How Many Cores Do You REALLY Need? — 4 vs 6 vs 8 Cores — Begun, the Core Wars Have...

12122012

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How-Many-Cores-Do-You-REALLY-Need--4-vs-6-vs-8-Cores--Begun-the-Core-Wars-Havemkvsnapshot00501578725936.png

How-Many-Cores-Do-You-REALLY-Need--4-vs-6-vs-8-Cores--Begun-the-Core-Wars-Havemkvsnapshot25281578725809.png

How-Many-Cores-Do-You-REALLY-Need--4-vs-6-vs-8-Cores--Begun-the-Core-Wars-Havemkvsnapshot25471578725830.png
 

Clearnfc

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I would say it depends alot on your PC specs and you budget.

This is because CPU is just one part of the computer. You still have RAM and GPU as well.

If you are using very low end GPU, then 8 cores won't do you any good since bottleneck is the GPU.

IMHO, 4 cores will still do nicely for a budget build. For mainstream, perhaps 6 cores will be good (8 if you have budget for it). Then, clocks and IPC is more important than cores. Its better to have less cores but higher clocks. Eg. for gaming, R5 3600 is much better than R7 1800x.

I still feel GPU is king when it comes to games, then CPU. Games today are still very much GPU bound (esp. for ray tracing games).
 
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AZE

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XBoxOne and PS4 ish using 2x4 cores which ish identical to the 3000 series where the CPU cores are confined to 4 cores group(CCX) despite being housed on the same die(CCD).

The 3000 series probably hab a better inter CCX comms via enhanced fabric and interposer chip.

:s22:
 

Goodshot

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Last time i use i3 2120 with gtx 970 play AA game already can game very good , later changed to i5 4690 also doesnt see very big diff as long ur GPU strong enough
 

m0n0n0ke

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I still use i7 4790k. Running strong so far
How many more years can it last?
 

Humster

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I still use i7 4790k. Running strong so far
How many more years can it last?

As long as your Mobo can tahan. I using 4650K 5 years liao still working. Only change once it dies.
 

Gaminator

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Up to now, my 4770K @4.2GHz seems to be doing okay with games I play on it, though I'm limited by my GTX1080 at 4K (reduced ingame settings). Still, can't complain about my gaming experience given my hardware constraints. I don't, however, think of this rig as a gaming rig as it handles my HTPC requirement....

I also have a 3960X which, though slower than the 4770K in benchmarks, I have more faith in due to its 6C/12T, hence it (with my GB RX VEGA64 Gaming OC) is my 2nd gaming rig. So far, while framerate isn't as high as my 3900X, it's still well into the playable range (on my Samsung 3840x1080 monitor).

With my 12C/24T 3900X, I believe my main rig is capable of handling whatever future games that require >8C/8T (and to some degree, the 6C/12T 3960X as well)......I do need to just upgrade my PowerColor VEGA64 Red Devil to an Ampere or big NAVI.
 

elmariachi

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Actually even me moving from 8 cores 9700k to 8 cores 16 threads 9900ks, I find a big difference in the 0.1% lows. Maximum frame rates are around the same maybe the 9700k was slightly faster but overall the 9900ks seems smoother due to better 0.1% lows. I think more cores is not going to help significantly unless IPC changes drastically. Which for Intel is stagnant so long as they are on 14nm++++++ and for AMD is progressing. I think Zen 3 will annihilate Intel completely even on the gaming front.

You'll know when your CPU is choking when you start seeing your GPU well under 90% usage. And your CPU hits consistently close to 90-100% usage. That was exactly what happened with my 6700k with my 2080 Ti when I was playing BF5. Some games may not be obvious so you can probably still use your CPU if you don't play those games but games like BF5 is a stuttering mess when your CPU can't cope.
 
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elmohootbigbird

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i only just moved from 2c4t intel g4560 to amd 4c4t 2200g like last year.. but all on integrated gfx.
 

Koenig168

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I have used the 4790K, 4770K and 4690K.

There is a noticeable difference when I moved to Ryzen 3700X even for an old game like Civ 4.

Handbrake on Rzyen vs Haswell is like night and day. What previously took 8 to 12 hours and can done in 3. (I know that seems long but I am very particular about encoding quality.)
 

haylui

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Playing DotA 2 on r7 2700 + rx 580 vs R5 3600 + hd 6850. Can say max frame is much higher with r7 2700 but smoothness is virtually can't tell.
 

Swiftbladez

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I have used the 4790K, 4770K and 4690K.

There is a noticeable difference when I moved to Ryzen 3700X even for an old game like Civ 4.

Handbrake on Rzyen vs Haswell is like night and day. What previously took 8 to 12 hours and can done in 3. (I know that seems long but I am very particular about encoding quality.)


Video encoding will definitely benefit from the extra cores and threads! Just encoded a video as well and it took much less time compared to my i7 4770k! (Now on a 3600).
 

elmariachi

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Gaming wise 4 core is still fine.
Games are not yet optimized good enough for more cores.

Majority of games yes. But games like BF5 doubt it. It's a CPU intensive game at even 1440p and 4k. 4 cores really won't cut it for games such as those.
 

12122012

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I have used the 4790K, 4770K and 4690K.

There is a noticeable difference when I moved to Ryzen 3700X even for an old game like Civ 4.

Handbrake on Rzyen vs Haswell is like night and day. What previously took 8 to 12 hours and can done in 3. (I know that seems long but I am very particular about encoding quality.)

yup, when i play TW 3 kingdoms on my i5-4690 + RX480, the frame rate occasionally dips below 30fps. with 3700X + RX480, it never dips below 40fps.
 

Godeau

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Moving forward, getting 8 cores is the wiser choice, red camp offerings are pretty value for money
 
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