3 simple reasons you still don't need an 8-core CPU for gaming

Being a PC user comes with a certain level of anxiety. “Am I settling for an underpowered GPU?”, “Should I spend the premium on that fancy motherboard?”, and “Is it finally time to buy an 8-core CPU for gaming?” are some common questions you might have asked yourself at some point. While the first two questions don’t have one right answer, the last one does — you still don’t need 8 cores for gaming.

If you want one, go ahead, but games still aren’t making use of those extra cores and threads. Any benefits you expect from the extra horsepower will be negligible, and the actually worthwhile 8-core chips (Ryzen X3D) are just too expensive for the average PC builder. 8-core CPUs have productivity and multitasking benefits, but it’ll be a while before they become the new 6-core CPUs for gaming.

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The gains are minimal

Your 6-core chip will last for a while

With modern titles like Cyberpunk 2077 utilizing 8-core CPUs to a significant degree, and some games like Assetto Corsa Competizione and Remnant II showing decent uplift when moving from 6 cores to 8 cores, it’s easy to think that the time for 8-core CPUs has finally arrived. However, when you consider the vast majority of titles, even including the most demanding ones, 6-core CPUs still deliver 95% of the performance of their 8-core counterparts. And this margin only reduces once you move from 1080p toward 4K.

You can expect slightly higher 1% lows by switching from a 6-core to an 8-core chip from the same family or generation, but the average FPS doesn’t differ a lot between the two. Of course, if you’re building a high-end PC, you might naturally gravitate toward higher-core-count CPUs, but simply expecting an 8-core chip to deliver remarkably better gaming performance than a 6-core chip is folly. Buy an 8-core CPU for “future-proofing” or dabbling in productivity, but not for a gaming-only PC.

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6 cores will not bottleneck your high-end GPU

Stop believing in bottleneck myths

Another fear that many PC builders have when opting for 6-core CPUs is bottlenecking. They’re scared they’ll unwittingly cripple the performance of their high-end GPU by pairing it with a “weak” CPU. Fortunately, as long as your 6-core chip is a current-generation part (or even a generation older, in many cases), you won’t leave any performance on the table, at least nothing that will affect your experience in any meaningful way.

Modern 6-core CPUs like the Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 5 9600X, or Core i5-14600K are fast enough to keep up with GPUs as fast as the RTX 4090. So, you can rest assured you’re not holding your mighty GPU back in any major way. Sure, a faster CPU will allow you to take that FPS counter higher, but even with that chip, it’s possible to be CPU-limited. You should look at the relative performance between 6-core and 8-core CPUs to make your decision, and as I said, the former has a stronger case by far.

AMD Ryzen 5 7600

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AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600 is the best 6-core gaming CPU for most people. It offers virtually the same performance as the Ryzen 5 7600X as well as the newer Zen 5 CPUs. Its 65W TDP is highly efficient, and the price is unbeatable as well.

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8-core Ryzen X3D chips are expensive for most gamers

$400+ gaming CPUs aren’t for everyone

You might be wondering why I’m not leaving the Ryzen X3D CPUs out of the discussion, considering 8-core monsters like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 7800X3D can take gaming performance to the next level compared to a lowly 6-core CPU. That’s because these Ryzen X3D chips are in a league of their own as far as price is concerned. Even the previous-gen 7800X3D costs over $400 in this market, and the 9800X3D has only recently dropped to its MSRP of $479.

When we’re pitting $200 chips like the Ryzen 5 7600 against $400+ Ryzen X3D chips, we need to consider the fact that only a handful of people will ever consider the latter for a gaming PC. Paying 100% more for 25% more FPS, at best, is something only high-end buyers would do. Besides, even putting aside the cost-per-frame argument, most gamers will never spend more than $200-$250 on a gaming CPU, whatever the gains associated with a faster CPU might be. They’d much rather invest the money in a better GPU, as they should.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the fastest gaming CPU in the world, ideal for those who want nothing but the best. Pairing it with high-end GPUs will allow you to enjoy the best gaming experience possible today.

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When will 8-core CPUs become worth it for gaming?

It seems 6-core chips have been the sweet spot for gaming forever. I’ve written about 8-core CPUs becoming more important in recent years, but the fact is that the differences between 6 and 8 cores are negligible for gaming. Game developers are trying to optimize titles for 8 cores, but it’ll be a while before higher-core-count CPUs become necessary for PC gamers. Alternatively, if the prices of 8-core chips drop below $250, they could become very exciting for PC builders.