i7-6500U or AMD FX-8800P?

donline · Apr 20, 2016

Hi, which would you recommend between Core i7-6500U or AMD FX-8800P for light video editing, light graphic editing (Paint.net, perhaps a little Photoshop once in a while), website building (WordPress), browsing the web, emails and watching videos online (youtube)? I'm an amateur web designer and looking for a good all-rounder CPU.

Also, for my uses above which would you choose between the following two options?
1) Laptop with Core i7-6500U and Intel HD Graphics 520
2) Laptop with AMD FX-8800P and Radeon R8 M350DX (2GB)

Thanks very much for your feedback.
D

gonf · Apr 20, 2016

it all depend how much can you get the i7 laptop for. the range from 579usd to 1500 usd.
if you are getting the 579usd one. go for the i7 laptop if you are getting the 1500usd one. go for the AMD.
both won't get you far for "graphic" stuff yet both are alright.
but if it up to me. i'll go look for a i7 deal that under 800usd. (one that come with a mid to high end video card in it)

donline · Apr 20, 2016

Thanks gonf, so which would you go with between these?

1) Laptop with Core i7-6500U and Intel HD Graphics 520
2) Laptop with AMD FX-8800P and Radeon R8 M350DX (2GB)

rgd1101 · Apr 20, 2016

MERGED QUESTION
Question from donline : "Compare laptops - which best for light video editing"

donline :

gonf · Apr 20, 2016

go for the i7 since is 579usd with vs amd 617usd.
but just for the info. both computer doesn't have much to offer on the Video card.

or how about (780usd to start)
Dell Inspiron i7559-12623RED
i5 6300HQ
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB GDDR5
15,6" Full HD (1920x1080) (add 78usd to get 4k touch screen if you want i7 with it. it +200 total)
Hard Drive 1 TB Hybrid HDD + Flash Cache
8GB RAM
Wireless Type 802.11 A/C
4.6 pounds
Marathon battery life: With a 6-cell 74Whr battery, expect 10+ hours of battery life (which i think is bull shit. you will be lucky if you get 4 hrs out of it)

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i7559-12623RED-Generation-GeForce/dp/B015PYZ186/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1461202483&sr=1-6&refinements=p_n_availability%3A1248800011%2Cp_74%3A40000-99999%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012497011%7C3012495011

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks gonf.

Could anyone else share their view on choosing between the two options:
1) Laptop with Core i7-6500U and Intel HD Graphics 520
2) Laptop with AMD FX-8800P and Radeon R8 M350DX (2GB)

(For light HD video editing using Cyberlink PowerDirector or Sony Movie Studio, plus web design [wordpress] and light graphic editing, browsing the web)....

Thanks, D

Arronleeds · Apr 23, 2016

id get the i7, every laptop ive had with amd cpus has been slow as crap, thats not being a fanboy either.

my laptop from 2014 with an amd a10-7300 was getting beaten by my girlfriends 2nd gen i3 laptop related in terms of speed.

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

Some benchmarks here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10000/who-controls-user-experience-amd-carrizo-thoroughly-tested/16

Carrizo's CPU is greatly inferior to the i7, but it has a faster GPU, so it really depends on your task.

Anandtech's conclusion:

There's also the fact that the performance per watt metrics lie purely in Intel's camp, and OEMs seem to believe that the highest specification CPU solves all issues, as in the Toshiba Satellite in our roundup that had the FX-8800P and not a lot else. When compared to the i5-5200U or i6-5300U, very few metrics went in AMD's favor, partly because of the memory issue but also due to Intel's architecture mapping better to common software.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks Ecky!

The most GPU intensive task I would be doing is creating/editing HD videos (for uploading to YouTube) using Cyberlink PowerDirector (or perhaps Sony Movie Studio)...

Best to go with the i7 do you think?

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks Arronleeds, quite a few people have recommended Intel over AMD

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

My nod is toward the i7; Carrizo is the best mobile CPU AMD has made in a long time, but it's not an i7 competitor, and nearly all laptops that have it, have poor design choices, such as only using single channel memory.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Great, so Core i7-6500U with integrated Intel HD Graphics 520 will do the job then in Cyberlink

By the way, what's your choice for entry-level movie creation/editing? Cyberlink/Sony Movie Studio/ or?

Almost forgot to ask... I understand the i7-6500U draws memory from the system RAM and can go up to 1.7GB I believe - does it usually reach this maximum? (i.e. is this a realistic max or just hype).

Appreciate your guidance!

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

It's been a while since I've done any serious editing, but I used to prefer Vegas. Better to get a second opinion from someone who has worked with more contemporary programs.

Regarding the graphics memory usage, in general desktop usage I wouldn't expect it to be more than 1-200MB.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Thanks Ecky, that's interesting!

I wonder why people buy dedicated graphics cards with typically 2-4GB of RAM when the graphics memory usage is so low at 1-200MB (I think Cyberlink says 128MB as a minimum in it's spec)?

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

It's all about gaming - textures take up a lot of space. To run "very high" textures, more than 2GB of video memory is often necessary. However, you also need a GPU that is fast enough to deliver playable framerates with those large texture sizes, which is why it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a low-end GPU with a lot of memory.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Ah of course, yes gaming (not something I'm into except occasionally Worms).
Would the video editing I would be doing be more CPU intensive than GPU then?
I was wondering about the balance between CPU, GPU and RAM when doing light video editing (PowerDirector)...
Thanks!

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

I can't speak for PowerDirector, but whether or not software is more CPU- or GPU-accelerated varies from program to program. In general, CPU-accelerated encoding is more flexible, offering greater compression and quality, but takes far longer. Intel's iGPUs have a feature called "QuickSync" which is an incredibly fast encoder, powered by dedicated hardware, but you don't have a lot of control over the output.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

Yea, I think the HD520 works with MPEG-2 but not MPEG-4 (might that be correct?). I don't need anything too special for video output, just something that looks good quality on youtube (not sure which format/output might be best?).
Thanks

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

Haswell supports MPEG-4, and Skylake adds H265 support.

donline · Apr 23, 2016

That was a nice reference, thanks Ecky!

Cool that it specifically mentioned about Cyberlink PowerDirector.

My only concern was where it said that Quick Sync gives lower quality results than with CPU only encoder, and that speed is prioritised over quality...

Ecky · Apr 23, 2016

You always have the option of using the CPU to encode. It's up to you to decide of the output quality difference is worth the 80-95% reduction in encoding time. IMO, the quality is still great, but YMMV.

gonf · Apr 24, 2016

don't be confused with GPU= Gaming. it much more than that. just put it this way. everything Video related = GPU usage. that is why I put the 780usd laptop as a suggestion. since you want to do Video editing and photo shop.
it always better to have the GPU power than not haveing it and finding out you need it later. as a laptop. you can't upgrade your GPU or CPU once build. so don't cheap on the 200usd (579 vs 780).

and Arronleeds did you upgrade to Windows10 on your A10? I know someone with the A10 laptop that was very happy about it once after the upgrade from windows 8. he was saying it when from a not usable laptop to a very good laptop. give it a try with all the new driver install.

donline · Apr 25, 2016

Thanks Ecky and gonf for all your guidance.

I will play around with both systems and see how things go.

It would be nice to have the extra flexibility of having a dedicated graphics card... though I do prefer the i7 as a stronger processor. Hmm will have to find a balance.

Thanks again, D

Arronleeds · May 6, 2016

Gonf I did try yes mate it just sucked, I ended up selling it as it was useless and my pc is all I use.

i7-6500U or AMD FX-8800P?

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