Image Credit: Titan Computers/GPT-4o
Core Count & Multithreading
Intel and AMD have very different approaches to how they fit multiple cores into CPUs. These days Intel uses a hybrid approach with a mix of high-performance and power-efficient cores in the same package. Lately, with the newest Xeon processors, Intel has started producing CPUs that only have performance or efficiency cores, with the efficient CPUs really pushing the core counts up.
AMD’s CPUs are still homogenous and contain as many of the company's performant cores as they can fit. However, despite this on average AMD CPUs tend to have similar multithreading and efficiency performance to Intel’s chips.
Intel has left multithreading behind for the most part, while AMD is sticking with it. CPUs from both companies trade blows on a per-model and per-benchmark basis, so there’s no clear answer when it comes to who does multithreaded performance best simply based on CPU brand.
Single-Core & Burst Performance
When it comes to per-core performance, Intel is still the king in most cases. If you want the fastest single-threaded performance for applications that don’t make good use of multiple cores, you probably want an Intel CPU. Though, again, the difference compared to the best AMD has to offer isn’t enormous. If your needs are more mixed and single-threaded performance isn’t an overriding priority, the choice is less clear.
You’d think that with the fastest single-threaded performance that Intel’s CPUs would be the best choice for gaming in particular, but it turns out that AMD’s X3D series of CPUs with large amounts of 3D V-cache absolutely wipe the floor with Intel’s CPUs for gaming purposes, though these gaming-focused AMD CPUs are significantly lacking in other areas, such as core count.
Efficiency & Thermals
Intel has struggled for years to shrink its process nodes, and thanks to AMD relying on TSMC to make its chips, the gap in power and thermal performance has just grown. Intel has started making inroads with a TSMC partnership, but if you’re planning to run a high-end Intel CPU then be ready for a beefy power supply and solid cooling.
Of course, we’re highly experienced at building Intel systems, so an Intel Titan Workstation will have everything it needs for peak performance!
Stability and Reliability
We’re not going to mince words here—Intel’s been dropping the ball when it comes to stability.
Nothing is more important in a workstation system than accuracy and reliability. Sadly, over the past few years, Intel CPUs have been rife with bugs and vulnerabilities, while Intel has been slow to fix these issues with microcode updates—if they can be fixed at all.
We still have no issue recommending Intel CPUs to customers because these issues are usually niche, and not as widespread as stories on the internet might suggest, but it’s undeniable that Intel’s brand has taken a hit and AMD has gained more consumer trust simply by doing the minimum we expect from a CPU designer and manufacturer.
Platform Features & Longevity
Intel is notorious for abandoning its CPU socket’s after just one or two generations. Which means a new motherboard and probably new RAM too. At this point it might just make more sense to buy a whole new computer.
AMD, on the other hand, has historically offered a ridiculous number of CPU generations that are drop-in upgrades for a given socket. However, that’s a double-edged sword. It means that the latest AMD CPU might be held back by older memory, older IO, and a lack of the latest motherboard features.
Neither path is inherently superior, it all depends on whether you’re mainly focused on staying up to date as a whole, or want to save money when upgrading.
Pricing & Value Proposition
While strong competition from AMD and worsening public sentiment might force Intel to put the squeeze on its prices, on average AMD still provides the best value for money in the CPU market.
If we’re talking performance-per-dollar rather than absolute performance, AMD is almost always going to come out on top as things stand. However, the CPU market is shifting and other competitors using the ARM CPU architecture are moving into the mainstream computer space, so expect things to change quickly once all the chips fall.
Should You Buy Intel or AMD?
It’s hard to think of a market that really only has two competitors as competitive. There used to be other players, like IBM, Cyrix, Motorola, and more, all offering chips to desktop computer users. We might see more competitors going ahead, but right now, unless you’re buying an Apple computer, your options are Intel or AMD.
The truth is that either of these brands will serve you well, so you can’t really make a bad choice here simply based on the brand. You can however make a poor choice based on individual CPU models, and there are a lot of them.
This is a huge part of the value that we provide at Titan Computers. We test and evaluate just about every major CPU option on the market, and carefully decide which models let us build the best workstations for specific jobs.
Sometimes AMD brings out a processor that lets us build a price-to-performance champion, at other times we build Intel workstations that offer the best performance at specific tasks, no matter the cost. Every CPU, and every workstation, has a job description that best suits it, and we can help make sure your needs are met by the right silicon—no matter the brand.
