6 Cores vs. 8 Cores for Gaming: 24 Game Benchmark

[Fastturtle]

So my bigger question is what to do if you're still on a paltry four cores?

From my side - should I upgrade my 6700K or my GTX1080 when new products drop in the Fall? (gaming only use case)

I suspect even with the horrendous bottlenecking an RTX 4k upgrade will give more (if not smoother) FPS. Don't know if the fact I've got HT will be any comfort!

I'd go with the CPU upgrade before the GPU as that 1080 can handle almost everything tossed at it except for Ray Tracing. If you don't play anything that uses RT, then you're not missing anything with that 1080 and even if your are, as you don't have it, you still aren't missing anything if it handles 4k at 120fps w/o RT.

 

[ZedRM]

So the simple take-away from this article is this: Some games are more CPU dependent than others and the higher the framerate, the more important a CPU will become.

Conclusion:
If you are going to buy a highend GPU and will be gaming at 1080p, you will need a higher end CPU to match.
If you are going to buy a highend GPU and will be gaming at 1440p, you will still need a higher end CPU to match.
If you are going to buy a highend GPU and will be gaming at 2160p, you will still need a higher end CPU to match.
If you are going to buy a highend GPU and will be gaming at 4320p, you will still need a higher end CPU to match.

In contrast:
If you are going to buy a midrange GPU and will be gaming at 1080p, you will not need a higher end CPU to match because the GPU would not need as much performance from it's CPU.
If you are going to buy a midrange GPU and will be gaming at 1440p, you will not need a higher end CPU to match because the GPU would not need as much performance from it's CPU.
If you are going to buy a midrange GPU and will be gaming at 2160p, you will still need a higher end CPU to match because what a GPU can not do in hardware a CPU will often end up doing in software.
If you are going to buy a midrange GPU and will be gaming at 4320p, you will still need a higher end CPU to match because what a GPU can not do in hardware a CPU will often end up doing in software.

Hopefully, this will help simplify the choices for a few buyers.

 

[rmcrys]

So the simple take-away from this article is this: Some games are more CPU dependent than others and the higher the framerate, the more important a CPU will become.

+1

Everything has to scale nicely and if "today" a 6 core CPU will do, tomorrow you'll need an 8 core. So if you buy for just a couple of years, save $100 and go 6 core; if you want for the next 5 years, then go 8 core. The same applies for GPUs, ram etc.

 

[comnut]

6-core ain't hardcore

P.S. My desktop is on Ryzen 7 5900X (12-core)

and what do you have that uses ALL those cores??? mostly it is the CPU and GPU **speed** that counts... and then the number of 0's in cash you can afford..

 

[poohbear]

Best upgrade I made in 2014 was to get the 4-core & 8-thread 4790k. It has lasted me 8 years, and I finally feel its time to move on from 4-cores.

With the newest consoles having 8 cores (and lets be real, they set the standard for what hardware games will utilize) and Unreal Engine 5 being utilized for many future games (which by default uses 8 cores), 8 cores will become the standard in a few years. My next upgrade will therefore be the 12700k on Black Friday. I'm very confident that'll last me another 8 years with its 12 cores and 16 threads.

Next console upgrades will be in 2027, so it'll be interesting to see how many cores will be standard by then (guessing 24, but maybe 32 if intel/AMD competition heats up).

 

[hahahanoobs]

You mean assuming you only game. If you also do some real work 8 cores is a much better choice and I'm moving to 12 cores with Zen 4, for photo and video editing, running simulations, using blender etc the more the better in most cases.

His inclusion of "1440p resolution" should have made it obvious he was talking about gaming.

 

[hahahanoobs]

If socket life matters (it appears that's all that matters lately), there is no reason to build an AMD system with either of these CPU's.

5600 is better for upgrade from slower Zen chips on AM4. Intel is the choice for new systems and platform upgrades.

 

[mbk34]

Shame there isn't a 4 core comparison as well. It would be interesting to see whether 6 cores is a
real minimum requirement or whether 4 cores is still adequate. Maybe repeat the whole process with hyperthreading turned off to see how that affects things.

 

[Chuck95]

Do you guys think it's time to upgrade my 2700X with a 5600X or wait for Zen4?
I'm actually playing both new and "old" games with a RTX3080 at 3440x1440 but seems like some games works pretty bad with my configuration (for example in Grounded I'm only getting 70/90 FPS with Epic settings instead of 100/120 like other people with a 3080 do), even if the workload on the CPU with my resolution should be pretty low compared to the GPU

 

[Old Molases]

Thanks for sharing this detailed piece. For a beginner like me its really helpful and aids me in making a viable decision.