How many CPU's do games need?

[Cigarjohn]

For those of you with a dual-core CPU, in most games it offers "enough" performance (at least in terms of core count), although it's clear that won't last much longer. While some developers are sticking with engines that aren't multi-threaded, if there's one thing clear is that games are starting to make better use of more cores. At the moment, three cores appears to be what games are happiest using (aside from Dirt 2).

That's not to say that everyone should go out and buy an AMD triple-core though - obviously clock speed and instructions per clock are important. Not to be bias but in terms of performance, Intel's CPUs dominate.

Four CPU cores appears to be plenty, and it's upgrade and multi-task proof. If you do leave your torrent client MSN on or music playing in the background, for example, then the game will still have enough spare resources not to chug.

One important conclusion to take away though is that you don't need a 6-core CPU. They do nothing for your games, so unless you already find a quad-core slow in other applications or your day-to-day PC use, don't upgrade for this reason.

The conclusion for gamers is that if you already own a dual-core CPU then its likely to still be fine - if your games are slow, your graphics card is much more likely to be the culprit. However, when upgrading, it's clear the direction games are going towards and a CPU with three or more cores is what you need to cover your bases for the future.

Peace!

 

[XXzz-Trauma-zzXX]

Nice little post there. Very informative. I have a Intel Core 2 Duo in my laptop at 1.3GHz, runs TF2 60 to 100 fps.

 

[Cigarjohn]

Nice little post there. Very informative. I have a Intel Core 2 Duo in my laptop at 1.3GHz, runs TF2 60 to 100 fps.

Thank you. I love to do research. It seems I do more research then actual gaming. I'm looking to build a new gaming rig and have been doing a lot of heavy research since last year.

I hope this little information helps those that really need to know how many cores are effective for games.

Also I am using an AMD processor (dual core) and I'm not against AMD but so far Intel has proven better performance for processors as of right now. Though, it could change down the road. We live in a very hostile computer hardware market. Though competition is good for us buyers.

Peace.

 

[mattM_-]

Intel is king when it comes to performance, but as a gamer, if your not crossfiring GPUs, AMD or Intel will be great! AMDs offer solid budget performance, but when you want to xfire 470s or 5870s then go to Intel.

 

[Cut Chem!st]

A lot of games will benefit from quads. Duals to compete at all need to be clocked really high. Dirt 2 is not the only one that needs a quad, bad company 2 will give you like a 40 fps boost going from a good dual to a quad. Most of the new games coming out have some form of multithreading.

Only games that don't have like "half-way" multithreading (like tf2), it has dx8 so it can't integrate full multi threading. Right now the tf2 uses the 2 cores and then switches loads off with the last 2, so your not really getting your full performance with a quad. Tf2 is still very cpu dependent, so it might not be your video card, it appreciates higher clocks.

L4d on the other hand will utilize it all, and all new source games (like portal 2).

Anyways, duals are on the way out, no doubt about that. And you will get a big increase going to a quad.

 

[reflex99]

???

all of the games i play use 4 threads.

BC2
source engine (orangebox) (yes it does use 4 threads)
UT3

 

[a pet rock]

Nice little post there. Very informative. I have a Intel Core 2 Duo in my laptop at 1.3GHz, runs TF2 60 to 100 fps.

That.... doesn't sound right? Is it? How low are your settings?

 

[thebigrobbyrob]

Nice guide. and you are right, 6-cores are overkill at the moment, and 4 cores is all you need. It reminds me of this statement after testing multiple CPUs in games 2 years ago;

So then, the hardcore truth today is a very simple fact: you'll gain a better bang for buck in your games from a faster clocked dual-core processor opposed to having a somewhat slower clocked quad-core processor

sounds very similar to what you are saying (except change the numbers).

 

[shadows5631]

Nice guide. and you are right, 6-cores are overkill at the moment, and 4 cores is all you need. It reminds me of this statement after testing multiple CPUs in games 2 years ago;



sounds very similar to what you are saying (except change the numbers).

I'll meet them in the middle with my triple core

According to my G15 keyboard, every game I play uses all three cores. Oblivion, TF2, DoDS, CSS, L4D2, Crysis, GTA 4, The Sims 3, etc etc.

 

[Snipeye]

You forgot to put in a caveat with your information. Research and let us know how Hyperthreading affects CPU core usage in games, music, etc. Just one more technical detail you should be aware of when deciding between AMD vs Intel CPUs.

 

[Ph?bus]

You forgot to put in a caveat with your information. Research and let us know how Hyperthreading affects CPU core usage in games, music, etc. Just one more technical detail you should be aware of when deciding between AMD vs Intel CPUs.

Hyperthreading is over hyped. It does nothing in games. It benefits in benchmarks and professional programs. Source.

 

[reflex99]

Hyper threading=10k more ppd
:thumbup:

 

[DragonD]

I have a quad core.

I think the benefit is not so much strictly in the games, but in running other stuff at the same time.

I have no problem running multiple monitors, with a "game" open in one, and x-fire, vent, firebox, email, etc open in another.

 

[pillar]

Ya if you check my stats in my sig, thats what I run. Right now my biggest bottleneck is my gpu (eVGA GeForce 9800GT). Im hoping to get a 2nd job so I can start setting $$ aside to possibly get a 460 (unless I find some 2xx series for a decent price).

 

[microwolf96]

Whoa. I just noticed how distracting your avatar is, pillar. I stared at it for like 10 minutes.

 

[-Vj-]

Some games are very CPU intensive, for example GTA IV. So it's not always your GPU that needs an upgrade it could also be the lack of RAM, or the CPU being the bottleneck.

Not many games have multi-core support (That's decent) But that's also a fact for SLi. In theory the best would be a crazy fast single core cpu.

 

[reflex99]

Actually I have never seen any game at all ever need more than 1 CPU

now cores, that is a different story

 

[Ph?bus]

Actually I have never seen any game at all ever need more than 1 CPU

now cores, that is a different story

Trololol!

 

[Snipeye]

Hyperthreading is over hyped. It does nothing in games. It benefits in benchmarks and professional programs. Source.

I'm not saying it'll make a HUGE difference in games, but if he's trying to figure out the advantages of multi-cores. HT does play a significant decision depending on what you're doing. A lot of multitasking, and running multiple programs at once can benefit from having a dual/quad core CPU with HT. But then again, do you really wanna pay for it too?

 

[microwolf96]

Actually I have never seen any game at all ever need more than 1 CPU

now cores, that is a different story

Not sure if this is just a joke, but a computer looks at each core as a separate CPU.

Take a quad core for an example, it's like taking four identical CPU's, downsizing them to a quarter of the size and packing them into a single chip. Therefore, the computer sees a quad core as four separate CPU's.

Basically, this is what a quad-core was back before the technology was out to have multiple cores in a single chip. It would be four CPU's spread out over a motherboard. This was usually seen in servers, hardly ever, or maybe even never in a personal system.