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Intel CPU vs AMD CPU/APU for gaming with AMD R9 280x

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  • Gaming
  • Power Supplies
  • Graphics Cards
  • CPUs
  • AMD
Last response: in CPUs
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June 11, 2014 5:38:45 AM

Hey

I hope to be upgrading my computer within the next month or so and was wondering two things.
What CPU is better for gaming in general the i7 4790k for its supposed overclocking capabilities.
Or a AMD CPU/APU (forgive me i don't usually use AMD for CPUs so i can't list any)

I hope to have an R9 280x and possible upgrade to two (what is the recommended PSU requirement for this that includes all power for the CPU and drivers (HDD/SSD/Network/Audio) I did use one of those calculators and apparently will need about 1150 PSU).

Please bare in mind i would be using this rig for Gaming, Application use and mining tools (possibly)

My second question is: is it true that AMD processors work better with the AMD graphics cards or isn't there that much or no performance boost.

Any advice is welcome with hopefully recommendations and links to possible CPU's or PSUs

More about : intel cpu amd cpu apu gaming amd 280x

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June 11, 2014 5:44:15 AM

NickHough said:
Hey

I hope to be upgrading my computer within the next month or so and was wondering two things.
What CPU is better for gaming in general the i7 4790k for its supposed overclocking capabilities.
Or a AMD CPU/APU (forgive me i don't usually use AMD for CPUs so i can't list any)

I hope to have an R9 280x and possible upgrade to two (what is the recommended PSU requirement for this that includes all power for the CPU and drivers (HDD/SSD/Network/Audio) I did use one of those calculators and apparently will need about 1150 PSU).

Please bare in mind i would be using this rig for Gaming, Application use and mining tools (possibly)

My second question is: is it true that AMD processors work better with the AMD graphics cards or isn't there that much or no performance boost.

Any advice is welcome with hopefully recommendations and links to possible CPU's or PSUs


Intel CPU's while costing more, give you a performance increase over AMD. AMD really doesn't have an answer to the i7 line. Especially not the new 4790k.
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June 11, 2014 5:55:13 AM

Okay well that's helpful so the i7 4790k is best for gaming.
But what sort of power supply am i looking at for 2 R9 280x with the i7 core? about 900 like it suggests on the website for crossfiring the cards, or higher up to 1150 like the PSU calculator said?

I have this PSU in mind, not too expensive 1150watts and 12v rail. Any other suggestions within the price range up to £150
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June 11, 2014 5:59:47 AM

It's not that simple actually.

This depends entirely on what games you play and how many cores they can use.

In older or low core count games, Intel has the edge.

In modern multi-core capable games that can use all 6 or 8 AMD cores, it's very close, with AMD having a price edge of about 20-40% and Intel having a FPS performance edge of around 5-10%

Very few games benefit from Hyper Threading on the i7, so most people will recommend an i5 for gaming.

i5 and FX 8320/8350 will perform nearly the same in games, especially on Windows 8. In some cases, the FX 8350 will even come close to an i7 with crossfire/SLI on both systems scaling nicely up to 2 GPUs. (Watchdogs, BF3, BF4 for example). For 3 GPUs an i7 scales the best.

After 2-3 years, the i5 equals the cost of the AMD FX CPU in power savings. So if you plan to keep your system for 2+ years it really does not matter which you pick.
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June 11, 2014 6:04:14 AM

Thanks, but the reason i say i7 is because i will be using programs such as VB.net and Visual Studio, which do benefit slightly from hyperthreading as well as photoshop/illustrator - am starting a degree in computer science soon so hyperthreading will be useful.
I will be overclocking whatever cpu i get so i guess its stability of the core i need at higher speeds, my current i7 2700k is running at 4.9ghz but doesn't utilise my GPU as it only runs PCi-e 2.0 (sandbridge core).

and yes becoming a student i don't want to have to upgrade my PC for atleast another 4 years but be able to play games for that long (won't be able to afford to upgrade it)
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June 11, 2014 6:35:35 AM

In modern multi-core capable games that can use all 6 or 8 AMD cores
People should stop saying games using cores, software don't do cores, they use threads.

Very few games benefit from Hyper Threading on the i7, so most people will recommend an i5 for gaming.
Again wrong, to the games a thread is a thread.
read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

a i7 2700k is still great if you overclock to 4.9. and with just one 280x, it plenty fast. save the $ to get a better gpu 290 or 290x or get a ssd.
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June 11, 2014 7:13:41 AM

NickHough said:
Thanks, but the reason i say i7 is because i will be using programs such as VB.net and Visual Studio, which do benefit slightly from hyperthreading as well as photoshop/illustrator - am starting a degree in computer science soon so hyperthreading will be useful.
I will be overclocking whatever cpu i get so i guess its stability of the core i need at higher speeds, my current i7 2700k is running at 4.9ghz but doesn't utilise my GPU as it only runs PCi-e 2.0 (sandbridge core).

and yes becoming a student i don't want to have to upgrade my PC for atleast another 4 years but be able to play games for that long (won't be able to afford to upgrade it)


PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0 will see no difference in performance with the GPU you are wanting. That card isn't capable of saturating a PCI-E 2.0 x16 or x8 slot. Honestly, your i7 is still enough till at least skylake. I would forget the CPU and motherboard upgrade and get a 290 or 290x.
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June 12, 2014 3:33:13 AM

Quote:
In modern multi-core capable games that can use all 6 or 8 AMD cores
People should stop saying games using cores, software don't do cores, they use threads.

Very few games benefit from Hyper Threading on the i7, so most people will recommend an i5 for gaming.
Again wrong, to the games a thread is a thread.
read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

a i7 2700k is still great if you overclock to 4.9. and with just one 280x, it plenty fast. save the $ to get a better gpu 290 or 290x or get a ssd.


This is helpful, i mean the only major reason i wanted an upgrade was because of the fact that the i7 2700k being an Sandybridge and not Ivy. It doesn't utilise the PCI-e 3.0 of my motherboard, and i was hoping for 2x R9 280x's in crossfireX.

I already have a SSD card which is quite fast and all works well.
I might go to R9 290 or 290x but would still require a PCI-e 3.0 capable cpu (Ivy or higher) or doesn't the 290+ utilise the 3.0 slot to its maximum capacity?
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June 12, 2014 6:34:02 AM

Even 280x's are not going to fill a PCI-E 2.0 slot. You are worrying over nothing. No single gpu card can saturate a 2.0, x16 or x8 speed slot, much less a 3.0.

http://www.logicalincrements.com/articles/i7-3770k-vs-i...


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