DirectX 12 is a game-changer for PC enthusiasts and AMD in particular

[Scoobes]

JRPGfan said:

"The performance however is still down to physical core count, not just "brand". a 4 core AMD will still be outperformed by a 4 core intel."

Thats just it, today people compare a 4core intel against a 8core AMD cpu.
Because you dont need the extra 4 cores from intel side, you have Hyper threading, and stronger single core performance.

Thats how things work today.

and most of the time:  4core intel > 8 core amd cpu.

However thats not how things will work when DX12 comes out.

You will probably see alot of 4 core Intel cpus get beat by the 8core amd versions, you kinda expected to be weaker than the 4core intel ones.

According to the graphs in the link, hyperthreading still gives a significant performance boost (equivalent to approx. 1GHz overclock without HT).

 

On top of this, the latest i5 (so 4-cores with no hyperthreading), still manages to outperform the 8-core FX-8350 in DX12, although you could argue they're close to parity. Hopefully the performance boost still forces Intel to lower prices or add extras like hyperthreading to the i5s or more cores to the i7s in order to be more competitive.

Mainstream CPUs	GeForce GTX 750 Ti	Radeon R7 260X	GeForce GTX 970	Radeon R9 290X
i5 4690K DX11 Single Thread	1.2m	1.1m	2.0m	1.1m
i5 4690K DX11 Multi-Thread	1.4m	1.1m	1.0m	2.4m
i5 4690K DX11 Mantle	-	13.3m	-	15.2m
i5 4690K DX12	7.5m	13.3m	16m	15.9m
FX 8350 DX11 Single Thread	1.2m	0.7m	1.2m	0.7m
FX 8350 DX11 Multi-Thread	2.1m	0.7m	2.1m	0.7m
FX 8350 DX11 Mantle	-	10.0m	-	10.3m
FX 8350 DX12	7.1m	12.4m	13.5m	12.7m