Which has better support - Intel or AMD? Looking to build a gaming desktop

[g2nightmare]

Hey guys,

Not sure if this is the right sub-forum.

I'm looking to build a desktop. Should I go Intel or AMD? Which has better support by Fedora? I've been looking around and I always get mixed reviews.

My current idea of a build would use an i5 2500k in an Asrock Z68 extreme 3 gen 3 mobo with a Radeon HD 6870 graphics card. Anybody experience issues with these?

[Dan]

Hardware should do fine for a category.

Two pertinent questions:

How much money do you want to throw at this, and are you prepared to make the sacrifices you'll need to make to get a proper video card for the system? 'Cuz that's where the real power is going to need to be.


EDIT: My suggestion would be to avoid the Radeon. Nvidia drivers are generally a better bet in Linux.

[g2nightmare]

Originally Posted by Dan

Hardware should do fine for a category.

Two pertinent questions:

How much money do you want to throw at this, and are you prepared to make the sacrifices you'll need to make to get a proper video card for the system? 'Cuz that's where the real power is going to need to be.

My budget was 750 dollars but I've exceeded that to 830 dollars without monitor/keyboard/mouse.

I can give you my newegg links if you want, shaving money is not out of the question. I wanted a good/expandable/upgradable desktop that would last me a long time.

EDIT:
My current build:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148321
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121418
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371051
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231417
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157271
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

[Dan]

My suggestion? Lose the Radeon, and go with this instead. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121446

[g2nightmare]

Originally Posted by Dan

My suggestion? Lose the Radeon, and go with this instead. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121446

I'll do that, thanks.

So I should stick with the i5 intel based then for fedora?

[Dan]

Weeell, that's a matter of personal preference. My last monster was (and still is) AMD based. http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=242277

That being said, if the power/heat/money wasn't an issue (which it always is) I'd probably opt for an i7. But the honest truth is, that's a lot like mounting a 1000hp turbocharged V10 in a daily-driver minivan. It'd be really cool ... but ...

... Sanity says go with the i5. <....>

[g2nightmare]

Originally Posted by Dan

Weeell, that's a matter of personal preference. My last monster was (and still is) AMD based. http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=242277

That being said, if the power/heat/money wasn't an issue (which it always is) I'd probably opt for an i7. But the honest truth is, that's a lot like mounting a 1000hp turbocharged V10 in a daily-driver minivan. It'd be really cool ... but ...

... Sanity says go with the i5. <....>

According to benchmarks, the 8-core is better than the 2500k. Does it really consume much more power than the i5? I'm really only concerned about that, and support for linux and windows (mostly mostly linux)

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...120+Eight-Core

[Gareth Jones]

I'm no gamer, but I doubt that the i7 has any real advantage over the i5 for gaming. The graphics card and drivers matter more, and as you've already been advised, like it or not, nVidia with the nVidia binary driver is unambiguously the best option for 3-D graphics performance on Linux. The alternatives either under-perform, or have horrendous driver issues (not that the nVidia blob situation is ideal...).

---------- Post added at 09:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 PM ----------

Originally Posted by g2nightmare

According to benchmarks, the 8-core is better than the 2500k.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...120+Eight-Core

I'm not sure what is being measured there. Remember that programs have to be multi-threaded with at least as many simultaneously-runnable threads as CPU-cores in order to actually benefit from extra cores. Cores beyond that will either sit idle or do occasional background tasks for the OS.

If that benchmark is measuring the performance of a single core, then fine, but if it's measuring all 8 cores, vs the i5's 4 cores, then you need to consider how many cores your games are likely to actually be able to use at once – the 8-core might be considerably slower in practise.

[g2nightmare]

Originally Posted by Gareth Jones

I'm no gamer, but I doubt that the i7 has any real advantage over the i5 for gaming. The graphics card and drivers matter more, and as you've already been advised, like it or not, nVidia with the nVidia binary driver is unambiguously the best option for 3-D graphics performance on Linux. The alternatives either under-perform, or have horrendous driver issues (not that the nVidia blob situation is ideal...).

---------- Post added at 09:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 PM ----------



I'm not sure what is being measured there. Remember that programs have to be multi-threaded with at least as many simultaneously-runnable threads as CPU-cores in order to actually benefit from extra cores. Cores beyond that will either sit idle or do occasional background tasks for the OS.

If that benchmark is measuring the performance of a single core, then fine, but if it's measuring all 8 cores, vs the i5's 4 cores, then you need to consider how many cores your games are likely to actually be able to use at once – the 8-core might be considerably slower in practise.

I believe it was measuring all 8 cores, but I'm ok with that, since it's cheaper and will be better in the future. Do you know any AMD based motherboards that work very well?

Currently, my intel motherboard will be that Asrock Z68 extreme3 gen3

[george_toolan]

no contest ;-)

Unfortunately the performance of the new bulldozer APUs is very poor and they consume a lot of energy.

The only advantage is the built-in GPU, which you're not going to use in a gaming system.