Buying a desktop processor: Intel or AMD? cache and threads? – You have to take note of that

TECHNOLOGY

April 23, 2023 at 4:00 p.m

Intel or AMD? How many cores should it be? Finding the right processor for your PC can be really tricky. In the guide we explain everything you need to know about CPUs.

Anyone who has ever dealt with graphics cards may have an overview of the market: Although the actual graphics chips and processing units come from two manufacturers (AMD and Nvidia), there are dozens of so-called OEMs who have their own design and cooling solutions for the design graphics cards. So-called “Founder’s Edition” cards come directly from Nvidia in a unique design.

Intel and AMD: No significant competition on the market

Well, with processors things are quite different. There are only two manufacturers to choose from here: Intel and AMD. However, there are no different versions of the CPUs from these manufacturers. For example, when you buy a Ryzen 5800X, you are buying a Ryzen 5800X that is manufactured and sold directly by AMD. Apart from these two manufacturers, there will be no significant competition in 2023 – at least not in the desktop area.

But both have a large portfolio of chips to offer that you first have to get through.

Intel: This is how the blue portfolio is structured

With “Team Blue”, as the electronics manufacturer Intel is often called by enthusiasts, we find a very clearly structured portfolio. Each Intel processor can be assigned a generation and a code name. For the latest, 13th generation, the code name is Raptor Lake – the manufacturer led the twelfth generation under the code name Alder Lake.

For some time now, Intel has been dividing its processors into the Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and i9 variants according to performance and price range:

• i3 is the lowest performance level, which is good for basic desktop work like office or very light video games.
• i5 processors are good mid-range chips that have a balanced price/performance ratio and can also be used for more demanding tasks.
• i7 are processors that are already in the upper performance range. There are few tasks that an i7 chip cannot handle. These processors are also used when compiling large amounts of code or in modern top video games.
• i9 processors offer the absolute best performance that can be built into a desktop PC for the highest price. They must therefore also be cooled particularly well. The processors are particularly suitable for multitasking complex tasks.

An example of the model designation is Intel Core i9-13900K. The 13 stands for the generation, the 9 for the performance level. The K stands for the overclockability of the chip. In addition to the K, other letters can also be found in the model designation. If the K is missing, the chip cannot be overclocked. The additional letter F means that no graphics chip is built into the processor – by default, all Intel chips also have a simple graphics processor.