[SOLVED] How many CPU cores do you need for gaming?

[fordongreeman]

I've got my eyes set on the Ryzen 5800X, which has 8 cores.

People have recommended the 5900X and 5950X, which have 12 and 16 cores, but do you really need that many for gaming?

 

[jay32267]

I'm running two machines and gaming fine at 4K with 6 cores.
I think 12 and 16 is excessive.
I think 8 will be plenty.
...and I'm talking newer CPUs....I have a 6 core i7-980 that won't cut it.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

No, you don't.

6 cores 12 threads is all you need right now. Anything more is excessive for pure gaming, but could be useful for productivity or very heavy multitasking.

There is a negligible benefit from more than 6 cores. 5600x is your best bet, or perhaps a 10600k if you aren't looking to spend quite that much.

 

[Phaaze88]

Heck no. Some people try to justify those cpus with that 'futureproofing' nonsense, which is an effort in futility.
Planned obsolescence is the name of the game - which you will always lose.
For ages now, hardware development has been progressing at a faster rate than what software development can adapt to it.

Hyperthreaded/SMT 6 cores is good for many.

 

[Zerk2012]

I've got my eyes set on the Ryzen 5800X, which has 8 cores.

People have recommended the 5900X and 5950X, which have 12 and 16 cores, but do you really need that many for gaming?

Who is people?
The 5800X has 8 cores 16 threads for pure gaming that will last a long time.

 

[sizzling]

I wouldn’t go with a 6 core 6 thread cpu but 6 core 12 threads is about the best price/performance ratio and going above adds very little to today’s games. I think a 8 core 16 thread has a nice amount of headroom. I’m actually running a 3700x with 3080 for 1440p 144Hz and it does a great job. All my games except 1 use 12 or less threads, the game that does use all 16 is known as an outlier and is Ashes of the Singularity but I rarely play it.

 

[Eximo]

Depends a lot on your target resolution and game as well. Quad core might be fine if you plan to run at 4K.

 

[geofelt]

There is confusion between cores and threads.
Today, most modern processors have implemented threading.
In practice, it is better to look at threads vs. cores.
There is also a difference between use and effective use for thread count.
It would seem that 4-6 threads is about the most that games generally can effectively use.
Here is an older study:

Report: Despite Claims, Most PC Games Are Still Unable To Take Advantage Of More Than 4 CPU Cores

Well, you gotta love developers. This past year, we’ve been hearing from a lot of teams that their games were taking advantage of more than four CPU cores. And you know what? We decided to put a lot of CPU-bound games to the test. The results are a bit disheartening – to say the least – …...

www.dsogaming.com

The one area where many threads for gaming seems to be the most helpful is with multiplayer games with many participants.

For the most part, games, particularly older ones depend mostly on the master thread. For that, the ryzen 5000 series are excellent. Likely, the 11th gen intel processors will also perform similarly.
Most games will be limited more by the graphics card than the cpu.
Good luck on finding a good card today.

@op: Go ahead and buy a 5800X.
If budget is an issue, 5600X is likely to do just as well.
I might wait a few days to see what 11th gen intel benchmarks bring.

 

[jtk2515]

Posted this elsewhere but sounds good here also:


On Intel CPU's the F designation means it does not come with a IGPU. The K designation means it is overclockable and usally comes with higher boost. If your Planing on streaming with nvenc just get the 10400f+ Nvidia GPU. For x264 streaming the 10700k/kf or the 10850k/kf would be my choice as they are on sale atm. 5600x is a very good chip I have 2 computers using them, but unless your going to be upgrading your CPU to a 5900x or enjoy overclocking the 10400f is the better buy@145$ vs 300$.

5800x I also have one and I really dislike it, because of the way they bin the chiplets you usually get 1-2 bad cores which means they push voltage and that makes the CPU run very hot(unless you get a good bin). Also it is overpriced atm compared to other 8 cores.

My choice as I said would be the 10400f and a 3000 series GPU so you can use the updated nvenc + 30fps webcam@720p.

x264 I would take the day and drive to Microcenter and get the 10700k@250$ +Z Motherboard+240mm Radiator.
x264 medium@ 6000kbps 1080p.

If you want to do x264 slow i would suggest 10850k or 5900x

 

[hotaru.hino]

The way this question is phrased can be interpreted in so many ways that I don't think it's a necessarily good question to ask in that form. This question needs a performance requirement and ideally what kind of games are being run here.

If we take this at face value as "how many cores do you need to run the game", then for all I know, it can be 1. Sure the game may only run at seconds per frame, but technically the game is running.

If your definition of playing games is basically "I want to run retro console emulators", that's different than "I want to run the latest AAA and eSports titles at 100+ FPS"

 

[geofelt]

The way this question is phrased can be interpreted in so many ways that I don't think it's a necessarily good question to ask in that form. This question needs a performance requirement and ideally what kind of games are being run here.

If we take this at face value as "how many cores do you need to run the game", then for all I know, it can be 1. Sure the game may only run at seconds per frame, but technically the game is running.

If your definition of playing games is basically "I want to run retro console emulators", that's different than "I want to run the latest AAA and eSports titles at 100+ FPS"

Taking the need part literally, there are some games that REQUIRE 4 threads to run or a processor with 2 cores and hyperthreading.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Taking the need part literally, there are some games that REQUIRE 4 threads to run or a processor with 2 cores and hyperthreading.

I would argue that "require" in this context is not the same as "need". Userland applications don't understand the concept of cores and any querying is either because the developer wants to enforce the user to actually have hardware necessary to run at a "non destitute" level of performance or to fine tune how many threads to spawn.

One time I tried running a Call of Duty game while intentionally crippling my processor at the BIOS level. The game complained I didn't meet minimum requirements, but it still ran at 60 FPS most of the time.

 

[fordongreeman]

If I'm also doing intensive 3D modeling and rendering with blender, do I need more than 8 cores? If I am using my GPU to do all of the rendering?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The more the better typically with blender

 

[geofelt]

If I'm also doing intensive 3D modeling and rendering with blender, do I need more than 8 cores? If I am using my GPU to do all of the rendering?

Try an experiment with YOUR workload.
Take away one thread and run with 7.
See how it impacts you.
You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option.
You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of threads to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your apps are to the benefits of many threads.
If you see little difference, your alls do not need all the threads you have.

You could also use the same principle with cpu speed.

Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

 

[fordongreeman]

The more the better typically with blender

What if I am using my GPU to do the rendering?

 

[hotaru.hino]

If I'm also doing intensive 3D modeling and rendering with blender, do I need more than 8 cores? If I am using my GPU to do all of the rendering?

Again, "need" is based on what you want. What performance requirements do you have?

If you're fine with blender taking a week to render something, then what's "needed" is different than if you demand 1 hour turnarounds.