It is the eternal battle, the epic, David against Goliath and yet it is far from over as such. The endless history some will think and maybe rightly so, but like all wars this one has many battles and this one in particular can turn to the red side. Why are AMD‘s processors better than Intel‘s? What arguments do Lisa Su have in front of a colossus like the company Swan runs?
Lithographic process
It is a large part of the company’s current advantage thanks to TSMC, not surprisingly the Taiwanese have been charging each wafer at a gold price. The 7nm that all its Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 4000 processors introduce make the density of its chips higher than that of Intel, in fact, much higher it is necessary to influence.
In order to be concrete and offer a clearer vision in this regard, we will offer the data that companies make known. Intel and its 14 nm ++ in its most improved version have a density of 37.22 million transistors per square millimeter , while TSMC at 7 nm achieves 91.2 MTr / mm2 . That is, the lithographic process of the Taiwanese achieves a + 2.45X the density of that of Intel.
This means that more than twice as many transistors can be inserted in the same space, with consequent improvements in final performance.
Architecture
Part of the architecture and its best has to do with the use of chiplets in its processors. Although they have a number of disadvantages, the advantages are greater than these and proof of this is the number of processors that are selling.
Zen 2 has been the first architecture to include an I / O die on a PCB that takes control of certain sections of the cores, simplifying them and making their design simpler, smaller and therefore more profitable for AMD, modularity apart clear.
This modularity allows changes to be made more abruptly when necessary, allows to segment the market much better and makes the performance increase more exponential by having to include only more chiplets to each PCB.
AMD has higher compatibility
Although Zen 3 is going to break much of this argument, so far Zen as architecture and AM4 as socket have been the ones that have included the most processors and versions in history if we add the new Ryzen 4000 that are about to arrive.
Unlike Intel, AM4 will give way to four architectures under the same socket, while Swan’s have gone through three different sockets at the same time. This has led many users to place their trust in AMD with the prerogative to change less board and simply upgrade their processors.
More cores in AMD
This applies to both the mainstream and HEDT ranges, and although the latter is more important, the truth is that the number of cores has increased considerably since AMD has dominated this field.
For gamers, the greater number of cores only cares to a certain extent, but those who also work with the PC, edit video or audio apart from throwing their vices from time to time, this argument tips the balance very clearly towards the red team.
A greater number of nuclei with good CPI and frequency determines the sale at the end of the year and is closely related to the last point.
Price
The most determining factor, without a doubt, is that Intel, with the premise of being faster in gaming, has not lowered prices until the exit of Comet Lake and Cascade Lake. Even so, AMD has adjusted them to be more competitive in this regard, something that is reflected every quarter in the company’s income.
Although its platform is not as round as that of its rival and despite the fact that in general terms it surpasses them, people associate AMD at cheaper prices and that ends by turning the balance on each unit sold.
In fact, currently 9 out of 10 processors sold in the European Union are precisely AMD, figures that are returning the quota lost in years past with failed architectures such as Bulldozer.
