I want to build a new PC and normally I would go with an Intel processor because I care mostly about emulation and Intel CPUs have better single threaded performance. However, it doesn't seem like choosing an Intel CPU would be a good idea right now because of the meltdown and spectre exploits with Intel chips. I know AMD CPUs are still vulnerable to the Spectre variant 1 exploit but they are not vulnerable to the other variants and AMD CPUs seem like a safer choice right now. I'm afraid that if I get an Intel CPU, I'll visit the wrong website, click on the wrong link, get the wrong popup and then have malware installed on my PC that takes advantage of the meltdown and spectre exploits. If I did go with AMD, I'd choose the 2600x.
That being said, I'd like to hear what you guys think. How serious of a problem are these exploits?
That being said, I'd like to hear what you guys think. How serious of a problem are these exploits?