A Legit Intel vs AMD gaming pc question.

[bmadd89]

I'm just going to put this at the top that this is LEGIT and im not trying to start anything. i'm looking for a conversation about a sensitive topic and not flaming/bashing. Please.

I have been gaming on an AMD system ever since i built my first computer with an Athlon 3000+ to a x2 4400+, x2 6000+, x2 6400+, 9500, 9950, x3 720, x4 955, x6 1055t to my current 1100T. Its been a blast using these CPUs and i have never had any issues with games and had been happy with the frame rates. I remembered reading that Intel CPUs suffered from a more stuttery gaming experience and that it wasn't as fluid as an AMD system even though the frame rate was high.

I currently had the PSU die in my editing workstation so while i waited for a replacement i put my gaming PSU into my editing workstation (i7-920 OCed 3.8Ghz, 24GB 1600mhz ram, 2x600GB raptors, 2x500GB WD blue, 1x1TB seagate) and i put my newly bought 7970 from my gaming computer into my editing machine as i wanted to play atleast one game will i waited for the warranty to come back.

Now when i was play on my gaming system (1100t OCed 3.9Ghz, 16GB 1600Mhz, 60Vertex 2, 2TB black, 1TB black, 2TB Green, 1TB blue, 800GB green) games played as smoothly as a game should when running at 50 - 60 FPS. I installed all games on the 2TB WD black drive and things were great just at a lower frame rate than the latest Intel stuff.

When i put the 7970 into the editing workstation i install games (Skyrim, BF3) onto the 600GB raid 0 raptors to try and give as equal as a 2tb drive provides and if anything should provide a better experience for loading the game/levels/texture. But when i got into Skyrim and im walking around Whiterun or anywhere it really doesn't matter even though the frame rate is 60 the entire time the picture seems choppy and is almost stuttering. i had never expierenced this on my AMD system and instantly thought about that article (it was years ago.I beleive when the original phenom come out vs the Q6600 on toms hardware or here on Anandtech.) I'm really at a loss to this as im getting much!! better frame rates but it isn't as smooth. not even remotely.

Im clearly an AMD fan but i understand intel is also better this is why i have a 920 and will soon be upgrading to either ivy or socket 2011 once some final benchmarks come out for my PC that i earn a living off.

But is this what Intel cpus are like or do i just have an eye to see things most people miss? Because if it is like this on all of them i dont know how people game on intel CPUs. I've spent a few hours gaming and its driving me mad.

What is the expierence of the Anandtech community as alot of you game on intel. Is it common place?

Cheers guys/gals
Please lets keep this on topic and clean.

 

[Topweasel]

I'm just going to put this at the top that this is LEGIT and im not trying to start anything. i'm looking for a conversation about a sensitive topic and not flaming/bashing. Please.

I have been gaming on an AMD system ever since i built my first computer with an Athlon 3000+ to a x2 4400+, x2 6000+, x2 6400+, 9500, 9950, x3 720, x4 955, x6 1055t to my current 1100T. Its been a blast using these CPUs and i have never had any issues with games and had been happy with the frame rates. I remembered reading that Intel CPUs suffered from a more stuttery gaming experience and that it wasn't as fluid as an AMD system even though the frame rate was high.

I currently had the PSU die in my editing workstation so while i waited for a replacement i put my gaming PSU into my editing workstation (i7-920 OCed 3.8Ghz, 24GB 1600mhz ram, 2x600GB raptors, 2x500GB WD blue, 1x1TB seagate) and i put my newly bought 7970 from my gaming computer into my editing machine as i wanted to play atleast one game will i waited for the warranty to come back.

Now when i was play on my gaming system (1100t OCed 3.9Ghz, 16GB 1600Mhz, 60Vertex 2, 2TB black, 1TB black, 2TB Green, 1TB blue, 800GB green) games played as smoothly as a game should when running at 50 - 60 FPS. I installed all games on the 2TB WD black drive and things were great just at a lower frame rate than the latest Intel stuff.

When i put the 7970 into the editing workstation i install games (Skyrim, BF3) onto the 600GB raid 0 raptors to try and give as equal as a 2tb drive provides and if anything should provide a better experience for loading the game/levels/texture. But when i got into Skyrim and im walking around Whiterun or anywhere it really doesn't matter even though the frame rate is 60 the entire time the picture seems choppy and is almost stuttering. i had never expierenced this on my AMD system and instantly thought about that article (it was years ago.I beleive when the original phenom come out vs the Q6600 on toms hardware or here on Anandtech.) I'm really at a loss to this as im getting much!! better frame rates but it isn't as smooth. not even remotely.

Im clearly an AMD fan but i understand intel is also better this is why i have a 920 and will soon be upgrading to either ivy or socket 2011 once some final benchmarks come out for my PC that i earn a living off.

But is this what Intel cpus are like or do i just have an eye to see things most people miss? Because if it is like this on all of them i dont know how people game on intel CPUs. I've spent a few hours gaming and its driving me mad.

What is the expierence of the Anandtech community as alot of you game on intel. Is it common place?

Cheers guys/gals
Please lets keep this on topic and clean.

Two easy answers, coming from an AMD fanfboy. You either are perceiving a stutter that doesn't exist or there is a driver, firmware, or bios issue. That is not nor has it ever been an issue as a generality for Intel systems, the best selling manufacturer for gaming systems for 20 years running.

 

[bmadd89]

1st. Not a "fanboy". I've built more Intel systems in the past 6 months than i have AMD systems since i start building computers 9 years ago.

2nd. Sure 20 years running except for that time when they weren't on top which resulted in Conroe.

i've test. Update BIOS, vga and system drivers. Hasn't made the problem go away/make it worse. Could i be seeing something similar to micro stutter for sli/cf were some people can see it and others cant?

 

[a15g]

If i'm correct the i7-920 has and supports " Hyper-Threading ". If you can, turn it off in the bios and try that. I'm almost positive you'd get a smoother game play.

 

[guskline]

I too used AMD products almost exclusively but have been won over by the Intel Sandy Bridge. With the exception of having a Bulldozer CPU, I have an AMD 1100T OC to nearly 4 Ghz on a Sabertooth 990FX MB with the same ram as in my 2 Intel Z68 rigs. The Intel rigs both have 2500k CPUs OC to 4532 (103 x44). This is their sweet spot. I can switch the same GPU among the 3 rigs and the Intel rigs play faster. Memory performance on the Intel rigs far exceeds the AMD rig. Personally I think the Sandy Bridge CPUs and particularly the 2500k delivered a body blow to AMDs high end CPUs. The price and performance gap convinced many diehard AMD gamers to switch. Once they experienced the power, overclocking ability and phenomenal power usuage of the Intel Sandy Bridge, the game changed. I really had the itch for a Bulldozer chip but the power usuage, cost and mediocre performance compared to the Sandy bridge made my decision easy. I'll wait for the Piledriver to see if it equals the SandyBridge. P.S. Yikes the Ivy Bridge is coming out!

 

[SnooSnoo]

Sorry if this has allready been posted, but, do the two machines have the same monitors?

 

[sm625]

Someone did recently run a somewhat nonscientific test that showed the AMD system "felt" smoother than the intel system, when the two should have scored equal (within a margin of error). In my own experience the AMD systems I use feel slow. Very slow. But they are just dual cores. But they feel so much slower than my E6600 conroe systems.

 

[Topweasel]

1st. Not a "fanboy". I've built more Intel systems in the past 6 months than i have AMD systems since i start building computers 9 years ago.

2nd. Sure 20 years running except for that time when they weren't on top which resulted in Conroe.

i've test. Update BIOS, vga and system drivers. Hasn't made the problem go away/make it worse. Could i be seeing something similar to micro stutter for sli/cf were some people can see it and others cant?

Even when not on top they were still the number 1 seller of CPU's for gaming systems. That is why I am saying that, never, ever, ever, has there been a sustained issue with using games with an Intel processor. Some new tech needs an update for a week or two, or a new driver screws something up. But never has there been a general and noticeable issue like that followed Intel from CPU to CPU. And certainly as a manufacturer attempting to sell $1k gaming processors and the defacto best processors for gaming, is there again a general issue like that, that has plagued them. A game sure, could happen with any platform. Several. I just don't buy it. I would love to as an AMD fanboy, but it just doesn't exist.

 

[pelov]

There is no discernible difference between the two CPUs as far as stuttering. Stuttering is generally a hardware/software issue and not at all related to the CPU unless it's the limiting factor, and in this case it's not.

There's a reason we don't go by "feel" in HW reviews and recommendations. What "feels" right is completely subjective unless it can be proved, and as far as the CPU is concerned it can almost always be proved.

That's not to say that one system may not be better than another, but you can certainly rule out the CPU as the factor here. Whatever the issue is with the Intel-based system it's not CPU-based.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I once had such a prob with my q9550 I think, getting faster ram solved it

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I once had such a prob with my q9550 I think, getting faster ram solved it

Also are you having screen tearing?

 

[JustMe21]

Between my i5 2500k and my Phenom II X4 940, the Phenom felt smoother. By that, I mean responding faster from locked up programs and when I copy large text files into memory and paste them between different documents. But for gaming, the 2500 beats it in frames hands down, although I never felt fram rates were an issue with either processor. Now, running at 1920 x 1080 on a Radeon 4770, that's an issue. I'd say, uninstall the drivers, restart, then reinstall the drivers and see how it goes. PnP isn't all that spectacular.

 

[bmadd89]

a15g: I don't run HT/SMT at all as i think it hinders as much as it helps.
SnooSnoo: They are both using the same screen.
aaksheytatlaw: Currently ram is running at 1550mhz 8-8-8-24. Thats well above the speced 1066 it supports so i wouldn't think feeding it a high frequency on the ram would help?
pelov: I understand from a pure numbers stand point that is the case but using a car anology. Going 100km/h in a BMW is alot smother then 100km/h in a toyota hilux. Same speed but notably different experience.
Topweasel: Understandable and i wasn't trying to provoke you i was just asking the question and you seemed to imply im some fanboy who can't see past my blind love of company X. I was just asking if this was the case or if people have had this happen/experience this before but if its not im going to have to continue to fiddle and uninstall and waste time trying to figure it out cause Intel does give considerably better frame rates. Thats undeniable. But in the current state im experienceing i would take 30% less frames for the "smoother" subjective game play if i can't figure out what the go with it is.

 

[ehume]

bmadd89 - did you ever use crt monitors? Back in the day I could barely tolerate 85Hz refresh rates. Much more comfortable with 100Hz.

These days with flat panels maxed at 60Hz, the non-decay of pixels means that the refresh rate is no longer a problem - for me. And maybe not for you, too. But what I'm getting at is that some people are much more sensitive to issues that can hardly be measured. OTOH, with refresh rates maxed out at 60Hz, maybe it's all an illusion. I dunno. You're having an "interesting" experience. though.

 

[bryanW1995]

Highly likely to be a driver issue. I have an overclocked 1055t and also an i7 920, there is absolutely no comparison between those rigs. The i7 smokes the AMD cpu, sorry.

 

[Shamrock]

The choppy/stuttering is something I've dealt with, with my AMD cpu. and I know a possible solution.

Do you use the onboard sound card on your motherboard? If so, that's it. Buy a good sound card.

 

[bmadd89]

Ehume: I used them when i first started but i did not have one long nor did i ever really "game" on it. Are you hinting/suggesting a high Hz (120Hz) would probably reduce it?
BryanW1995: I'm well aware of the 920's superior nature. I believe i even stated that in my OP. Regardless of its strength it doesn't at any point drop frames VIA Fraps orby rive tuner running/monitoring in the back groud. I've tried with as much thing disabled as well. It's most odd

 

[bmadd89]

Shamrock: Thats interesting. Would disabling the sound in the bios/deleteing everything sound related from windows achieve the same thing so i can test it?

 

[AtenRa]

With the exception of having a Bulldozer CPU, I have an AMD 1100T OC to nearly 4 Ghz on a Sabertooth 990FX MB with the same ram as in my 2 Intel Z68 rigs. The Intel rigs both have 2500k CPUs OC to 4532 (103 x44). This is their sweet spot. I can switch the same GPU among the 3 rigs and the Intel rigs play faster.

Out of curiosity,

What games do you play and at what resolutions/settings ??

 

[aaksheytalwar]

No, it wasn't image tearing. It was just not that smooth, perhaps the RAM was a fake, dunno, it was value RAM, DDR2 667.

Getting high quality DDR2 800 solved it, pretty much.

That is it.

But in newer games neither my q9550 nor my i7 860 later could cope up with smoothness, the 2600k at stock was smoother (irrespective of FPS) compared to those previous overclocked setups as well

 

[guskline]

Out of curiosity,

What games do you play and at what resolutions/settings ??

Mostly COD MW3. All three rigs use 24" monitors at 1920 x 1080. Settings are at 4x AA and highest quality. I have BF BC2 but am not a regular player. Have Metro 2033. Really like the flying games such as Rise of Flight Iron Cross. I hook all three monitor up in Eyefinity with an Active Displayport on the 5850 CF rig and HOLY SMOKES!

 

[nenforcer]

Back in the day AMD CPU's (Athlon 64) had an integrated memory controller on-chip (and they still do) while Intel chips did not and still relied upon a northbridge / southbridge chipset combination for their memory controller.

This definitely gave AMD a noticable latency advantage but not necessarily a memory bandwidth advantage.

However, ever since Nehalem (your Core i7 920 CPU) Intel has also added an on-chip integrated memory controller (IMC). This combined with the performance makes AMD no longer a competitor in high end x86 CPU's.

 

[cebalrai]

The Skyrim forums are full of people with everything from Athlon IIs to 2600Ks complaining about choppiness in parts of the game. While CPU speed does help, certain bits of Skyrim are simply not implemented very well.

 

[AtenRa]

Mostly COD MW3. All three rigs use 24" monitors at 1920 x 1080. Settings are at 4x AA and highest quality. I have BF BC2 but am not a regular player. Have Metro 2033. Really like the flying games such as Rise of Flight Iron Cross. I hook all three monitor up in Eyefinity with an Active Displayport on the 5850 CF rig and HOLY SMOKES!

Do you see any difference in actual gameplay between a 4.5GHz Core i5 and Phenom II X6 at 4GHz in 1920x1080 4xAA with the same Graphics card in FPS games like COD and BF??

I believe most of FPS games (especially DX-11) are GPU bound at 1080p with filters on single cards.

 

[TemjinGold]

What were you using for video in the Intel machine prior? Did you completely uninstall those video drivers before installing the 7970 ones? I think the problem is driver conflict here...