Six cores could be ideal for gaming?
Six cores could be ideal for gaming?
Watching a video of different games showed clear FPS variations with varying numbers of cores. Six and eight cores performed similarly, while four cores were noticeably slower. The setup stayed consistent, except for the CPU core count. Link: https://youtu.be/AqBl9frFESI
All tested games are at least two to three years old, with some going back as far as five years (such as Witcher and Fallout 4).
Newer titles (like RDR2 and the recently launched Flight Simulator) will perform better thanks to more than six cores.
Nevertheless, these numbers are relative. Benchmarks aim to maximize performance from each component, so while an 8-core or 16-core chip with a 3080 might offer more power, the difference will be significantly smaller with a mid-range GPU (for example, 1070 or 1650Super).
Six cores usually provide a good gaming experience across most current titles, whereas quad-core processors may lag in certain games.
All tested games are at least two to three years old, with some going back as far as five years (such as Witcher and Fallout 4).
Newer titles (like RDR2 and the recently launched Flight Simulator) will perform better thanks to more than six cores.
Nevertheless, these numbers are relative. Benchmarks aim to maximize performance from each component, meaning an 8-core/16-core setup paired with a 3080 can offer much closer results compared to a mid-range GPU like the 1070 or 1650Super.
Six cores usually provide the best experience across most current games, while quad-core configurations might lag in certain titles.
The difference is already quite minor and overlooks the fact that all CPUs operate at identical clocks, which doesn't fully explain the situation. For instance, a quad at 5GHz could yield similar results at 6 or 8 GHz only at 4.2. I believe it's more accurate to consider the 6-core price as the ideal range for gaming today. Also, agree with everything Barty mentioned.
I understand your view. Some games really challenge 6 core 6 threads, often showing lower FPS compared to 6 core 12 threads.
Also not clear on YouTube is how other activities while gaming can impact CPU usage. Many users stream or record their games, keeping Discord open and using web browsers, which consume CPU resources. Each of these actions reduces available CPU cores and threads. Although 6 cores with 12 threads works well for cost and performance, this setup is mainly suitable for pure gaming. If you engage in any of these tasks now or plan to in the future, opting for 8 cores and 16 threads could be beneficial. This choice remains advantageous because multi-threaded games will increasingly demand more resources, making such setups less efficient as developers prioritize optimization.
Besides streaming everything else, your internet connection or RAM becomes the main bottleneck. Streaming becomes significantly smoother and easier when using the GPU. Everything a typical user would leave open during gaming won’t affect performance. This is especially true since most people already have a GPU that limits CPU speed, so even with a 6-core CPU you’ll still have room for background apps unless you use a powerful GPU like the 3080 at medium settings. The only reason developers began multithreading was because single-core performance was too poor to handle anything meaningful. New consoles will feature Zen cores that can handle more tasks, which might reduce the need for multithreading since developers don’t have to rely on it anymore.
I believe they'll proceed because people desire that outcome. Observe the debates around FS2020: limited to just four threads, let alone DX12 (which allows better thread usage). This remains a significant criticism in many reviews, even though the games' low optimization levels push 2080ti's to their limits at their best gaming settings (indicating the GPU is the limiting factor).
Combining operations with gaming will only grow more common as we achieve sufficient core and thread power. These were just illustrations, but I still think a web browser merely 'accesses the internet'; Chrome, especially with Edge, consumes many CPU threads when tabs are open (similar to Firefox). I prefer mentioning game forums and online guides while playing... it's convenient not to maintain the browser in that state. With the appropriate processor, I no longer need to force it to perform before launching games as before.