How to choose the processor for the computer? New processor: review, prices, photos

Many computer users in their lives at least once asked the question: "How to choose a processor for the computer?" This is a very urgent and important issue. The processor is the brain of the computer, and the correct choice of this component directly affects the operation of the entire system.

Currently, it is worth noting two major giants, producing processors for the computer, the price for which, however, the companies of Intel and AMD are quite different. This makes the task a little easier, since you will have to make a choice between just two manufacturers. If you have an unlimited or very large budget, then the issue of choice is removed by itself. It is necessary to take the most expensive processor and not to rack your brains. Let it be downloaded from you only 3% of its capabilities. But without the painful problem of choice. But what can you do if your budget is limited, and the tasks that the computer is facing are big enough? This is where the question of choice arises. How to choose the right price / performance ratio? How to spend less money and not lose in performance. That's where the questions begin. In this article we will try to decompose the information on the shelves: about ratings, expediency, money, productivity, etc. It should be noted at once that we will not go deep into such technical details as the topology of the kernel, computing power, technical processes, Which support the processor, etc. In this article we will talk about how to choose a new processor for the desktop computer.

A bit of history

The history of computer technology in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it, began in our country with Intel Pentium processors. They were processors with a frequency of 120 Mhz on the fifth or seventh socket with a system bus frequency of 60 Mhz. He was competing with AMD with his AMD K-5 PR 100 on the same socket and with a system bus frequency of 66 Mhz. In those distant times, there was still no separation over the sockets and everyone used the same motherboard. Also there were IBM processors with a frequency of 200 Mhz. These were the first generations of processors. What is commonly called Pentium I.

Closer to the 98th year, MMX processors appeared, such as Intel Celeron 433 with a 66 MHz bus on the 370th socket. They were very present in the market for a very long time and were considered a successful series. This can be called the second generation, or Pentium II.

Next came the more familiar Intel Celeron 633, Intel Celeron 1300 (with a closed core) and Intel Pentium 800 also on the 370th socket. They were the third generation of processors, or Pentium III. From the company AMD competitors Pentium III were AMD Athlon. AMD's advantage over Intel was in price. They won in the price / performance ratio.

In the early 2000s, processors of the fourth generation Intel Pentium IV came to the market. The first lines of this family were released on the 423 socket. Intel actively promoted the memory of the RIM standard at that time. In fact, it was an analogue of DDR 400 memory. The memory of the RIM standard was quite expensive and not widespread in the market, respectively, and it did not receive any further development. So, the nuance of the first processors of Intel Pentium IV was that they worked only with this memory. When buying a processor, it was also accompanied by RAM. But the market dictates its terms, and Intel had to agree with this. The following processors of the fourth generation came out on the 478th socket and already under DDR memory. It was Intel Celeron 1.7, and the 478th socket lasted until 2006.

AMD at that time had several AMD Athlon processors with different cores on socket A (or 462-m). Their drawback and difference from Intel's counterparts was an open core, which could easily be damaged if not very careful with it. The core of Intel processors were covered with a metal cover.

Further development

In the early 2000s, AMD dropped its A socket and began to release a new processor on the 754th socket, which did not last long. The main problems were in chipsets and high heat transfer. They were replaced by processors on the 939th socket, which also lasted a very long time. They were AMD Athlon 64 with dual-channel memory support. The next socket was AM2, under which the company began to make dual-core processors. They have significantly reduced heat generation. Then there were sockets AM2 +, further AM3, AM3 + and all ends on the socket FM2 +.

Analogues of Intel had processors on the 775th socket. The first dual-core was Intel Pentium D. Their main drawback was simply huge heat dissipation. Intel bought from AMD technology, removing the series D from production. After that, the light saw a ruler CoreDuo, then Core2Duo with very low heat dissipation. Also, a 4-core Core 2 Quad processor was developed.

Today

To date, the market for processors, there are two giants and two major competitors. These are the companies of Intel and AMD. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. To select the processor you need, you need to clearly understand what tasks will be in front of the computer.

There are quite a few processors in Intel's lineup. Starting with the budget Atom, Pentium, Celeron, you can continue Core2Duo or Quad. This is a 2- or 4-core processor. Ends with all the most modern i3 / i5 / i7.

AMD currently has four series designed for desktop computers. This is a budget Athlon, a more expensive A-series and a top FX series.

Overview of Intel processors

The company's oldest socket, which still exists on the market, is the 775th socket. It appeared already in 2004. Under it was released the legendary Core2Quad. This processor is very easy to find in the secondary market. It has a very low price and it is easy to create a budget gaming computer on its basis.

In 2009, a socket 1156 appeared and the line of Core processors acquired the kind in which it is familiar to us now. This is a division of i3 / i5 / i7, where under the i3 line the most low-cost and cheap processors are collected from the Intel point of view, and i7 is the most expensive and productive ones. Also since then, common marking has settled, where the higher the last three digits, the higher the productivity. For example, Intel Core i3 530 and Intel Core i3 550. Naturally, new processors of the first generation are no longer produced, but they can be found in the secondary market for a very good price, but without a built-in video core.

For the most productive processors of the family i7 there was a separate socket LGA 1366. It was intended for Intel Core i7 with 920-th to 980-th model. Still there it was possible to put several models of processors Xeon 55xx.

In 2011, a socket LGA 1155 was released. It is designed for the second and third generation of the Intel Core i family. These are good, efficient processors with low power consumption and heat dissipation. Of the minuses, it is worth noting the shortcomings in the work of the video core and a higher price than AMD.

Also this year came out the socket 2011. It replaced 1366 and is also designed for top-end processors i7 and for several Xeon models, namely Xeon E5-16xx / 26xx

In 2013, the Intel Core i processors of the fourth generation are released on the LGA 1150 socket. Intel has improved the integrated graphics and reduced power consumption. Productivity has remained as good, and the prices are so high.

Do not forget about the budget models of Intel lines Pentium and Celeron. They are designed for office or simple home use. We will disassemble in more detail.

Intel Atom is a weak dual-core or even single-core processor. They are quite enough for some simple tasks, surfing the Internet or browsing the mail and searching for any information. Accordingly, the prices for them are the lowest, which makes them suitable for assembling budget computers.

Celeron or Pentium processor

These are almost identical in performance dual-core processors. The difference is that Intel Celeron is, in fact, an Intel Pentium with a reduced cache memory. That is, all the burden falls on the core itself. Accordingly, programs that process large data packets and use the cache for temporary storage will work poorly. It is cheaper than the Intel Pentium, but also less productive. The most affordable version of Intel Celeron will cost somewhere in the 1500-2000 rubles. Prices for the Pentium start at about 2500 rubles. Computers, assembled on the basis of these processors, are quite suitable for solving home or office tasks. Their capacity is quite enough to work with MS Office or Nero, view video and work in simple graphical editors. They can also be used for some games. But do not expect a serious and very high-quality graphics. To work with serious programs where large packets of information are processed, they will not work.

Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7

For desktop machines, Intel offers a series of processors consisting of three models: i3, i5 and i7. It is logical to assume that for normal home use (internet, movies, music, some applications, etc.) perfectly suited i3. In this lineup, these are the weakest and, therefore, the cheapest processors for the computer. The price for it starts somewhere from 5000 rubles. The performance of i5 is an order of magnitude higher. It is suitable for vigorous home and office use, when serious calculations and data processing are needed. For example, photo / video processing, office programs with large databases, etc. Its price is also an order of magnitude higher. It starts somewhere from 8,000 rubles. And the top i7 is the most expensive and powerful processor. It is suitable for professional use and assembly of gaming computers for the most "heaped" toys. Prices for them start at a mark of 12,000 rubles. So the choice is pretty simple.

It's worth adding a little explanation to the labeling. After four digits, letters sometimes appear at the end of the processor model name. The letter "k" indicates that the multiplier is enabled and can be overclocked. This is an excellent processor for a gaming computer. The letter "p" means that the built-in video core is disabled. Accordingly, such processors are slightly cheaper. The letter "s" indicates a lower heat release, but the letter "t" means that energy consumption and heat dissipation are as low as possible. At the same time, the clock frequency is also lowered.

Intel Xeon

I would like to mention a little bit the server processors Intel Xeon. They first saw the light in 1998 and are released to this day. The number of cores ranges from two to ten, and the clock frequency is from 400 MHz to 3.8 GHz. There is a huge number of sockets for these processors. All of them are designed mainly for motherboards for servers. But there are some sockets that coincide with regular motherboards. This is 2011, which produces i7, 1155 and 1156 for i3 / i5. But the most interesting is that there are 771 and 775 sockets that can be used on old motherboards, giving them a "second life". Dual-core Intel Xeon frequency of 2.66 GHz can work on motherboards with 775-m socket and Intel P45 and P35 chips. It is necessary that the BIOS support this processor. After doing small manipulations, namely by placing a small adapter on the legs of the power supply and cutting off the guides "ears", you can fit the motherboard and Xeon on the 771-m socket. After replacing the processor, the performance is doubled. In the rating of the test results, it is located between the Intel i5 and the cheapest Intel i7. A pretty good result for an old computer. In conclusion, it should be added that to order in China such a second-hand Xeon will cost 1000 rubles without delivery.

AMD Processors

How to choose a processor for a computer company AMD? What is now sold and what should I stop with? First, we'll deal with sockets. At the moment, there are four. These are sockets FM1, FM2 AM3 and AM3 +.

For two of them, processors are no longer produced, and what is sold is the remains in the warehouses. These are sockets AM3 and FM1. AM3 is the oldest of them. Processors under it began to release already in the beginning of 2009. There were two lines: AMD Athlon and AMD Phenom. We can say that Athlon is a little easier and cheaper, and Phenom is more expensive, more complex and, accordingly, more productive. These are processors of the second generation with the number of cores from two to six. Their advantages are low price and very good performance. Phenom II, in principle, can compete with many modern quad-core processors, and some can overtake. However, there are also disadvantages. These are quite old processors and old motherboards are needed for them. They also consume several times more energy and heat up a lot. On the question of whether to buy these processors, you can answer in different ways. If you're building a computer from scratch, it's probably not worth it. But on the other hand, if you already have an old motherboard and you want to upgrade the computer, and the budget is very limited, then this is a good option for you.

In 2011, AMD integrated the graphics card directly into the processor. So there was a new socket FM1 and a new line of AMD. They were processors AMD A4, AMD A6 and AMD A8. On sale they are few, and the price, like performance, is quite low. In our opinion, there is absolutely no point in buying them.

Next, let's talk about modern processors on sockets FM2 and AM3 +. What is the difference? The socket FM2 is intended for processors with the built in video card. The ruler consists of five families. This is an updated AMD A4, AMD A6, AMD A8 and a new representative AMD A10. Also there are processors AMD Athlon II, but this, in fact, the same family A. Of these, AMD A4 and AMD A6 are dual-core models, and AMD A8 and AMD A10 are quad-core. Built-in video cores are different models of Radeon HD from 7480D to 7660D. If you carry out various tests and various tests, you can draw the following conclusion: the newest and most productive processor from this line AMD A10 6800K, 4.1 GHz, with built-in video card Radeon HD 7660D will allow you to play modern video games such as Battlefield III only at the lowest Or medium settings. Accordingly, to work in programs such as 3 DMax, it is not good, but for office work and watching movies at lunch time is the thing. Its price is about 5,000 rubles.

Is it worth buying an A-series processor?

If you want to buy it for games, then most likely not. It has a very high price, and the power of the built-in video core is very low. For the same money, you can buy another, completely productive processor and a separate video card that will allow you to play pretty comfortable in most modern toys at high settings.

But for everyday home or office tasks, the cheapest of this line of AMD A4 5300, which costs about 1500 rubles, will suffice. In this case, you no longer need to spend money on a separate video card, and you get a very economical option.

Top AMD Series FX

And so we got to the most delicious - the processors on the AM3 + socket. This is a line of AMD FX series. No fuss with the graphics card inside, no overpayment for this built-in graphics. Also, the power of the processor is not divided between it and the video card. Number of cores: four, six or eight. The frequency of the processor - from 3300 MHz to 4200 MHz, excellently. Prices for them are quite adequate. These processors are great for games, as well as for working with Photoshop, any three-dimensional editors, engineering calculations and so on. Disadvantages are their high energy consumption and high heat dissipation.

A small postscript

Recently there was a new socket FM 2+. It is also designed for AMD with a built-in video card. The table of processors for this socket looks like this: AMD A4, AMD A6, AMD A8, AMD A10 and AMD Athlon II X2. For example, AMD A10 on this socket costs 6 500 - 7 500 rubles. It's quite expensive considering their performance.

Therefore, if you need a budget option for office or home, sit on the Internet, listen to music, then you should pay attention to the A-series processors. In all other cases it is worthwhile to dwell on the FX series. For example, the six-core AMD FX 6350, 3900MHz will cost about 4500-5000 rubles.

Comparison of top-end processors

AMD has a top processor - FX 8350. Its price is about 7,000 rubles. Intel has a Core i7 3770s. Its price is about 11 000 rubles. Having made the test of the AMD processor by the rating of the CPU benchmark benchmark program, you can see that it is 3% behind the Core i7 of the entry level. At the same time, the heat dissipation of Intel is 65 W, and that of AMD is 125 W. This indicates the best performance that Intel processors have. They almost do not get warm, and at the same time more powerful. One can draw the following conclusion: if you need the highest performance, and the price does not bother you much, then it's better to take Intel. At AMD the most powerful processor can be compared to i7 of an initial level. Accordingly, the performance of the most powerful i7 will be much higher than that of AMD FX.

Price list

From all of the above, it is worth highlighting a few points. A good processor for a computer is expensive. The most budgetary versions of Intel Celeron start from 2,000 rubles. At the same time, the core of the video card can be integrated into them.

AMD is the beginning of the A series for 1500 rubles. A video chip is also present in them. AMD Athlon and Phenom can be bought even cheaper.

For an average computer based on Intel Core i5, you need to expect 6,000-8,000 rubles. Processors i3 will cost about 4,000 rubles.

AMD's mid-range A series processors will cost around 5,000 rubles. But their performance is of little value. Better for the same price take the average six-core processor of the top FX series.

The top AMD FX will cost 8,000. It can easily provide a wide range of tasks that you can face both at home and at work. If this is not enough and you need even more productivity, then the choice is obvious. In the top range, Intel has Core i7, whose cost starts from 11,000 rubles and higher.

Thus, Intel processors are much more expensive than AMD. This is most acutely felt when choosing the top line i7.

Guitar Processors

The guitar processor for the computer is needed for wide customization of various special effects. It provides the interaction between the guitar and the computer. It allows you to save the created settings and effects in different "cabinets" for further inclusion at the touch of a button.

All points over I

How to choose a processor for the computer, I think you understand. The advantages of Intel's processors are pretty obvious. Of the main cost to note the small heat dissipation at high performance. At top Intel i7 it makes 65W, in comparison with AMD, at which - 125W, and this gap is colossal. Intel has moved away from using the legs, while AMD continues to use them in its processors. The area of the top cover of Intel is much smaller than that of AMD, which makes it possible to tighten the cooler more tightly, thus providing better cooling. The power consumption of the top i7 is so low that it allows the use of a 350 W power supply (unless a high-performance graphics card is used). Another intellews increased the reliability of their products. The processors have special connectors, to which the factory connects test equipment quality control.

Of the shortcomings worth noting the high price. Another comparative disadvantage is that the company often (even too often) changes sockets. Over the past few years, 1156, 1155, 1150, 2011. For the family of i7, they were divided into 2011 and 1150. What is it related to, is not yet clear, but it can be a hassle when upgrading the computer.

The disadvantages of the AMD FX series processors are the old platform. Packaging from AMD has not changed since 2001. This may be due to the fact that this company does not have its own production facilities. They issue the processors for the partner companies. The second drawback is the low performance for the top eight AMD FX cores. The third drawback is the large heat dissipation in 125 W. At the same time, the area of the cover that covers the core has more FX in FX than in i3. Therefore, the cooler to press it harder, thereby cooling the CPU becomes worse. All of these drawbacks make the AMD FX series fail in comparison with Intel. The plus is the price. It is much lower than the Intel i7. But from the entire FX line, only the top model is recommended.

Thus, we, as promised, all laid out on the shelves. You learned how to choose a processor for your computer. Now, guided by the information received, you can take a meaningful and correct decision, which will always remain with you.