Question 8 cores cpu

[mightynerdy9]

Hey guys , i took some time for myself to think , currently im coming from an old rig with 4 cores cpu ,
and im thinking on amd cpu for light gaming and some productivity , im not a streamer or video editor but i do want to do that in the future
so how much difference a guy with 4 cores cpu will feel with 8 cores cpu or do i need even 12 cores cpu if im planning to use this pc to last 10 years like my current rig

i would like to hear your thoughts please

 

[TerryLaze]

Depends on many factors.
If your GPU is from the same time as the CPU then you won't see much (if any) difference in games and if you don't do any productivity yet, then you won't see any difference there.

 

[CountMike]

Hey guys , i took some time for myself to think , currently im coming from an old rig with 4 cores cpu ,
and im thinking on amd cpu for light gaming and some productivity , im not a streamer or video editor but i do want to do that in the future
so how much difference a guy with 4 cores cpu will feel with 8 cores cpu or do i need even 12 cores cpu if im planning to use this pc to last 10 years like my current rig

i would like to hear your thoughts please

More cores = more multitasking, more things to do at same time, not necessarily better performance for simple tasks, that's where IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) and frequency come into play. Modern OS like Windows 10/11 can also shift load on CPU so all cores/threads are used equally and so afford more performance with more cores/threads.
There are very few 4core CPUs nowadays, only Intel makes couple. most are 6 and up.

 

[JayGau]

8 cores is very mainstream nowadays and it's the minimum you should get if you want your PC to last for a while. The question is rather what kind of productivity tasks you expect to run during those years and do they require 12 cores or more.

By the way, the number of cores is not the only factor that defines the CPU performance. You have a very old CPU and no matter the number of cores of your upgrade, you gonna see a huge performance increase if it's a current gen. But keep in mind that low-core CPU (4 or 6) are always the low-end models so their single-core performance are not the top. For example, a Ryzen 9950X will perform faster in single-core tasks than a Ryzen 9600X because each of its core can do more operations per second than the low-end chip. It's why many people choose the high-end processors even though they don't need that many cores.

 

[geofelt]

What are the specs of your old rig?
Cores does not necessarily equate to processing threads.
Some modern processors include hyperthreading where a single core does more work by utilizing extra circuits to dispatch a second processing thread.
Some will provide extra cores that are less capable.

What will you be doing 10 years hence?
That is mostly unknowable.
Pick a processor in the budget range that your wallet permits.
Pay attention to the single thread performance. That is what gives you desktop quickness and is usually most important for gaming.

 

[punkncat]

IMO, today's workloads pretty much require a 6C CPU as a minimum. A well performing 8C should work out well for the workloads you describe.

I do not believe that the "10 year" meta is going to be sustainable given the leaps and bounds we have seen not only in CPU performance, graphics card performance, and also just how much more entailed apps, games, and AI will be moving forward. The market stagnated for years due to a lack of competition and Intel just kept putting out refreshes, resting on their laurels (read as sleeping) while AMD struggled. When AM4 broke out the market was changed forever in my eyes, as far as consumer PC performance, core counts, pricing.