Have a read of my draft ti0, you might find it helps:
The difference between AMD and intel for gaming.
Firstly, you need to decide what your priorities are, and what you will use the PC for.
Things such as: light gaming, heavy gaming, basic work (e.g. MS Office), heavy work (e.g. video editing, 3d modeling).
For the most part in current games the biggest difference will be made by the selection of the GPU. Get a great GPU + worse CPU rather than worse GPU + great CPU.
The AMD FX CPU's have
many cores, which are
weaker.
intel i5's have
less cores, which are
stronger.
The intel's consequently have better performance per core. In older games, the intels perform much better as those games are optimised for good performance with only a few cores (single-threading).
In newer games, the AMD FX's really shine due to the introduction of games using more cores (multi-threading).
The difference comes in depending on what you want to use the PC for. If you're on a tight budget, save some money and go with the AMD and spend the extra money on a better GPU that will give you better performance than any CPU could.
i5: Good for older games (single-threaded), Good for newer games (multi-threaded), Good for general work, great all-round CPU and probably the best around for current games (may change in future, see here: http://www.corsair.com/blog/ps4-xbone-pcgaming/ ).
AMD: Slightly worse for older games (single-threaded), Great for newer games (multi-threaded e.g. BF4, Crysis 3), Good for light/heavy work, extra cores are great for 3d modeling and video editing or rendering, great CPU whilst costing much less than the intel. Even though it's worse in older games it will run them perfectly well and smoothly.
Regardless, both will perform well.
For an i5, I would recommend an i5 3570k or a 4670k. Why? They are king for gaming performance at the moment and since they are the k version they are unlocked and can be overclocked in future for a performance boost.
For an AMD, I would recommend a FX 6300/8320/8350 [
Do NOT go with a bulldozer CPU, only piledriver. List here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piledriver_(microarchitecture) <-- That should all be one link, not sure why it splits.]. Why? Great multi-threaded performance for newer games and heavy work, are just fine in older games (not overkill, can deliver smooth frame rates maxed with a good GPU), and are great for productivity with a tame pricetag.
Some non-synthetic benchmarks for AMD FX 83xx vs i5/i7:
Gaming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc
Gaming and Streaming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE
In conclusion, budget gaming/work: AMD. Not on a budget gaming/work: i5. The i5 currently delivers better performance but don't get the impression that the AMD is lagging behind. They are great for gaming and work with a really great pricetag, just not currently up there with intel. In newer games though such as BF4 the AMD's have caught up in performance and in some cases deliver better performance than the intel's for much less money. You will get great, smooth FPS with either.
Either solution will game just fine with a nice GPU, focus mainly on that.
As for nextgen, it is difficult to speculate. Next gen games may/may not be optimised for multicore cpu's such as the FX so they can get more performance. Games like Watch Dogs and BF4 are highly multithreaded but that does not necessarily speak true of all games. However, take a look at this: http://www.corsair.com/blog/ps4-xbone-pcgaming/
The i5 has 4 beefy cores and the FX has 8 slightly weaker cores (please no-one start the physical/not argument). In single threaded games the i5 therefore has the advantage as they use less cores. In multithreaded games the FX catches up and in some instances performs better. In other multi-threaded apps such as those used for video editing or 3d modeling the FX is ahead. The i7's ivy/haswell would be ahead or on par with that however, but for much more cost.
Due to the extra cores available the FX has the ability to record/stream with less FPS loss (here are some links you should check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE &
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc
Anyway, as I said it's pointless and relatively difficult to speculate about what the future will hold. Get what you need for right now and then upgrade in future when you need more power, or overclock!
Both CPU's will perform very well and games are more dependent on having a good GPU anyway.
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TL;DR - both are great for gaming, focus more on the GPU.
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