Random Hardware topics

[Zed Clampet]

'The game is ass on anything else but a 9800X3D': Esports players are complaining about using Intel CPUs at sponsored tournaments rather than AMD X3D chips, with multiple claims of crashing and significantly worse performance

Intel might be inside, but some wish it wasn't.

www.pcgamer.com

EUREKA!

Now I finally understand the 9800x3D hype. It doesn't apply to me, but I get it now.

So here is the explanation:

Almost all games are GPU bound. This means that in these games, the 9800x3D doesn't provide any benefit over a similar priced Intel CPU (although the Intel CPUs from a certain period of time were garbage and crashing quite frequently).

HOWEVER, the exception to this rule is how Esports players set up their games. They basically trash the graphics so that they can get higher FPS. They make the graphics settings so easy on the GPU that these games become CPU bound. This is where you see phenomenal differences between the 9800x3D and similarly priced Intel chips. You get vastly higher FPS with the 9800x3D, which is very impressive.

For me, it doesn't come into play. I always play my games with the graphics turned up. My games are always GPU bound. My AI work also is primarily performed by the GPU, although there are a couple of processes that I am questioning whether the 9800x3D might help. It certainly wouldn't hurt, but the next thing I'm doing to this PC is upgrading to a 5080 Super or whatever that ends up being (so long as it has a minimum of 24 GB of VRAM). That's my top priority by a long shot, although I may add another 32 GB of RAM in the meantime since that is fairly cheap. After that, I'll revisit the CPU.

 

[Colif]

Why bother having best gaming CPU/GPU when most of the games that need them are crap now, and most indie titles don't need either.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Why bother having best gaming CPU/GPU when most of the games that need them are crap now, and most indie titles don't need either.

For me I want to be able to run AI training and play a game at the same time. Right now I don't have enough VRAM to do that. If I get enough VRAM, then there is a good chance that the extra processing power of the 9800x3D may well come into play.

Also, there have been many times when I wished I could run a dedicated game server, so I might take my old stuff and make a server out of it. FunCom is under a lot of pressure to let people make their own Dune Awakening servers, for instance.

However, I suspect that most AI programs will max out any GPU that I have, so the whole thing is possibly not doable.