2017 was a pretty big year for gamers and saw the end of the stagnation of processing technology. It was in 2017 that Intel released its newest generation of processors, the 8th Generation, and AMD released their Ryzen series of processors. These two brands represent the two main choices that face most gamers: Cost vs Benefit.
When it comes to pc gaming there is no alternative to quality. With the rate of change that technology goes through it is easy to end up with outdated hardware. This is bad for any gamer since they will not be able to enjoy the latest games on offer. It is best to buy hardware that will last you at least the next 4 years of playing the latest games.
The biggest two pieces of hardware that are essential to any gaming rig is the CPU and the GPU. The processor of a computer is the brain and the graphics card the soul. Both are necessary for a complete gaming experience. You can then apply this to your all your online gaming – visit www.petpetcentral.com for a great blog all about online gaming.
Intel CPU’s
Intel has been the market leaders for processors over the last couple of years. They have been responsible for providing quality CPU’s, but they have not always been the most affordable. There have been more affordable competitors in the past, however, for the last 4 years at least, they have been the best of the best when it comes to gaming.
The newest generation of Intel processors has been released. Some of the biggest changes include the addition of 2 more cores to the i-3, i-5 and i-7 range of desktop chips. There is also set to be the release of the newest gaming laptops that feature the i-9. This will see laptops that have 6 cores and 12 threads for the first time in history. Not to mention that they have created a desktop chip that has 18 cores and 36 threads (what a beast).
The latest Intel chipsets are moving away from the 14nm + Kaby Lake microarchitecture and moving to the 14nm++ Coffee Lake microarchitecture. This change promises up to 40% improvement in gaming and over 50% faster 4K video editing than the old chips. What this does mean for gamers though is that you will need a newer motherboard that is compatible with coffee lake and the 8th Gen CPUs.
The biggest features for the latest generation of processors is that it runs a whole lot faster (mainly due to the increased number of cores and threads). They also integrate a lot better with advanced media technologies making streaming, video editing and gaming in 4K easier than ever.
AMD’s Ryzen
For those gamers who do not have a pretty penny to spend on Intel’s newest generation of processors, there is a cost-effective alternative. AMD has always rivaled Intel with their cost-effective but very powerful line of processors. They have stagnated over the last couple of years in terms of putting up a product that properly competes with Intel but that all changed with the introduction of the Ryzen.
The Ryzen is the 2nd generation of processors based on the Zen microarchitecture by AMD. They are meant to compete with the 7th Generation of Intel processors and do a very good job of that. The Ryzen 5 has 6 cores and 12 Threads which is massive compared to the quad-core of the 7th Gen i-5.
A major selling point for Ryzen is that all processors can overclock if they are on a motherboard that supports overclocking. This means that more tasks can be performed by the Ryzen making it the best for video creation in 4K and live to stream on Twitch. They do not feature integrated graphics like the newest Intel processors do which means they do not have the same performance with certain games.
The current Ryzen processors are a lot cheaper than the 8th Generation of Intel processors. The Ryzen 5 performs very well for gaming and rivals the i-5 which is the processors which most gamers focus on. They are releasing new processors to compete with the 8th Gen Intel ones later in 2018 and is a major talking point in the gaming world now.
Whatever the future holds for AMD it is good to see them producing such stunning rival products to market leaders Intel.
Motherboards
If you are a gaming enthusiast in 2018 and you want to be able to play the latest games in all their glory, then you will most likely need a new motherboard soon.
Intel and AMD are rolling out their latest processing chipsets and this means that old motherboards will not be compatible. For AMD’s newest Ryzen processors the AM4 chipset motherboards are required. With AMD, overclocking is an integral part of what makes them stand out. It is best to get a motherboard with an AM4 chipset like the X370 or B350 with AMD processors because they support overclocking and the latest generation of Zen.
The newest generation of Intel processors require Intel-300 series motherboards to be compatible and do not support backward compatibility with the -200 series. The best choice would be the Z370 motherboard, however, it is quite expensive.