Checking if all e-cores problems are resolved on Intel 12th–14th Gen and being open to hybrid solutions
Checking if all e-cores problems are resolved on Intel 12th–14th Gen and being open to hybrid solutions
I've seen many opinions about e-cores and their impact on gaming performance. While some claim they boost frame rates, others warn of potential stuttering in titles like Star Citizen, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk. I'm giving Star Citizen the benefit of the doubt since it's a problematic early version, but still, two years into Elden Ring and Cyberpunk feels concerning. Are these problems just exaggerated fears or misinformation? I'm open to exploring alternatives—using WIN10 with 12th or 14th Gen, or even opting for newer CPUs like the 14700K/14900K/138900K and turning off hardware threads. Would a single high-core CPU with HT enabled perform better than the current setup? Or are the issues more about hype than real performance gains? AMD's Zen 5 promises improved efficiency, but dual-CCD bottlenecks remain a challenge. Intel still edges out in thread management, especially with Raptor Cove or newer chips. It depends on your priorities and the games you play.
I plan to turn off HT while keeping e-cores active, based on the idea that this setup achieves the best performance for lows around 1% and 0.1%, with room to grow for future games that run on more than eight threads. Alternatively, 7800X3D seems optimal for just eight cores and ample cache. I’m open to testing e-cores first, which would eliminate HT and help save power and heat on 13th/14th Gen chips. There are many mentions of games like Last of Us Part 1, Spiderman series, Cyberpunk and Starfield using more than eight cores. So it appears those titles do support higher core usage. If performance and power concerns are met, I’ll choose Intel. Otherwise, AMD’s 7800X3D would be the better option.
Just want to point out that DirectStorage also supports GPU decompression, with a fallback to the CPU, if unsupported. (edit: I think I misunderstood your point ) On topic, there's a recent video from HuB where they compare 6 vs 8 cores vs cache. In most cases 8 cores performed on par with 6 cores ( ± a few percent) , while cache usually made a sizeable difference. This is from Cyberpunk 2077 running on my system. So yes, it can definitely use more than 6 or even 8 cores, but the more important question would be: How much benefit (if any) does that get me compared to 6 or 8 cores? Based on CPU load, I could likely do just as well with half as many cores. Spoiler
I hadn't noticed that before, but it was really interesting. Regarding how upcoming games will grow, if I could rely on my understanding of the future, I'd predict the lottery results and never have to worry about whether my current computer can handle it.
Currently, most big titles are designed for consoles first. Until they shift to more powerful systems, the number of optimal cores probably won’t change much. Just like VRAM worked well with 8 GB until newer consoles added more and games began to use it, I believe Cyberpunk is one of the few games that really performs well on both 12c and 24t configurations on my 5900x.
It makes sense when you think about it. Back then, PS4 and Xbox One still ran on 8-core Jaguar chips, yet PCs didn’t fully leverage multi-core performance until later. Most games back then didn’t take advantage of more than four cores, so extra cores didn’t always help much. Cyberpunk on the 5900X scaling to 12 cores and 24 threads sounds impressive, but whether it really boosts performance depends on the game. Efficient cores often outperform more cores if they’re better utilized. The results you mention might be close to random variation, but with modern CPUs like the 13th Gen and high-IPC chips such as Zen 5 or Arrow Lake, even more cores can make a difference—especially for demanding multithreaded titles.
Due to the limited strength of those 8 cores, they performed similarly to just 2-4 cores on a standard PC CPU. They probably needed extensive console-specific tweaks to make up for this limitation, which wouldn't always translate well on a PC. Developing games for fewer cores is simpler, so on PCs with much higher performance capabilities, they likely chose to simplify everything into a single thread. Nowadays, console processors have improved significantly, game engines are better at handling multiple threads, and standards like DX12 are more widely adopted. This makes porting to PC more feasible without major compromises. Nevertheless, achieving smooth frame rates and efficient shader compilation remains challenging.