for what you need just based on how a company is really stupid.
 
Permabanned
Joined
11 Jan 2019
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bedlam
you should ask how many AMD fans are going back to AMD...
i was a long time AMD fan boy but ended up joining the dark side with x99 because AMD just had nothing.

i will be going back to the AMD team thought, i sold off my x99 rig last months to try and beat the big price beating(if AMD do good)(Please do good i sold my X*@! rig) ;)
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2014
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2,585
Location
East Sussex
I went back to AMD when threadripper came out as it was substantially cheaper than the Intel (Xeon) option - and I needed to upgrade as my system was getting way to old (last use of AMD before that was the Athlon XP)

Edit: Also just built a new server based on Ryzen as managed to get an 8c16t CPU with motherboard for £210 - this would have cost me double (at least I think) to get an Intel platform at same spec with ECC support
 
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Permabanned
Joined
23 Apr 2014
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23,553
Location
Hertfordshire
Dont prefer either, just buy what I feel like at the time I am changing. Though my house has almost gone totally AMD CPU's, once I upgrade to Ryzen 2 and my 2700X gets passed onto my son, his 2600 to daughter and daughters 1600X will go into my media server box to replace an aging 3570k. :p No intels left.
 

ljt

ljt

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2002
Posts
4,540
Location
West Midlands, UK
I just go with whatever offers me the best for my budget. This time around it was AMD (1600x) Intel couldn't offer me a 6 core 12 thread CPU for £200. Closest they had at the time was a 7700k which was well over, and they still can't offer a 6c/12t for near £200, so AMD was the better choice.
 
Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2006
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1,785
Location
Scotland
Ive been Intel for quite a few years now. My lga1150 board died and i didnt want replace it given the cost and its investing in a dead end.

I was just going to stick with Intel but decided to go for a 2600 as it was a great price, with a view to 3xxx later this year. Hopefully its a good price/performance compromise.
 
Caporegime
Joined
24 Dec 2005
Posts
40,065
Location
Autonomy
I don’t give a rats **** wether my system is intel or AMD...I’ll buy the fastest for my budget...AMD Opteron was my rig when intel had the slower chips...then core 2 duo hit and the legendary Q6600 was the chip to own...then from then on intel drip fed...right up until 6700k 7700k etc...

I had a 4790k then a 6700k for years and didn’t feel the need to upgrade...I decided not to get the 6 core intel and wait for a 8 core 16 thread part...I weighed up my options and waited...as even a Ryzen 8/16 was not a compelling reason to upgrade...

Then I had the opportunity to sell my 6700k mobo and ram so thought I’d upgrade to a intel 9900k and an intel 8/16 cpu..

This lasted 8 weeks :p as I was using my laptop most of the time...

I sold the 9900k and bought some premium bonds lol but needed a home for my 1080ti so I bought a Ryzen 2600 clocked it to 4.1ghz and will plop in a 3700x on release...

I got a gaming machine lost a few FPS not really enough to care at 3440x 1440p and bagged £750

If intel release a far superior chip down the line with enough reason to upgrade I’ll jump ship again...I really don’t care who makes what.
 
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