Turning off hyperthreading might boost frame rates on an AMD 5950x.
Turning off hyperthreading might boost frame rates on an AMD 5950x.
I just got a 5950x from a friend at a low price and mostly spend time playing games and doing web searches with it. I’m curious if turning off hyperthreading on a 16-core processor will boost my frame rate. Thanks! P.S. Sorry, I’m not very familiar with computers.
It varies by game. Turning off SMT (AMD's Hyperthreading) and disabling one of the CCDs can occasionally boost FPS, but it depends on optimization quality. You should test it in each case, as some players won't notice either way, while others prefer enabling or disabling them for optimal performance.
In certain games, performance could vary. You'd have to try each title to determine its effect, but generally, older games tend to see the biggest gains, which is usually when you need the least help—since you're already running at hundreds of frames per second if your CPU is limited. I own a 5900X and don’t disable SMT or one of the CCDs while gaming because the benefits aren’t that clear. The suggestion to turn off HT/SMT has become less relevant over the years; it was still common until around 2018, but newer titles are now using more CPU threads effectively. There are still a few exceptions, like IIRC, Far Cry 6 still sees a slight improvement when HT/SMT is off, but most players prefer keeping HT/SMT active today.