Why is AMD so much cheaper than intel

[shaunw50]

Hey so I am looking to build my first pc but looking at amd compared to intel at the cpu and gpu they are so much cheaper, why is this? is it because intel performance is better. This pc is going to be used for gaming, so why spend more on intel?

 

[rgd1101]

It you want to compare, read reviews and see.

 

[Pinhedd]

Hey so I am looking to build my first pc but looking at amd compared to intel at the cpu and gpu they are so much cheaper, why is this? is it because intel performance is better. This pc is going to be used for gaming, so why spend more on intel?

Yes, Intel processors are generally regarded as being better. This does not mean that AMD processors are worthless, just that you get what you pay for and AMD processors can't currently justify a higher price point.

If you are building a gaming PC you had best go with Intel

 

[neon neophyte]

because amd can't touch a 180 dollar intel cpu in terms of performance.

 

[ilysaml]

They are doing great in the GPU market, they just need some cash and some luck to compete with Intel in the enthusiasts CPU market. However, the upcoming Piledriver should tell us if AMD has a chance to catch up with Intel or not.

 

[jmsellars1]

In basic terms, Intel will do a lot more per Mhz. AMD might be able to throw out a 3.6Ghz 8 core CPU but it's not a lot of use in games that don't even fully utilise 4 cores yet. The FX-8150 is generally going to get beaten by a Sandy Bridge i3 in games.

In workstation based tasks, I believe both are viable. Those programs tend to make use of more cores which favours AMD. (Intel has Hyperthreading which kind of makes up for this if you go i3 or i7 though.) Just 'viable' isn't enough for me personally though, since AMD tend to use twice the power to get the job done. I'm a bit of a low noise freak.

The one place I would always go AMD is with their fusion APU's. Fantastic for laptops, HTPC's and very low end gaming machines. Intel's integrated graphics are a bit lacking at the moment, HD 4000 is the only one worth using for a balanced system in my opinion.