Which CPU price is best: Intel or AMD?
As always, it should be noted that component pricing can sometimes be quite elastic. The below comparisons have been put together using PCPartsPicker.com.
Intel Core i3 (10th Gen) vs Ryzen 3
Depending on where you’re buying them from, Intel’s current crop of i3 CPUs currently range from approximately $206 on the low-end to $406 for the i3-10300. In comparison, AMD’s Ryzen 3 3200G can be had for about around half that at $175 (we’ve seen it as low as AU$138). And when you compare the two, it’s easy to see the value.
Even if it does fall short on clock speed and cache size, Ryzen offers significantly better on-board graphics plus reduced power consumption.You can find it on Amazon here.
Intel Core i5 (10th Gen) vs Ryzen 5
Depending on where you’re buying them from, Intel’s current crop of i5 CPUs currently range from around $356 for the i5-10500 to $455 for the i5-10600. In contrast, you can grab a Ryzen 5 2600X for $339 or Ryzen 5 3400G for $240 respectively.
Again, the Ryzen counterparts to Intel’s i5 chips are almost half the price - so, even if they do fall short on certain fronts, there’s a lot of value here. You can find it on Amazon here.
Intel Core i7 (10th Gen) vs Ryzen 7
Depending on where you’re buying them from, AMD’s Ryzen 7 CPUs float between $350 and $520. As usual, Intel’s CPUs tend to be slightly more expensive. We’ve seen the i7-10700 go as low as $586. We’ve seen the i7-10900 go as high as $895.
As noted in our theoretical comparison, the latest in Ryzen 7 mobile processors simply can’t match the thread and core count allowed for by Intel’s own Core i7 processors, nor can they keep up when it comes to clock speeds. Depending on what you're looking do with your PC, that might just be enough reasons to pay the premium here.
Intel Core i9 (10th Gen) vs Ryzen Threadripper
This is the one front where AMD doesn’t have the edge on price. Depending on where you buy from, you’ll probably be able to pull one of Intel’s high-end i9 CPUS for as low as $895 and as high as $949.
In contrast, AMD's mighty Threadripper CPUs start at around $2399 and we’ve seen them go as high as $6262. They offer a level of performance that Intel’s i9 hardware can’t match, to be sure. However, no matter how you swing it, that’s higher pricing is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. You can find it on Amazon here.
Next Page: How do AMD Ryzen and Intel compare in practice?