When to go AMD and when to go Intel?

[mworthyc]

If money isn't a factor then everyone says Intel. If someone is looking for that "bang for the buck" everyone says AMD. But naturally there is an overlap between high and low end where both AMD and Intel are viable options. So then there are three zones where Intel is the clear choice, AMD is a clear choice, and where it could go either way. My question is where you guys think those ranges are?

Example:
Clear Intel: >$2000
Clear AMD: <$1000
Either way: $1000-$2000

I know it's not clear cut but I just want a general idea. Thanks everyone in advance.

 

[kirilmatthew]

I think what you said was already quite accurate. AMD should be used in builds under $1000 because I would not use an i5 in games builds under $1000. It pulls too much money from the GPU. The i3 is a bad choice and the FX 6300 or 8320 is what I'd go to. For $1000-$2000 its more of a toss up. If you aren't just gaming, the go AMD, if the games you play are optimized for multiple threads then go AMD, if you plan on using your build for a long time then I'd go AMD. If you play non-optimized games or older games, which make up most current games then go Intel. When you go over $2000 you probably want an i7, in which case there's no AMD competition at all, so Intel is obviously the way to go. Hope this helps!

 

[mworthyc]

I think what you said was already quite accurate. AMD should be used in builds under $1000 because I would not use an i5 in games builds under $1000. It pulls too much money from the GPU. The i3 is a bad choice and the FX 6300 or 8320 is what I'd go to. For $1000-$2000 its more of a toss up. If you aren't just gaming, the go AMD, if the games you play are optimized for multiple threads then go AMD, if you plan on using your build for a long time then I'd go AMD. If you play non-optimized games or older games, which make up most current games then go Intel. When you go over $2000 you probably want an i7, in which case there's no AMD competition at all, so Intel is obviously the way to go. Hope this helps!

So if I have a $1500 budget and mostly game with light video editing it basically becomes a brand preference thing or some other minor stuff?

 

[kirilmatthew]

I think what you said was already quite accurate. AMD should be used in builds under $1000 because I would not use an i5 in games builds under $1000. It pulls too much money from the GPU. The i3 is a bad choice and the FX 6300 or 8320 is what I'd go to. For $1000-$2000 its more of a toss up. If you aren't just gaming, the go AMD, if the games you play are optimized for multiple threads then go AMD, if you plan on using your build for a long time then I'd go AMD. If you play non-optimized games or older games, which make up most current games then go Intel. When you go over $2000 you probably want an i7, in which case there's no AMD competition at all, so Intel is obviously the way to go. Hope this helps!

So if I have a $1500 budget and mostly game with light video editing it basically becomes a brand preference thing or some other minor stuff?

That's my view! There are reasons to chose one or the other such as if you'll be doing other work on your PC or what games you will play, but either will work fine! Video editing though, will run much better on the FX and it will nearly match the i7! Are you building a rig at $1500 now? Because I can help you with that too if you want!
Edit: I'm just going to throw this build out to you because I think it would be wicked. I included the FX 8350 with a great cooler for a massive overclock(more then 4.5 for sure) and a radeon 7990 which is wicked value for $700 and comes with 8 free games! Here it is: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/kirilmatt/saved/2bcc