ReidsvilleHighSchool

IBMathematicsSL
PricetoPerformance
LandonGibson
CandidateNumber
May,2016

Whichcompanyprovidesthebestpriceforthemostperformance?AdvancedMicro
DevicesorAMDandIntelbothprovidesomeofthebestprocessorsintheworldforanyonewith
enoughmoneytobuythem.Whathappenswhensomeoneisplanningonbuildingacomputer
withabudget?InthisinvestigationwewillcomparepricesbytheUnitedStatesDollarto
performancebenchmarkstodeterminewhichwillbethebetterpurchaseforsomeonewhoisnt
planningonspendinganexcessiveamountofmoneyforaprocessortorunintheirnew
computer.Aftercompletingallofthesetestsweshouldbeabletocalculatewhichprocessor
providesyouwiththebetterperformancefortheamountofmoneyyouarespending.AMDand
Intelbothproducenumerousamountsofprocessorswithdifferentfrequenciesandnumbersof
cores.WithIntelrespectivelyhavingthebestprocessorsonthemarket,theyarealsothemost
expensive,leadingonetowonderwhetherornotthepriceisworththeadvancedparts.

Thisinvestigationtopicwaschosenbecauseoftheamountofavailablesourcesonthe
internet.ThereareaplentifulamountofpeopleontheinternetrunningthetestsinwhichIwill
becollectingdatafrom.DuetobudgetIamunabletotestthesepartsonmyown,soIwillbe
receivinginformationfromexternalsources.Thiswillcauseroomforerrorduetotherelianceof
othersdatacollection.Usingthesewebsitestocollectdataisakeycomponentofthis
investigation.Oneofthemostvisitedsourceofinformationforthisresearchwillbe
CPUBoss.com.CPUBossisusefulbecauseitcapturesamassiveamountofspecs,benchmarks,
andreviewsdata,andorganizesitinonecentralplaceasaonestopshopforCPUresearch.1
Forthemostcurrentpriceofthesetwomanufacturersproducts,wewilluseNewEgg.comto
collectthepricesofthecomparedcentralprocessingunits.Aftercollectingthreedifferent
benchmarkscoresfromtwoprocessorsatthesamepricefromAMDandIntel,wewillusethe
benchmarkscorestodeterminewhoprovidesthebetterperformancefortheprice.Ascatterplot
isoneofthebestwastoplotdataandcalculatealineofbestfitinwhichwilldisplaytheoverall
pricetoperformanceratiowearelookingfor.Themanufacturerwiththebetterlineofbestfit
willprovetobethebettermanufacturerwhenonabudget.Iwillbecollectingpricesandscores

http://cpuboss.com/about

from20differentprocessorsusing10ofIntelsprocessorsand10ofAdvancedMicroDevices
processors.

Usingbenchmarkprogramsthatstressthecomputerscentralprocessingunit,wewillbe
abletogetscoresthatwewillusetocompareagainstadifferentunitfromadifferent
manufactureratthesamepricerange.Threescoreswillbeusedtohelpdetermineaclearwinner
andminimizethechancesofatiethatmayoccurwhenusingfourscores.Forexample,ifintel
scoreshigheronthebenchmarkatalowerprice,Intelwouldhavewonthatcomparison.This
systemofchoosingawinnershouldallowittobeclearaspossible.Dividingthepricebythe
scorewillgiveusanaveragepriceperpoint.Thispriceperpointnumberwillbecomparedto
theotherprocessortodeterminewhetherornotthepriceistoohighortoolowforthescoreit
achieved.

IanticipatethatIntelisgoingtolosebecauseoftheirmiddlegradeprocessorsbeing
almosttwiceasexpensiveassomeofAMDstopgradeunits.AdvancedMicroDevicestendsto
haveprocessorsthatarecheapandperformverywellwithmathematicalsituations.However,
whenusingsomeofAMDsmoreexpensivelineofunitsliketheir8,000series,theygetvery
powerfulandcanputupagreatmatchagainstsomeofIntelshigherendprocessors.

CPUBossResults
CPU
PerformanceGrade(10MAX)
PentiumG3250$
57.99

A66400K
$52.99

6.1

5.6

PentiumG3450
$79.99

X4860K
$74.99

6.2

6.8

i34160
$124.99

X4965
$79.99

6.3

6.3

i34330
$134.99

A107800
$126.99

6.6

6.6

i34350
$149.99

A107850K$129.99

6.4

6.5

i34370
$146.99

A107870K
$139.99

6.7

6.7

i52500K
$279.99

FX8320
$149.99

7.4

7.1

i53570K
$239.99

FX8350
$169.99

7.7

7.3

i74770k
$304.99

FX9370
$209.99

7.6

7.3

i74790K$339.99

FX9590
$299.99

8.2

7.7

Newegg2 providedallofthepricesfortheprocessingchipsbeingcomparedinthechart
above.Alongwiththepricesofthechipsweneededtogatheranotherhighlyimportantpieceto
thisinvestigation,theperformancescores.Theperformancescoreswerefoundfromthepeople
atCPUBoss3.Theperformancetestwasascalefrom110onamulticorebasedtest.This
multicoretestexaminesthestrengthofallthecoresonthechipwhichwouldbeusedinan
everydayusesituationwiththecomputer.HalfofthetimetheIntelProcessorsproducedabetter
scorehoweverthatwastypicallyonlywhenthepricesoftheIntelproductsweremuchhigher.
Fromthedatacollectedabovewhentwoprocessorsatthesamepricewerecompared,AMD

2
3

http://www.newegg.com/
http://cpuboss.com/

eithertiedorhadahigherscore.Whendividingthepricebythescoreyoucangetapriceto
performance
ratio
.Aratioisarepresentationofhowtonumberscomparetoeachother.

AftercomparingthepricetoperformanceratiooftheIntelCorei74790Kprocessorvs
theAMDFX9590processorwefoundthatthepriceoftheAMDprocessorshouldhavebeen
$319howeveritispricedat299.99onNewegg.Thiscomparisondisplaystheamountofmoney
per.1onthe010performancescalefromCPUBoss.Inthecomparisonabovethepriceper.1
was$41.46.TheFX9590was$20cheaperthantheperformancetestshoweditshouldhavebeen
whencomparedtothei74790K.

WhencomparingtheIntelCorei34350vstheAMDA107850Ktherewasasurprising
result.Thepriceper.1performancescorewas23.44.Aftertakingtherawdataandcomparing
thepricetoperformance
ratio
thatAMDprocessorshouldhavebeenpricedat$152.34when

usingIntelspricingmethods.ThedataisshowingthatAMDisprovidingahigherscoreper
dollarthanIntel.SowhathappenswhenAMDspricingmethodsareplacedonanIntel
processorthatproducedthesamescore?

ThescoreoftheIntelprocessorshouldhavebeenthesamepriceastheAMDprocessor,
howevertheIntelprocessorissevenUSDmorethantheAMDprocessor.Thepriceper.1onthe
performancescalewas20.89inthiscomparison.TheAMDprocessorwasabletohavethesame
scoreatalowerprice.

Comparingasinglepartagainstanotherisonewaytodetermineawinnerinthis
pricetoperformanceevaluationbutisittheclearestway?Findingtheaveragecostper
performancepointisonemethodbutformingagraphandplottingoutallthedatapointis
anotherwaythatmayresultineasierinterpretation.WhenplottingallthepricesfromAMDand
allthepricesfromIntelalineofbestfitcanbedrawntoshowwhichmanufacturertruly
producesprovideshigherperformingchipsatalowerprice.

ThegraphaboveshowsthepricesofIntelcomponentsasgreysquaresandtheAdvanced
MicroDevicesasblackcircles.TheInteltrendlineisgreyliketheirdatapointsandtheAMD
trendlineisblackliketheirdatapoints.Thisscatterplotisoneofthebestwaypossibleto
determineaclearwinnerofthisinvestigation.TheblackcircleswhichrepresentAMDare
typicallyhigheronthegraphthenIntelspoints.Thelineofbestfitisthebestdisplayof
comparisoninthisscenario.ThegraphaboveshowsAMDslineofbestfitbeingslightlyhigher
thanIntelstrendline.WithAMDslineofbestfitbeinghigherafterplottingalltenpartsfrom
eachmanufacturershowsthatAMDhasthebetterpriceformoreperformance.

IntelandAMDaretheleadingprocessormanufacturersallovertheworldandalmost
everyciviliancomputerhasoneofthesetwocompaniespartsinthem.Mostofficecomputers
likeDellcomputerscontainIntelduetotheirefficiencyinawidervarietyoftaskscomparedto
AMD.However,manyofficesdocontainAMDdevicesitjustappearslesspopular.Mostschool
computerscontainIntelprocessorsonceagainduetotheirefficiencyinawidevarietyoftasks.
AMDprocessorsareveryquickwithmathematicalsituationssomanyengineerssupportAMD.

ReviewershavegenerallyfoundthatIntelprovidessuperiorcomputeperformanceperdollar,
evenatthelowendofthemarket.Youllgenerallyreceiveabetterprocessorforyourmoney
buypurchasingaCeleron,PentiumorCoreproduct.4DigitalTrendswroteagreatarticleon
whichonetochooseinspecificsituations.TheystatedthatthelowerendIntelprocessors
provideyouwithagoodperformanceperdollar.Howevertheirhigherendprocessorsgetvery
expensiveandtheperformanceperdollardecreases.Intelstillhavethebestprocessorsinthe
worldbutAMDisputtingupaverygoodfightwiththeirhighendprocessorsprovidingyou
muchmoreperformanceperdollar.

Forme,theresultsfromthisinvestigationareinterestingandhighlyinformationalfor
computerbuyers/builders.TheresultsIfoundwerenotsurprisingtomeasitmatchedmyearly
hypothesisthatAMDwouldproducecheaperproductsthatperformaswellormaybeevenbetter
thanIntelchipsatthesameprice.Inthefuturewhenbuildingorrecommendingcomputerparts
toabuyeronabudgetIwillmostlikelyfindmyselfrecommendingacomputerwithanAMD
partastheresearchIhavedoneasdisplayedthatIntelistooexpensivefortheperformancethey
provide.Intelproducesgreatchips,butifyoureonabudgetbuyingfromAdvancedMicro
Devicesisthebetterchoicetomake.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/hereweexplainthebasicdifferencesbetweenintelandamdcpus/

Bibliography
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DellOfficialSiteThePowerToDoMore|Dell.
DellOfficialSiteThePowerToDoMore|
Dell
.Web.25Sep.2015.<http://www.dell.com/enus/>
IntelVs.AMD:WhichBrandofCPUShouldYouChooseWhenBuildingaPC?
Digital
Trends
.N.p.,Mar.2015.Web.25Sep.2015.
<http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/hereweexplainthebasicdifferencesbetween
intelandamdcpus/>