Any thoughts on my switching to an AMD build?

garuda · 01 Mar 2021

I predominately do video editing using Adobe suites and Vegas NLEs; and do photo/video enhancement with AI software which relies on cores, GPUs, and speed (as you all know).

I‘m seriously considering switching from Intel camp to AMD. And when building computers, they seem more reliable and trouble-free if all or most of the components are made by the same company, especially for compatibility sake. Since processors are the main component for performance, I always tried to buy Intel processors and mobos, containing Intel chipsets, etc. But now Intel is dropping their mobo lines.

And some research discloses that AMD may have the fastest processors, such as the ThreadRipper TR-3990 with 64 cores and 128 threads. They also make their own boards and GPUs. And their metrics and benches seem to lead the pack. Although, the real challenge still seems to be choosing the component combinations that best balance the core count vs clock speeds to get the best performance for the tasks at hand.

So if someone wants to build a truly high-end performer, why wouldn’t they consider AMD? Any thoughts on this theory?

P.S. -- I'm throwing this out to the forum because in the past I have made expensive mistakes by believing the marketing hype, but failing to check with the people who own these system setups. Thanks for your feedback!

Berton · 01 Mar 2021

I'm not a gamer nor into video processing but can only give my experience, my first computer was an AMD 80386SX-40MHz to which, upon advice, added the 80387 FPU/Floating Point Unit that appeared to give better performance even to the display drawing. I've used AMDs ever since in my own builds and with Gigabyte motherboards which seem to be more stable albeit it overall-slower maybe, I wouldn't say that is good for gamers.

My last new/OEM purchase was an ASUS about 4 years ago with AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor 3.50 GHz and their board, has been solid with the nVidia GT 710 PCIe X16 video card [no onboard video], it was from their business line and cheaper than the parts for a new build. I have 3 AMDs I built over the years that are Upgrades, 2 from Win7 and Win8/8.1 and now running Win10, 1 started with WinXP.

pparks1 · 01 Mar 2021

I switch back and forth from AMD to Intel, and vice versa. I can say that i built my son a Core i5-6500 back in 2016. In 2019, when he was upgrading a video card, we just built a whole new box and I took his i5-6500. We bought him a Ryzen 7 3800X cpu and he bought an EVGA Nvidia RTX 2080 Super FTW3.

At the end of 2020, i decided it was time to build a new PC for myself. My previous desktop was from 2009 and was an Intel Q9550 core 2 quad. I went with a Ryzen 9 5900x, and managed to score an EVGA Nvidia RTX3080 FTW3 Ultra (had to buy from a scalper, but his price was reasonable).

This last week, we just ordered parts to build my wife her very first desktop. Once again, Ryzen 5 5600X for her build and she more general purpose and a casual gamer.

So, suffice to say I'm an AMD processor fan. Never been a big fan of the Radeon graphics cards, I haven't bought once since the early 2000's. I think driver support is more stable on Nvidia and cross platform support with Linux has been way better over the years on Nvidia.

I'm not a CPU fanboy. I go with the processor that makes the most sense at the moment. AMD is really solid right now...except for stock on the high end CPUs (the 5900 and 5950). It much easier to actually buy an Intel CPU.

Steve C · 02 Mar 2021

AMD currently offer the best price / performance CPUs. The higher spec ones are hard to find.

hdmi · 02 Mar 2021

I actually love people who buy AMD. They are helping to strengthen the competition. As a result, Intel CPU prices will come down faster. It makes a nice difference to my bank account each time when I buy my next CPU from Intel. So basically, I'm all for it!

Gurn Blanston · 05 Mar 2021

I've bought nothing but AMD for my home PCs for years. The price/performance ratio can't be beat in most cases.

I got burned with the Bulldozer CPU I bought years ago (advertised as an 8 core, but really was a four core with 4 virtual CPUs), but it still didn't keep me from buying a Ryzen 7 2700X recently. I'm liking it a lot, and it really does have 8 cores this time. :)

AddRAM · 05 Mar 2021

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X 3.7 GHz Desktop Processor - Newegg.com

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X 2.9 GHz Desktop Processor - Newegg.com

hdmi · 06 Mar 2021

AddRAM said:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X 3.7 GHz Desktop Processor - Newegg.com

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X 2.9 GHz Desktop Processor - Newegg.com

In the majority of single threaded applications, these hyper expensive desktop CPUs from AMD perform slower than my mid-priced laptop that I got from the local grocery store a few months ago. I hardly ever use more than four threads in such a particular way that having only four physical cores hurts performance more than the sluggishness of the AMD cores does. Due to how Intel Speed Shift works on a mobile Tiger Lake-U CPU with AI, the overall snappiness/responsiveness in most cases actually even rivals that of the latest AMD based desktop PCs costing about the same as my laptop, and does so regardless of whether you build your own desktop PC. I should stop now, as I'm weakening the competition so it'll cost me more money later on if I continue to spread these types of reality checks.

pparks1 · 06 Mar 2021

Not all the amd chips are hyper expensive. Ryzen 5 5600x I put in wifes box only $299 and runs fantastic. My 5900x is a $549 chip, but it hauls ass. Wouldn't consider that to be hyper expensive for 12 cores and 24 threads. Coupled with my pcie gen 4 nvme and 3800 rtx, I'm pretty sure it would run circles around a midpriced grocery store intel laptop.

hdmi · 06 Mar 2021

pparks1 said:

Not all the amd chips are hyper expensive. Ryzen 5 5600x I put in wifes box only $299 and runs fantastic. My 5900x is a $549 chip, but it hauls ass. Wouldn't consider that to be hyper expensive for 12 cores and 24 threads. Coupled with my pcie gen 4 nvme and 3800 rtx, I'm pretty sure it would run circles around a midpriced grocery store intel laptop.

I said AMD based desktop PCs costing about the same as my laptop. I'm on a 599€ laptop, and hardware prices here in Western Euroland have always been far higher than in the U.S., but even if you can build such an AMD dektop PC for much less than $600, then, to be completely fair, you'd still also have to include a reasonable backlit keyboard, a cheap 15 inch Full HD monitor, and an Uninterruptible Power Supply. And then it still won't be a portable device. And then the single threaded performance will be barely more than 5% better, when everybody knows that desktop PCs are supposed to be MUCH better performers than a laptop (especially a mid-priced laptop) due to the compactness and typical low power consumption of the latter hardware type.

That said, I don't play games. Even so, the Intel Iris Xe of my laptop still outperforms an Nvidia MX330 in spite of the fact the latter is a discrete GPU. Let's see how a similar priced AMD laptop can hold a candle against this. Or actually, let's not see anything. There is no candle. Only the dark void surrounded by AMD fanboys who are still running in circles.