In this article we’ll be comparing a decade of AMD and Intel CPUs head to head.
This CPU architecture benchmark was an interesting way of looking at the progress both companies have made.
Models using DDR4 memory were paired with DDR4-3200 CL14 and DDR3 models used DD3-2400 CL11 memory.
Other than that everything is as apples to apples as possible with every model running with 4 active cores.
Throughout our gaming tests we used theRadeon RX 6900 XT.
In fact, it was extremely difficult to highlight the benefits of SMT technology for games.
That’s because everything else being equal, Intel was offering 73% greater gaming performance in RSS.
This is where things start to stagnate for Intel.
From Skylake to Kaby Lake we see their smallest performance gain in generations.
Basically nothing was gained from the6700Kto the7700K.
The first generation architecture was nearly 40% faster when compared to the FX series in Rainbow Six Siege.
In this example, they roughly caught up to Haswell, where Intel was back in 2013.
Ryzen appealed to enthusiasts as it offered more cores and as such was a productivity beast.
Battlefield V was brutal on the AMD FX-8350.
After Ryzen arrived, we’re looking at Haswell-like performance, though that’s not entirely accurate.
Ryzen wasn’t exactly amazing out of the gate with the 1800X only able to match the 5-year-old 3770K.
Whatever the case, it means in 2012 Intel’s architecture offered 33% more performance in this title.
AMD, on the other hand, took until Zen 3 to get there.
TheCyberpunk 2077results don’t look that different to other CPU demanding games we’ve checked out so far.
This is why the AMD FX series was such a disaster for the company.
What we can also see here is Intel’s steady refinement of their 14nm process up until Skylake.
We also see AMD shadowing Haswell with Zen and then matching it with Zen+.
That’s a massive difference, compounded by the fact that AMD consumed significantly more power at the time.
But if only that was a worst case scenario for AMD.
Just a year later Intel extended that margin to 77% and by 2015 they were 110% ahead.
That would be like AMD having to sell a part like the 5800X at less than $200 today.
Clearly, AMD was able to turn around this situation years later.
Zen+ continued that trend in 2018 and by 2019 AMD was smashing Intel’s desktop CPU sales.
It was extremely difficult to recommend AMD CPUs for PC gaming back in the FX days.
Based on this data, you could see whyZen+ startedto shift things in AMD’s favor.
This made Ryzen a desirable and well rounded solution that was also cost effective.
confirm you stick around for that as we plan to review the new chips when time comes.
