When building or buying a gaming PC, choosing the right number of cores and threads can make a huge difference in performance. The right balance depends on your gaming habits, the type of games you play, and how you use your PC beyond gaming.
CPU Cores
CPU cores are likened to neurons in the brain, each capable of executing complex tasks. More cores allow for better multitasking and handling demanding applications. While more cores can improve performance in multi-threaded tasks and some games, most games benefit more from higher single-core performance. Some games are more CPU-intensive and benefit from higher core counts, while others are heavily single-threaded and don’t utilise additional cores effectively.
Threads
Threads also play a crucial role in gaming. More threads allow your CPU to handle additional tasks without slowing down. Games today often require more than just processing power for the game itself; background tasks like updates, streaming software, or communication apps also demand CPU resources.
A CPU with more threads can better manage these tasks without affecting your gaming experience. For gaming, a CPU with 12 to 16 threads should provide ample power for most titles. For instance, a six-core CPU with hyper-threading will have 12 threads, while an eight-core CPU with hyper-threading will have 16 threads.
Gaming Performance
For gaming, four cores used to be the standard. However, as games have become more complex, this has changed. Nowadays, six cores have become the baseline for gaming, while eight cores are ideal. Most modern games can effectively use six cores, with some even benefiting from more. For example, open-world games and titles with advanced AI often use more cores.
Choose your CPU based on your gaming habits, the games you play, and how you use your PC beyond gaming. Balancing your budget, core and thread count, and other components is key to building a system that meets your needs both now and in the future. The 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D with better single-core performance and 3D V-cache has outperformed higher core count CPUs in gaming benchmarks. Gamers should focus on getting a CPU with strong single-core performance, like the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, for the best gaming experience.
