asie on Nostr: Every ~6-12 months, I review if it's time to upgrade my aging but reliable 4790K yet. ...
Every ~6-12 months, I review if it's time to upgrade my aging but reliable 4790K yet. As I will be priced out of 9900X3D/9950X3D anyway, let's check with the state of the CPU market in the price bracket I'd be willing to go for:
- 14700K: Decently efficient if you underclock it substantially, low idle draw (6-10W bracket), Intel's recent missteps terrify me
- 265K: Good CPU on a better process, low idle draw, Intel's recent missteps still terrify me
- 7900X: Good CPU with high idle draw (20W if you're good, can be even 30W)
- 9900X: Better, but currently noticeably less cost-effective than 7900X, and still has high idle draw
- 7950X: See above
- 5950X: Slightly dated CPU with still ~10W higher idle draw than anything Intel has put out (only the <= 8/16 variants idle as low as Intel's)
However, I wonder if in actual day-to-day use (as opposed to worst/best-case scenario benchmarks), the higher AMD idle draw and the lower Intel efficiency are effectively a wash.
... And I wonder if there's really a point in caring about power efficiency when an idling desktop eats ~40-50W more than an idling laptop to begin with. Are there any good articles on how low you can go with a regular desktop, and/or the other ponderings on power draw?
- 14700K: Decently efficient if you underclock it substantially, low idle draw (6-10W bracket), Intel's recent missteps terrify me
- 265K: Good CPU on a better process, low idle draw, Intel's recent missteps still terrify me
- 7900X: Good CPU with high idle draw (20W if you're good, can be even 30W)
- 9900X: Better, but currently noticeably less cost-effective than 7900X, and still has high idle draw
- 7950X: See above
- 5950X: Slightly dated CPU with still ~10W higher idle draw than anything Intel has put out (only the <= 8/16 variants idle as low as Intel's)
However, I wonder if in actual day-to-day use (as opposed to worst/best-case scenario benchmarks), the higher AMD idle draw and the lower Intel efficiency are effectively a wash.
... And I wonder if there's really a point in caring about power efficiency when an idling desktop eats ~40-50W more than an idling laptop to begin with. Are there any good articles on how low you can go with a regular desktop, and/or the other ponderings on power draw?