Intel vs AMD for Gaming: What Every Gamer Needs to Know
The biggest rivalries in the gaming field aren’t all between game developers and publishers. The challenge that chip manufacturers set for each other is one of the most intense and vicious in any field.
The biggest rivalry in this field is team red vs. team blue, AKA AMD and Intel. The colors were chosen to represent their logo designs, and gaming enthusiasts are serious about which company they back.
These competitive chipsets ensure that one of the two is likely represented in any custom PC build. There are other companies out there — like team Nvidia’s team green — but a three-tiered comparison is ungainly.
If the battle is one for market share (which it partially is), then Intel is the victor in some ways. They dominate nearly two-thirds of the CPU market. The question is whether this overwhelming lead is merited.
We’re going to compare the chipsets of Intel and AMD for gaming in this comprehensive guide. Learn what to put in your gaming PC below with WTFast.
We’ll start off by doing a general overview of AMD and Intel individually. From there, we’ll look at their processors and graphics cards. In the final analysis, we’ll uncover where these companies shine, and whether one is the definitive victor.
AMD
AMD is best known for their discrete chips. For a long time, they’ve dominated the market in graphics cards. However, AMD processors are also impressive pieces of equipment.
Their line of processors is known as AMD Ryzen. Ryzen 5 is made for casual use, Ryzen 7 for serious gaming, and Ryzen 9 for the highest quality gaming around. Ryzen CPUs are defined by generation in the thousands.
For example, AMD Ryzen 5000 is the newest line of dedicated CPUs. It also includes APUs, a system that combines both CPUs and GPUs. Modern Ryzen processors run on Zen architecture. Zen 3 is the current iteration, with Zen 4 coming shortly to update everything.
AMD also produces CPUs for more than gaming. AMD Threadrippers use multiple threads to perform countless processes. Threadripper takes its name from the individual threads, or simultaneous processes, that a core can perform. This can be helpful in a gaming CPU, but it’s more effective for rendering purposes by cost and power.
AMD CPUs are gorgeously effective, but they aren’t the sole way the company has gotten a luxurious name. Since the early 2000s, AMD has achieved market dominance in the world of graphics cards thanks to the Radeon line. These graphics cards more than challenge any discrete efforts by Nvidia or Intel.
Intel
With AMD thoroughly explored, it’s time to get into what makes Intel so special. Intel is primarily known for its processors. Unlike AMD, Intel marks its processors by both individual label and numeric generation.
Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7, and Intel Core i9 are equivalent to the similarly-numbered AMD chips. In addition to gaming-ready chips like Core i7, Intel also offers dedicated workstation processors that are great for video editing and heavy workloads.
The company is presently on its 12th generation of chips, known as Alder Lake. These processors are extremely powerful and tackle their last-generation chip issue of overheating. It does so in a variety of ways, including cores dedicated to specific functions. Intel CPUs feature a mixture of both efficiency cores and power cores.
For most of its recent history, Intel has avoided using discrete graphics cards. Instead, they’ve marketed effective entry-level, immediately usable CPUs featuring integrated graphics. With integrated graphics, there is no need for a discrete graphics card. This can be cost-effective.
How good are integrated graphics? Unfortunately, not very. They can make most games playable but will fall short of serious gamers who want to enjoy AAA games.
Not all is lost, however. In each of its recent generations, Intel has incorporated at least one KF-designated processor. These lack integrated graphics, allowing you to use your preferred graphics card.
Intel just released Arc Alchemist, their first standalone graphics card in years. Critical response was underwhelming, comparing it to high-end but not the best AMD processors. Perhaps their next release will be a genuine threat to AMD dominance.
Until then, we will have to make do with Intel’s existing offering. Next up, we compare the currently released processors and graphics cards to determine which is the best.
AMD vs Intel: How Do Their Processors Compare for Gamers?
The naming conventions of a given processor level suggest how cost-effective it will be. The difference between a processor and its lower level is usually more impressive than between it and its higher successor.
In the case of AMD and Intel, however, the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 are the most powerful options available.
Next up, we’ll be comparing the gold standard for both AMD and Intel’s high-end desktop processors. In terms of several design factors, the Ryzen 9 5950x and Intel Core i9-12900k are the pinnacle. In core count, clock speed, and gaming performance, they exceed any other CPU produced by their respective company.
Ryzen 9 5950x, with 16 cores and a boost clock of 4.9Ghz is the strongest CPU AMD produces. It also uses DDR4, though DDR5 may be in Ryzen’s future. It also has dual-threading and 24 PCI-E 4.0 ports.
This AMD powerhouse is going up against the Intel Core i9-12900K. It should be noted that its specs almost uniformly match the 12900KF, which is the model without integrated graphics.
This version features the separation of E-cores and P-cores (eight of each) we alluded to earlier. The P-cores feature a maximum boost clock of 5.5Ghz, with a maximum of 4.0Ghz for the E-cores. This still results in better single-core performance, and better multi-core performance.
This power does come at a cost. The power consumption of this processor is conspicuously high at 125W-241W. At maximum overclocking, that’s over twice its AMD counterpart's performance.
By most benchmarks (including price), the 12900K is the best CPU. The Ryzen 9 5950x will be better for multitasking but not as much as a dedicated workstation processor. Still, you may want to consider the 12900KF if you want the best gaming experience.
AMD vs Intel: How Do Their APUs Compare for Gamers?
Intel fairly outmatched AMD in the above comparison. Graphics cards are where the company begins to fall flat, however.
In all honesty, AMD’s biggest competition in graphics cards is not Intel, but in the GeForce RTX offerings. It’s also hard to gauge Intel’s current offerings when only part of the Alchemist line has been released.
Because of this, we are going to compare their APUs, sort of. APU is an AMD-specific term, so we will specifically be comparing the integrated graphics that come with PCs.
Integrated graphics, as we’ve made very clear, have their downfall. They won’t be able to run games in 4K at 60 FPS for years to come. However, if you have other systems to play intensive titles on you can afford to have a less capable graphics card. At this mid-range price point, lost quality and frame rates may be considered worth it.
The two competing integrated graphics cards are Intel’s UHD 770 and AMD’s Vega 8. Watching an online benchmark test immediately shows the difference between the two. UHD is run to its limits significantly easier and tends to have a more stuttering performance. Meanwhile, Vega is significantly more capable of running games.
The major difference here is that Intel uses integrated graphics for all their desktop processors. AMD’s options are only within APUs. For this reason, the high-performance processors of Intel are simply better than APU processors. Even the budget i5 Cores have 12 cores, whereas AMD Cezanne APUs never exceed eight.
Choosing the Best Build For You
Choosing the best individual build for your system isn’t the only essential. Things like a faster internet connection (which WTFast can help with) are equally essential to online gaming.
For the best gaming experience, we have to recommend AMD — with a catch. If you get an Intel processor without integrated graphics, you’ll have a remarkably powerful CPU. You’ll just need to make sure your new CPU is followed by a KF in the name.
For cost-effective measures, the question is more dubious. It depends on your specific budget for CPU or GPU upgrades and what your existing device uses. After all, Core and Ryzen CPUs can only slot into certain motherboards. Both chipsets offer high-end options, regardless of your final selection.
You can get a powerful processor and a serviceable graphics card for casual, indie, and older multiplayer games. This lower price means more money that you can save or spend on other parts of your build.
If you’d prefer a high-powered, undefeatable machine, we strongly recommend AMD. Year over year, their new entries continue to impress.
If you want more industry comparisons, WTFast is here for all gaming information. Follow up this processor-heavy post by comparing Intel and Nvidia graphics next.
Sources:
Intel/AMD x86 Computer CPU Market Share 2022 | Statista
