AMD Vs Intel for Gaming
There has been an age-old debate about which processor is better, and this debate continues when you consider the issue of AMD or Intel for gaming. Both these companies are behemoths of the computer processor industry, but Intel has the edge over AMD at the moment. Their pool of resources is far larger than AMD's and this is evident from their huge market share (around 85%). Intel processors are also costlier, and the reason behind this is longevity and marketing.
Though the performance of AMD processors is similar to those made by Intel, there is a massive difference in the prices for both. Video game enthusiasts are increasing at a very rapid rate today, and this in turn is causing the games themselves to become far more advanced and progressive. Heavy duty games require a very strong and fast processor, and this is something that gamers do not have a problem paying for.
When an individual is spending large amounts of money to buy video game consoles and expensive video game DVD's for their PC's, they do not mind shelling out a few more hundred dollars to get a better processor. After all, this implies that their games will run smoothly, and this is what any gamer wants. This debate gains more importance because of these two reasons; firstly the similarities in the processors but a massive difference in the price, and secondly the willingness of the gamers to pay a higher price for better performance of gaming laptops or desktops.
Which is Better for Gaming - AMD or Intel?
The Intel i7 960 is the best processor that you can get from this company today, and AMD's equivalent is the AMD Phenom II x4 965. The Intel processor costs as much as $290, while the AMD one will be available for around $190. The performance and the speed of both these processors is very similar, but the difference in price often convinces people to believe that Intel is better. And in this market segment, spending $100 more to get a so-called better performance is completely feasible. Thus, Intel wins this battle based on their reputation, prestige, brand name, marketing capacity or whatever you wish to call it.
Now the interesting thing is that the components of an AMD processor and an Intel processor are bound to be very different from each other. There are many components that come into the picture as far as gaming is concerned, and this causes many variations in the gameplay. The single biggest deterrent is the graphics cards that are used. Intel uses nvidia, whereas AMD uses ATI graphics cards, and these are considerably different from each other. This is a prime factor to remember when you compare the two processors.
When carrying out tests between the two processors to see which is better, it is important to compare the two on a similar platform. The memory of the machines must be the same, the motherboard must be the same, and all other configurations must also be similar in nature. Only then is it possible to truly check the superiority of one over the other. Various such tests show that on an average, an Intel processor performs better. But the key here is to consider if the gamer is getting value for money. Experienced gamers know that slight differences are negligible, and this can be sustained for a large price difference. Amateur gamers will simply assume that Intel is better because it costs more.
The minor differences that are present between the performances of both are the frames per second rates at which the game unfolds. Even a difference of about 20 fps cannot be noticed by the human eye, but Intel charges a cool $100 more for this. Surely, this is a disparity that is not worth considering. Thus the AMD wins hands down as far as gaming value is concerned, and this is the real battle. Though the performance of Intel will be marginally higher, it makes only the slightest of difference.
Moreover, using an AMD processor also gives you the benefit of using that extra money to purchase an additional graphics card. This will make your gaming machine unstoppable, and far outshine an Intel machine that would cost the same amount. For all these reasons, it is no surprise that AMD wins the battle between the two.
