Tech giants Intel and AMD have been locking horns in the CPU arena for ages. But halfway into 2023, who’s wearing the power crown, and which brand should you entrust your gaming PC build with this year?
Are you looking to build a gaming PC? We understand that choosing the right components could be a daunting task. This is why we arm you with the knowledge you need to make the best CPU choice for your hard-earned money this year.
The CPU battleground in 2023 is in a whirlwind of change. Intel is flexing its muscles with the powerful 13th-gen CPUs. These new CPUs mark the end of the road for the socket 1700 platform but keep the DDR4 compatibility alive on select boards. Counter to this, AMD has announced the AM5 platform which offers hassle-free upgrades without needing a motherboard swap, although it only supports DDR5 RAM.
Adding to the puzzle is AMD’s game-changing 3D V-cache technology. A select array of their top-tier CPUs can push the envelope in gaming, delivering a noticeable uptick in frame rates. But with all these factors playing into the decision, which brand gets the thumbs up for your new gaming PC build?
Raptor Lake Vs Ryzen 7000
When it comes to choosing which CPU to pick for your system, you have to think first of the best value parts that you can currently buy. The biggest differentiator between Intel’s Raptor Lake and AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series CPUs right now is DDR4 support.
While both platforms will give you PCIe 5.0 support, you will also have to think about overclockability and motherboards. Right now, Intel has the advantage when it comes to just giving you the widest number of options and configurations to choose from. When you factor in the DDR5-only nature of AMD, going Team Red can get expensive pretty fast, especially since lower-end motherboards that support the AM5 platform can be difficult to find.
When it comes to the CPUs themselves, Intel’s Raptor Lake CPUs are also arguably better value for money in the midrange segment, especially with the 13600K’s sheer power. However, you will be building on a platform that cannot be upgraded later down the line.
For us, Intel is the clear runaway winner here, with the best platform, and most choice of parts available.
Intel VS AMD: Which is the best value?
| CPU | AMD | Intel |
| Ryzen 9 / Core i9 | Starting at $549 | Starting at $529 |
| Ryzen 7 / Core i7 | Starting at $299 | Starting at $299 |
| Ryzen 5 / Core i5 | Starting at $129 | Starting at $149 |
| Ryzen 3 / Core i3 | Starting at $99 | Starting at $99 |
This is not much of an argument, but both companies have a fairly equal pricing structure in place. However, once you factor in the cost of DDR5 and motherboards, Intel also comes out to be the true winner. However, for overclockers, AMD is the only brand that currently supports it out of the box on certain motherboards. However, your mileage may vary when it comes to how worth it all that tinkering is, versus just using the CPUs at stock levels of performance.
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On Intel’s side, you’ll have to splash for a 600 or 700-series motherboard. But, don’t expect many new models to come to market afterward, as the company will be moving to a new platform after Raptor Lake. However, on the other side of this, AM5 will be supported for five years, and it’s clearly a longer-term buy. It’s likely that higher-end AM5 boards will be compatible with next-gen Ryzen systems, but this is all yet to be confirmed.
Intel VS AMD: Which brand has the best performance?
When it comes to high-end gaming performance in the midrange, all the way up to the higher-end, AMD’s Zen 4 offering underwhelms. Even the Ryzen 9 7950X pales in comparison to a high-end Intel chip. Also, when you look towards the mid-range, Intel has AMD beat by all accounts.
This is subject to change, as AMD has announced the Zen 4 3D variants of their chips, but these have yet to come to market, and we can’t really speak to their performance too much yet.
Intel tears ahead of AMD
Right now, the better buy of the two is without a doubt, the Intel 13th-generation CPUs. However, you just have to take into account that these will not be upgradable in the future. For those with an eye on futureproofing, and are willing to spend a little bit more, you can go for Team Red, but you will be leaving some power on the table.
As much as AMD has enjoyed Ryzen dominance over the course of the last couple of generations, it appears that the resolve of Team Red has faltered somewhat, meaning that AMD has some catching up to do if it wants to be in the systems of hardcore system builders.
Just bear in mind that if you want to get the best possible performance, it might be worth hanging on to see how the Ryzen 7000 3D chips turn out, as they could shake up our conclusions quite a bit.
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