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6 cores too many for gaming?

Post Date: 2010-10-18
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MagiK View Drop Down
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Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: 6 cores too many for gaming?
    Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 11:59am
Apparently not, it seems games are taking advantage of newer higher core counts in the CPU department fast than when they went from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 4:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,794274/From-Medal-of-Honor-to-Civ-5-17-Games-that-already-benefit-from-six-cores-CPUs/Practice/
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Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 12:37pm
well with hyperthreading pretty much anyone buying now is going to have 8 cores anyway, so while its good news...the title seems to insinuate that 6 core processors would be in any way cost-effective for gaming, which they arent
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MagiK View Drop Down
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Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:00pm
Hyperthreading is NOT a substitute for real cores, its just a way of spreading your butter a bit thinner.  Hahaha 

Cost effective?  I dont really think the term applies to what are essentially just luxury devices...(gaming computers)

Seriously Ive been looking at the clutter around the house....If something catastrophic happened I realized that VERY little of it was really necessary.

(dont mind the serious thoughts...Im in Male Menopause mode )LOL


Edited by MagiK - 18 Oct 2010 at 1:04pm
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justin.kerr View Drop Down
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:14pm
Maybe I messed 99% of the article, but no where did I see CPU usage?
Some games claim to use X amount of cores, but in actual game play will only utilize one or two, and throw th others a bone every once in a while.
I posted a game that would use 90% of all 12 threads a while back, and for nearly a year posted in game shot of CPU usage, and some do use the heck out of 6 threads.
Also CPU usage, will very drastically per game, and settings, and resolution, and the amount of GPu(s) ect. ect.
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MagiK View Drop Down
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Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:21pm
I have had Mass Effect 2 laying around for a while now, just started to play it this weekend, I noticed it was utilizing all four of my cores pretty heavily (well that and Firefox)  Im looking forward to seeing how it utilizes 6 cores...if I ever get the chance to order my rig from DSO.  (Quad Core Q6600, Single GTX285 w/8GB RAM @ 2560x1600) (Im currently basing core usage on Logitech's Performance Monitor on my G19 keyboard)


Edited by MagiK - 18 Oct 2010 at 1:22pm
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justin.kerr View Drop Down
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:34pm

a single thread from a 980x will do much more work that a single thread from a q6600 at the same clock speed, so keep that in mind. Disable 4 cores on the 980x and it will beat the q6600 Big%20Smile

Most of the games listed seem to use 6 threads pretty heavy, they missed a lot of them, but.. lol  but still 6 threads at 80% is only 40% of the CPU being used.
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Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:38pm
keep in mind as well, that the ABILITY to get use out of more than 2 or 4 cores doesnt mean that the game would have any performance bottleneck at less cores. Pretty much everything that ive seen to date shows 0 improvement of 6 physical over 4 physical cores... hell, games at this point are not even showing a difference between 4 phyical HT on vs off, video is going to be the bottleneck for years to come, so spend your money on some 480/470 SLI over a hex core... and if you have an extra $1000, water cool your SLI, still more cost effective than buying a hex core for gaming
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Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:54pm
I agree that Video is the bottleneck now and for the foreseeable future.

As for the cooling and SLI, thats why I intend to do both  by top end stuff all along the line....of course I do have some engineering uses our people say will make use of those cores too...but thats a minor role for me.
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 1:55pm
For years, HT ON/OFF has shown a large impact on games, that will use it.
2 threads VS 12 threads in some games will be a huge bottleneck, 4 threads would also show a large bottleneck on some games.
Depending on the game, a 2 thread CPU with dual GTX 480's will not beat a 6 core wth a single GTX 480.
Too many variables.
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Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 2:04pm
2 is kinda outdated at this point as a valid basis, i agree that there are too many different games and varibles, but id say generally, for now and a few years, 4 cores and dual 480s should have you pretty set for the majority of the market
 
that said, if there is no budget, having 6/12 cores certainly wont hurt you after you already have 2-3 sli/cf way and water cooling with some healthy overclocks
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 2:11pm
for sure, 4 cores with HT, and overclocked to near 4Ghz has been a decent CPU setup for the last couple years, and will remain so for a few more.
The amount of cores, or threads is only one part of the picture, same with CPU speed, different CPU architectures, RAM, OS, and of course tweaking all make for soo many variables.
Just do your best at creating a balanced PC, so that you get the most out of the money you spend on it.
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Posts: 1074 		  Quote MagiK Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 18 Oct 2010 at 2:14pm
Well said  Smile  Hardware may not even be the real issue these days, effective coding to utilize Multi-Threading and Multi-core systems is ... some times lacking.
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