AMD or Intel? Which CPU to install

Intel and AMD have been competing with each other for decades, relentlessly pushing the computing industry forward with the best CPUs for every kind of user. While Intel still enjoys the larger slice of the pie in the desktop, server, and mobile market, AMD is neck-and-neck in productivity performance, and offers much better gaming performance than its longstanding rival.

Today, whether you're looking for the absolute fastest CPU, the CPU with the most cores, or the best gaming CPU for your rig, you'll rarely see just one chipmaker stay on top for very long. While this has helped consumers by bringing some much-needed competition to the market, choosing which CPU should be at the heart of your PC has become harder than ever.

Hence, we've looked at the current CPU market with a magnifying glass, and made specific recommendations for every budget and use case. AMD's Ryzen 7000 and Intel's 14th Gen Core CPUs are the current favorites, with AMD's "Zen 5" Ryzen 9000 and Intel's "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 200 series processors also entering the fray in 2024.

Intel vs. AMD: A bit of history

A David vs. Goliath saga

Before 2017, Intel was so far ahead in the consumer CPU race that AMD was relegated to a permanent second place. Despite Team Blue's persistent lack of innovation or gen-on-gen improvements, consumers had no option but to keep buying Intel.

However, with the launch of AMD's Ryzen CPUs in 2017, desktop and laptop users saw high core counts, enhanced performance, and affordable prices turn the Intel vs. AMD debate on its head. AMD's whole new "Zen" architecture radically improved its image in the minds of consumers. Moreover, with a Ryzen CPU, consumers could now make their motherboards last more than just one CPU generation — something that Intel had rarely offered.

AMD's Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 7000 CPUs have consistently offered top-of-the-line performance for both gaming and workstation PCs.

While Intel remained the bigger player in terms of market share, the Ryzen platform reinvigorated the CPU market and saved AMD from near-certain bankruptcy. More recently, AMD's Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 7000 CPUs have consistently offered top-of-the-line performance for both gaming and workstation PCs. We've seen Intel respond to AMD's efforts in the form of better products of their own — especially the 12th-gen Alder Lake processors debuting Intel's hybrid architecture with P-cores and E-cores.

Intel's reputation has taken a beating thanks to defective high-end 13th and 14th Gen CPUs coming to light. It's also facing financial troubles, laying off thousands of people, and even considering splitting itself apart. AMD, on the other hand, has delivered a stagnant update with its Ryzen 9000 CPUs. Intel's latest Arrow Lake CPUs haven't done much to regain consumer trust, but the company has promised multiple microcode updates to improve the disappointing performance.

Intel 14th Gen and Core Ultra vs. AMD Ryzen 9000 and Ryzen 7000

Team Blue or Team Red

In late 2022, Intel and AMD released a slew of new processors — 13th Gen Raptor Lake and Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4," respectively. While Intel's 13th Gen CPUs improved upon their previous-gen SKUs, AMD's lineup was for an entirely new platform. AM5 marked the end of the celebrated AM4 platform, while becoming DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 only. Intel's subsequent 14th Gen series was simply a minor refresh over the 13th Gen, but still supported DDR4 motherboards and memory.

AMD's latest Zen 5 or Ryzen 9000 CPUs have now been put to the test, and the general verdict is that AMD failed to deliver the gains it had promised. Gaming as well as productivity performance increased by only 5% on average. Thermal efficiency was slightly better, but with no significant performance gains after two years, that's little comfort. For the most part, gamers and professionals alike have little reason to consider Ryzen 9000 CPUs over the previous-gen chips.

For the most part, gamers and professionals alike have little reason to consider Ryzen 9000 CPUs over the previous-gen chips.

Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs met a similar reception as they lagged behind the 14th Gen Core processors in gaming, and offered only minimal improvements in productivity performance. Intel managed to bring down the power consumption this generation, but other than that, there's very little to be excited about. Intel has also now joined the DDR5-only club, and ditched the LGA 1700 socket as well as hyperthreading on its Core Ultra 200 series CPUs.

You can see from the table above that the Zen 5 CPUs don't feature any changes in core counts or max frequencies compared to Zen 4. The improved manufacturing process and newer onboard graphics are the only real changes. Intel, on the other hand, has introduced more significant changes with Arrow Lake, namely the new LGA 1851 socket, removal of hyperthreading & DDR4 support, and a much-improved 3nm manufacturing process from TSMC.

You can also consider AMD's X3D lineup of CPUs for the absolute best gaming performance, thanks to their 3D V-Cache. For building a PC on the cheap, even the older-gen processors are fair game. The Intel 12th Gen and Ryzen 5000 chips offer excellent performance and attractive pricing compared to the latest parts.

AMD Ryzen 7000: Specs and current pricing

I've not mentioned the detailed specs for the new Ryzen 9000 CPUs, as they're not much faster than previous-gen chips (on average), have increased MSRPs, and don't feature major spec changes (besides lower TDPs). AMD also offers non-X variants of some of its CPUs, namely the Ryzen 9 7900, Ryzen 7 7700, and Ryzen 5 7600. These cheaper CPUs come with slightly lower clock speeds and TDPs, but largely the same performance.

A notable exception here is the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is the only X3D "Zen 5" chip available at the moment. It comfortably beats every other CPU on the market as far as gaming is concerned, and is also around 10-12% faster than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which previously held the crown for the world's fastest gaming CPU.

Ryzen 8000 APUs and Threadripper

Then there are the Ryzen 8000 APUs based on the "Zen 4" architecture, offering decent graphical power without needing a discrete GPU. These APUs are aimed at more modest systems where consumers aren't looking for expensive discrete graphics cards. AMD's next-gen Zen 5 APUs are on the way, scheduled for an early 2025 launch. For those after high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, AMD offers the Threadripper 7000 and Threadripper 7000 PRO CPUs with up to 96 cores for intense, enterprise-grade workloads.

These high-end chips start from $1,500 and should only be considered by enthusiasts or professionals running uber-demanding workloads like complex 3D rendering, scientific computing, and machine learning. Intel is severely outmatched in this space, as its offerings like the Core i9-10980XE are extremely outdated today.

Intel 14th Gen and Core Ultra 200: Specs and current pricing

Intel's K-series SKUs come with an unlocked multiplier, so you can overclock your CPU on supported motherboards. I've not listed Intel's F and T series SKUs in the table above. The F models, such as the Core i5-14400F, are variants of the regular models, just without integrated graphics. The T models are low-powered models designed for business use and mini PCs.

You could argue against buying Intel at this juncture, simply to opt for AMD's more stable platform.

The new Core Ultra 200 series processors are faster than Intel's 14th Gen Core chips, at least in productivity, but they also come with significantly higher price tags for most SKUs. The previous-gen CPUs still provide great value at their current prices, but Intel has stated that the damage from the instability issues plaguing its 13th and 14th Gen processors is permanent.

Although several microcode updates have come out to fix this issue, you could argue against buying Intel at this juncture, simply to opt for AMD's more stable platform, unless you need some of the fastest productivity chips for your needs, in which case you should consider the Arrow Lake CPU. Finally, the choice of CPU will depend on your budget, whether you really need all the processing horsepower you're considering, and your preferences regarding power draw, platform longevity, and upgrade cost.

Which CPU should you buy?

Who deserves your money?

Choosing between Intel and AMD is not as simple as it used to be. While both companies produce powerful chips for every budget, you need to assess the options carefully and narrow down the choice based on your specific use case, platform preferences, and other differences.

Best enthusiast CPU

If you aren't concerned about money, you'll likely want to get the fastest chip on the market. Currently, the Core Ultra 9 285K and Ryzen 9 9950X would be my only two recommendations for this segment. The Arrow Lake flagship is faster than both the Ryzen 9 9950X and the Core i9-14900K in some productivity workloads, but lags behind the Zen 5 flagship in others. The 14900K, however, is over $150 cheaper than both the latest chips, so that's something to consider if you're okay with slightly lower multi-core performance.

It's important to note, however, that the Core Ultra 9 285K is inexplicably slower than almost every other CPU in Adobe Photoshop, showing worse results than even 12th Gen Core CPUs. Even in Adobe Premiere Pro, the Arrow Lake flagship lags behind the 14900K and 9950X. Hence, if these two applications take up most of your workload, you might want to consider alternatives. The 285K is also frequently out of stock at most retailers.

If you aren't concerned about the high power draw and lack of an upgrade path on the LGA 1700 socket, the Core i9-14900K is the one to get, especially considering its attractive pricing. On the other hand, the Ryzen 9 7950X offers a significantly cooler operation, essentially the same performance, a $100 discount compared to the Ryzen 9 9950X, and a healthy upgrade path on the new AM5 socket. Even the platform cost of building an AM5 PC has drastically decreased over the past year.

Best gaming CPU

When it comes to the best CPU for gaming, there's really no answer to AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D, as long as you're able to find it in stock at a reasonable price. It stands unchallenged by any other CPU on the market (from either camp), even by pricier chips like the Ryzen 9 9950X or anything from Intel. In fact, it's over 30% faster, on average, than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, and around 25% faster than the Core i9-14900K. Owing to its massive 104MB cache (L2+L3) and the single CCD configuration, it tears through any gaming challenge, leaving behind its higher-end siblings as well as Team Blue competitors.

Both the 9950X and 14900K will still offer around 80% of the gaming performance of the 9800X3D.

If you want a gaming and productivity powerhouse, there's a case for pricier chips from both AMD and Intel. The Ryzen 9 9950X (for around $120 more) will net you double the cores and threads for a massive boost in video rendering, video editing, and other multi-core workloads. Even the Core i9-14900K will give you similar results in productivity applications at $50 cheaper. Both the 9950X and 14900K will still offer around 80% of the gaming performance of the 9800X3D.

If you can't find the 9800X3D in stock (which is mostly the case), or want more sensibly priced CPUs for your gaming build, the excellent Core i7-14700K is still one of the best mid-range gaming chips on the market, performing well in multi-core workloads as well. The Ryzen 7 7700 is also an excellent 8-core CPU if you have just shy of $300 to spend. It costs less than the flagship (non-X3D), offers nearly the same gaming performance, and is much easier to cool.

The newer Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X aren't worth the premium at all, especially considering the lower single-digit gains over chips like the Ryzen 7 7700 and Ryzen 5 7600, respectively.

Best budget CPU

The definition of the "budget" CPU category has changed in the last few years, creeping up in price as games and applications are demanding more and more cores. I recommend the Ryzen 5 7600 in this category, considering the performance it offers for just under $200. It's an ideal pick for any mid-range or even high-end gaming PC, as you won't need 8 cores to maximize performance in most games.

In our tests, the more affordable Ryzen 5 7600 performed virtually the same as the 8-core and 12-core Zen 4 chips. Plus, the newer Zen 5 CPUs offer only low single-digit improvements over the Zen 4 parts. On the Intel side, the Core i5-14400 is priced similarly, and performs better in multi-core workloads, but it's quite slower than the Ryzen 5 7600 in gaming. Moreover, the LGA 1700 has been replaced by LGA 1851, so you don't have an upgrade path with the Core i5-14400.

Best entry-level CPU

The best cheap CPU might be different for different users. If you're on the older AM4 platform, you might opt for a relatively newer "Zen 3" CPU for a drop-in upgrade. On the other hand, if you're using a 3-year-old Intel chip, an entry-level 13th or 14th Gen CPU might sound enticing. As prices stand right now, there's no "cheap" CPU in the Ryzen 7000 or Ryzen 9000 lineup — you'll need to look at the Ryzen 5 5600 or Ryzen 5 5500 on AM4.

While the Ryzen 5 5600 only costs around $120, things are even better for entry-level buyers on the Intel side. While you can grab the 4-core Core i3-14100 for around $120 for a solid and affordable system, the Core i3-14100F (without integrated graphics) is even cheaper at around $90. Even the last-gen Core i3-13100F is fair game at around $80. If you can manage to get the Core i5-13400F for around $150, it'll offer a day-and-night difference compared to most entry-level chips.

Best APU

Although both AMD and Intel offer APUs for cheaper builds without a discrete graphics card, AMD easily has the upper hand in this segment. The Ryzen 7 8700G is currently the best APU for non-AAA gaming, and for a CPU + GPU package for around $250, it is a much better deal than Intel's less powerful Core i3-14100 or Core i3-13100.

If you don't have the cash to spare for a strong APU like the 8700G, the Ryzen 5 8600G is also a great option. It'll cost you around $170, and you'll still get a modern chip on the newer AM5 platform with a significant boost in gaming performance compared to cheap Intel CPUs.

Best HEDT CPU

As we saw above, AMD's Threadripper is your only viable option for HEDT (high-end desktop) CPUs in 2024. The most "affordable" of these is the 24-core Ryzen Threadripper 7960X. With its incredible 48 threads, 5.3GHz boost clock, and quad-channel DDR5 RAM support, it offers a whole other performance tier than even the Core Ultra 9 285K or the Ryzen 9 9950X. It also features an impressive 152MB cache (L2+L3) and powerful I/O capabilities to benefit dedicated enthusiasts and professionals.

What's next for the CPU wars?

Despite the lackluster Ryzen 9000 processors, AMD is comfortably enjoying its current status as the better CPU brand, thanks in no small part to Intel's crashing high-end CPUs. Even the latest Arrow Lake processors from Team Blue haven't been able to wow anyone, with the company focusing on power efficiency rather than significant gen-on-gen performance improvements.

AMD would want to remove the bitter taste left by Zen 5, focusing on strong gen-on-gen gains with Zen 6. Meanwhile, Intel desperately needs its next-gen "Nova Lake" series to do well if it wants to bounce back in the CPU market. If rumors are to be believed, neither of these CPU generations will arrive before 2026, so both manufacturers have plenty of time to get their houses in order.