Guide: Choosing a CPU

1) CPU features

When you look at CPU's the primary features you will look at are going to be

• Clock speed: This is how many operations each core can complete per second.
• Core count: This is how many physical cores the CPU has. AMD generally has more cores at any given price point than Intel.
• Core efficiency (aka IPC): This isn't a listed stat on CPU's. Some CPU cores are more efficient at processing compared to alternatives with the same speed. It's important to check benchmarks relevant to you for this reason, but it's generally safe to assume that at any price point Intel will have better core efficiency while AMD will have higher core counts.
• TDP: this is how much wattage is needed to support the CPU at it's default speeds. It's generally safe to assume Intel will have lower wattage than an AMD equivalent.
• Integrated GPU: Some CPU's will have integrated graphics built in, this will be weaker than any decent dedicated card, but may be adequate for less demanding games. Almost all modern Intel chips have integrated graphics. AMD AM3+ CPU's do not have integrated graphics whatsoever, while AMD APUs have very powerful integrated graphics that tend to be much stronger than Intel's offerings.

2) Pros and Cons

2a) Intel

Pros

• Fast single-threaded performance makes most Intel CPU's ideal for gaming
• Generally power efficient
• Performs very consistently across a large variety of tasks

Cons

• Weaker integrated graphics than AMD APUs
• May loose out to AMD at multi-threaded performance at any given price point

2b) AMD AM3+

Pros

• Strong multi-threaded performance makes most AMD CPU's ideal for streaming and certain professional work
• AMD doesn't change sockets often, making upgrading in the future more efficient

Cons

• Low power efficiency
• No integrated graphics unless present on the motherboard
• Lower single-threaded performance leads to varied performance in games and single threaded applications

2c) AMD APU

Pros

• Integrated graphics are very powerful relative to intel's offerings at the same price ranges
• Higher end models such as the A8's and A10's offer 4 acceptably fast cores and great GPU performance for lower demand games such as League of Legends and Team Fortress 2 while remaining affordable

Cons

• Single threaded performance is still low relative to Intel
• The premium spent to get good integrated graphics is somewhat wasted if you ever decide to add a dedicated video card
• FM2 socket used by current APUs limits upgrade potential