With CPU core counts increasing, the question has to be asked, Is more CPU cores better for gaming?
AMD is leading the way when it comes to multiple core processors. At Computex 2018, AMD unveiled there flagship Threadripper 2950 CPU which sports 32 physical cores and 64 logical cores/threads. There current Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 series have on average 2-4 cores more than there Intel equivalent. Yet Intel is still considered the best choice when it comes to gaming, while AMD is now the best for an all round performance in both gaming and workload applications. So I had to find out, just how many cores do modern games need before you start to see diminishing returns.
The Benchmark Hardware.
- As many of you may know, earlier this year, I finished building a Ryzen 2000 series system that is being used for the purpose the CPU's are known for... workload applications, gaming and streaming. But in case you forgot, and for the benefit of those who would like to know, here is a run down of the system I will be using for these benchmarks.
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 2600, OC'ed @ 4.25Ghz. |
| Memory | G.Skills Trident Z RGB 3200, OC'ed @ 3377Mhz. |
| Motherboard | ASUS ROG Strix X370-f ATX |
| Graphics Card | Powercolor Radeon Rx580 8Gb, OC'ed 1.43Ghz Core / 2.35Ghz Memory |
| Power Supply | Game Max 1050R 1050watt 80+ Gold |
| Cooling | Corsair H45 120mm AiO 5 x Deepcool RF 120mm RGB Static Pressure Fans. |
| Storage | 2Tb Seagate SSHD. |
| Case | Fractal Design Define R67 |
As you can probably tell, I have overclocked everything that can be overclocked to gain the maximum potential out of the hardware I use. The overclocks are all 100% stable as this is the same system that is used for the @TechMojo live streams.
The Benchmark.
- With testing the core count effect on games, I kept the benchmark choice to a mix of benchmark tools and games, new and old, as the results will give us an idea of the effects the core count will have in other games. The idea is to see at which point we start to see diminishing returns. What I mean by that is if the game performs well at 6 cores, but has no gains when the core count is increased to 7, 8, 9 cores and so on. The results should give you an indication on what CPU choice you should make if you are a gamer.
The testing software and Games that was chosen are..
- What we are looking for is the maximum frame rate in each of the tests. All the settings will be set to there highest settings and any extras like antialiasing and such will be turned of to keep all the tests consistent.
Results.
| 2 Core | 4 Core | 6 Core | 8 Core | 10 Core | 12 Core | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unigine Valley | 12.50 | 62.70 | 68.20 | 68.50 | 67.90 | 68.60 |
| Star Swarm | 8.40 | 15.20 | 26.7 | 41.90 | 42.10 | 42.00 |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | 6.30 | 66.80 | 82.60 | 94.40 | 102.70 | 101.20 |
| Far Cry 5 | 1.00 | 56.00 | 79.00 | 80.00 | 79.00 | 80.00 |
| Assassins Creed Origins | 2.00 | 34.00 | 41.00 | 42.00 | 42.00 | 43.00 |
| GTA V | 22.50 | 44.60 | 68.20 | 112.60 | 111.70 | 114.80 |
- As you can see from the results, is that the mid range Rx580 graphics card in the system is somewhat of a bottleneck for the CPU, but we can still get an idea of what the CPU count will do, given no restrictions.
The cores that you see are the logical cores. These are the threads on the CPU die, so to test a singular physical core, they are grouped into sets of 2.... 2, 4, 6, and so on.
Unigine Valley.
- Aside from being one of the better looking benchmark tools, it is very GPU bound and uses little in the way of CPU power, this is reflected in the results. When using anything more than 6 cores, you are not gaining anything more in the way of frame rates.
Star Swarm.
- I randomly found this benchmarking tool when searching through the Steam store, and it is a great little tool. But just like the Valley benchmark, the test is very GPU bound, using little CPU Power.
There is a steady progression in frame rates up until 8 cores, anything after that, you are not really gaining much.
Rise of the Tomb Raider.
- This game can be very CPU intensive when using the maximum settings. But unfortunately the GPU used can only take the game so far before it bottlenecks the CPU data stream. The 2 core test took a few attempts as it would crash mid test and had to be restated, so I took the average of all of the failed tests to get a score. But once it had more cores to play with, the results got better and better, up until 10 cores, with 12 being an almost identical result.
Far Cry 5.
- This is a very powerful game and the 2 core test is almost non existent at only 1 frame a second. It took forever to do that test. The 4 core test was a little stuttery, but it gave a reasonable result. But the GPU ran out of headroom after 6 cores, topping out at just 80 FPS. And every test after produced a very similar score.
Assassins Creed Origins.
- I got this game free with a Seagate storage drive a short while back, and I have not yet played it properly. However, just like far cry 5, it is another intensive game that produced very poor frame rates on the 2 core test, and barley playable score on the 4 core test. The 6 core test is where the GPU topped out again at 41 FPS with no real increase, only gaining an extra 2 frames at the 12 core test.
Grand Theft Auto V.
- What benchmark test is complete without GTA V. even though this title is now over 5 years old, it is still one of the most used benchmarking tools used in the industry, and the game side is still as popular as it was at release. This game is more CPU bound than the rest with the results showing us as much. The 2 core test, although it took a while for each section to load, it gave a reasonable score of 22 FPS. There is a significant increase in frame rates up until 8 cores, after this, there are only minor increases in frame rates, with the 12 core test giving a 115 FPS result.
What Does This All Mean?
- the answer, like most things in the gaming/PC world, is a little complicated. But I suppose there is something of a conclusion to be found.
If you had a graphics card that was very powerful, then CPU core count will matter more. Even a GTX 1080 Ti, which is possibly the industry standard for benchmarking will bottleneck at some point, depending how powerful the CPU was. But when you are using a low to mid level GPU like the one used in this test, if all you are doing is gaming, you would be better off using a CPU with a lower core count, like the Ryzen 1300X or 1500, which are both 4 core CPU's but have 4 and 8 logical cores respectively. If you are using a CPU with a higher core count, like the 2600 used in this test or the Ryzen 7 2700, 12 and 16 logical cores respectively, then you will need to use a much more powerful GPU, otherwise the CPU will go to waste.
On the other hand, the setup I built was to serve a dual purpose, yes it can still game, but ''thanks'' to the GPU bottlenecking as it does, it gives the CPU much more head room for it to do other stuff while gaming, such as streaming.
You will also have to take into consideration that the AMD platform used in this test is not overly optimised for gaming, this is because the industry has been using the Intel platform for a long time and many games are built around this. This is why Intel, currently is the gaming king. But with AMD now becoming a real competitor in the industry, expect to see future game titles becoming more optimised for AMD. Maybe even matching or beating Intel's long standing gaming performance.
It is always good fun finding out exactly what your systems are fully capable off. Any result is still a result that can show you what is going on and showing you the limitations of the hardware you use.
This test, although the hardware used is about average for what other users use, gives an idea of gaming performance on the core counts. It can show you what you should use inside your system if you are just gaming, but can also show you what to look for if you plan on doing more than gaming.
What is hidden away in your system? What are you using?
Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading.
Stu @TechMojo
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