I can easily call the current generation of desktop processors a mainstream 5-gigahertz one. In terms of Intel, this was relatively relevant even in previous generations, but now, thanks to AMD Ryzen 7000, the rubies have caught up. In fact, even the younger chip, AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, easily takes this height.
Therefore, we are no longer talking about capacity, but about related things. Such as the price of the platform. And this is a fair position that should be taken into account. But for some reason, everyone ignores the cooling problem. They are ignoring it so aggressively and stubbornly that I am actually writing this article.
Comparison
Let’s start with how Intel’s 13th-generation Raptor Lake platform, based on the LGA 1700 socket, compares to AMD’s Ryzen 7000, an AM5 platform based on the LGA 1718 socket. Overall, Intel proves to be a more powerful platform. The 24-core, 32-thread Intel Core i9-13900K is the most powerful gaming processor on the market, and outperforms AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in games by an average of 10%.
In fact, the release of NVIDIA RTX 4090 graphics cards has greatly contributed to the “unlocking” of the processor’s power. The trend of advantages is also observed in Core i7 versus Ryzen 7, as Intel Core i7-13700K beats both AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. And the Intel Core i5-13600K is generally called the most profitable processor for gaming. In any case, among the new generation of processors.
Intel’s “dominance” is also influenced by the fact that you can build a system on a very cheap motherboard of the last generation, i.e. Z690, and even on DDR4 RAM, which is much cheaper than DDR5 – and the Ryzen 7000 supports only the latter.
In addition, the Ryzen 7000 requires expensive X670E motherboards, which cost an average of $400. At the time of this video recording, there are no cheaper models on the B650E chipset on the market yet, and Intel’s Z-chipset goes as low as $150.
How the material was born
In fact, on Twitter, the whole concept of “dominance” has resulted in this image. And it looks exactly as it looks. Intel is destroying AMD in terms of performance, price, and choice of motherboards – because the blue ones have a fresh chipset, the Z790, in addition to the Z690, which is more expensive, but it’s still a choice!
And the tweet generally got the math right. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor for $550 costs more than the Intel Core i7-13700K and the cheapest motherboard on the Z690… Taken together. Despite the fact that Core i7 is usually better in games.
It would seem that’s it. End of discussion, AMD has lost the battle for the current generation, and it is not just reducing the production of processors. Intel has won, and AMD now stands for Advanced Marketing Devices.
The turning point
Is it true? Are we missing anything? For example, energy consumption? The very thing I wrote about with horror when I did my last piece on Intel? No? Well, let’s see…
And we will see the following. The Intel Core i7-13700K consumes the same amount as the Core i9-12900K. 250 watts in multi-threaded tests. And Intel Core i9-13900K consumes more than 330 watts. For comparison, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X consumes 110 watts less than Core i9, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X consumes 80 watts less than Core i7.
And do you know how much Intel Core i5-13600K consumes? 250 watts. The same amount as the current generation Core i7 and the previous generation Core i9. In fact, Core i5 consumes more than the 16-core flagship Ryzen 9.
By the way, I have already had the honor of testing AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. And it absolutely calmly takes 5 GHz for all 8 cores under the 240-mm ASUS TUF Gaming LC 240 water. At minimum fan speeds. And it consumes about 120 watts. It heats up to 95 degrees, of course, but does not trot at all. And for the 7000 series, 95 degrees is the declared norm.
Cooling
In order to quench the 12-core AMD Ryzen clocked at 5 GHz, a $25 tower cooler will be enough. Or a $50 cooler, but a tiny low-profile Noctua NH-L9i.
That is, you can build a hyper-compact PC with 12 cores without using custom water cooling. On an old graphics card like the compact RTX 3060, but since when are they considered bad? In fact, I recommended them as the best for work and gaming in parallel.
Meanwhile, to cool not just the Core i9, but even the Core i5-13600K, you’ll need a cooler BETTER than the 360mm watercooler from be quiet! Because yes, even modern watercoolers can’t handle these processors without trotting.
Not for modern optimized games. There, the Core i5 consumes 120 watts. But if you need to work. Rendering videos, or even messing around in Photoshop… if it runs on Raptor Lake, or even playing something that is not optimized for the processor… Don’t expect cheap or even average cooling to save you.
Why is cooling more important than it seems?
I’ve written before and I’ll say it again: the need for cooling leads to the need for a larger, more spacious case. More fans for better airflow. A larger power reserve for the power supply, at least 100 watts.
And in addition, the motherboards must be more durable. VRMs, or voltage regulation modules, should be of better quality and with better cooling. That is, I consider the Z690 option for $150 to be, sorry, murder, and if you’re unlucky, murder of the processor, drive, RAM, and even the video card at the same time.
That’s why the Z690 mother is worth $300 or more. And as for DDR4, let me remind you that systems running on this RAM are slower than DDR5. And yes, there used to be dual DDR motherboards, a long, long time ago. But now they are gone. So if you buy a DDR4 version of the Z690 and build a computer on it to save money, but on Raptor Lake, you will have to reassemble the computer on DDR5!
You will have to replace the motherboard and RAM. Spend time selling old stuff and, in fact, reassembling the PC almost from scratch. Do you like to reassemble PCs? I personally hate it. I don’t even like to reassemble test stands. Even in spacious cases, where I can pull out 4+4 pins for the processor and not even tear my fingers.
In general, if you want to save money on RAM, then build an AM4 computer! AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D tears Intel apart in games so much that Intel had to make the performance of this processor almost invisible on its slides.
And it consumes half the power of a Core i5-13600K. Build a PC on it, and forget about DDR5 altogether. It will be enough for you for a very, very long time.
Results for AMD Ryzen 7000 (vs. Intel)
I’ll have a separate article about AMD Ryzen 7000, even testing iGPUs, which I’m hyper-interested in. But, as you can imagine, it’s wrong to just take the cost of the processor and the cheapest motherboard out of context. I’m guilty of this as well, remembering the situation with the A520 and Ryzen 9 3950X, but at least I’ve gotten smarter since then.
I hope that the rest of them are ahead. Actually, I’m glad that Intel and AMD have reached a relatively healthy competition in terms of processors. Despite the upcoming Ryzen 7000 X3D, let’s hope it stays that way. Because I agree that AMD Ryzen 7000s are quite expensive. I just wanted to explain to you WHY this price is justified.
And yes, it is justified. No matter how loudly the UserBenchmark fans scream.
Video about AMD Ryzen 7000 and Intel 13th generation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-dw_74c6vI&ab_channel=RootNationUA
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