Upgrading to 6-cores... Worth for gaming?

[Faruko]

That pretty much say it, will going from 4-cores to 6-cores worth ? Will games need more than 4-cores anytime soon ? (2 or 3 years)

 

[FatFishMonster]

My post about exact same thing

 

[pecnarf]

currently more games are being design to take advanage of 4core cpu's so at some point designer will take advanage of 6core cpu's. for now the only advanage i see in getting a 6core is that while you are gaming or can do few other task without having

 

[gazzaman2k]

there is no point at the mo til next gen as not every game uses multicore for gaming it would be a huge waste of money

 

[Duesix]

i have a 6 core and it is a waste with no noticeable difference for gaming or day to day use.

 

[j0sh]

Most games only use 4 cores, no point having 6 cores unless it's for rendering etc.

 

[joxang]

there is no point at the mo til next gen as not every game uses multicore for gaming it would be a huge waste of money

This^.

You may as well save the money and wait for the next gen of games to come out that can run on 6 cores as standard. By then there will be much better hexacores that will grind the current 6-core cpu gen to the ground.

 

[IronWarrior]

BFBC2 and future games will love it.

 

[olivier renault]

4 fast cores > 6 slow cores for gaming. IMO not required.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Most games only use 4 cores, no point having 6 cores unless it's for rendering etc.

Actually most games don't even use 4 cores...most are 2~3cores

 

[Lunawolfy]

Actually most games don't even use 4 cores...most are 2~3cores

^^This.

Most games use 2, perhaps one kinda uses 3. But the reason all 4 cores look busy is all your system overhead is dumped on the last 2 cores

 

[Final8y]

6 cores not really with the few exceptions atm BFBC2 & Dirt3.

But i would not be without a quad as a minimum because even if the 3 core theory happens now & then i would rather have a quad not maxed out then a 3 core which may be pinned at 100%.

Games that are based on the UT3 engine will use 4 cores.
Games that are based on the Capcom MT Framework engine will use 4 cores.
Games that are based on the later source engine will use 4 cores.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,2.html

 

[RavenXXX2]

6 cores for gaming? I don't think so, a quad will do the job no problem.

 

[Jamiman]

Get a decent Quad.

 

[Lunawolfy]

Shogun 2 uses ONE core XD

 

[Captain Chaos]

In a word no.

No game in existence that uses all 6 cores

 

[mehuk]

This thread intrigues me as on a potential laptop purchase I have these 4 CPU options:

i7 950 Quad Core 3.06Ghz 8mb Cache - £0 (comes as default in spec)
i7 960 Quad Core 3.2Ghz 8mb Cache - + £250
i7 970 Six Core 3.2Ghz 12mb Cache - + £272
i7 990X Six Core 3.46Ghz 12mb Cache - + £594

Now which of these would be any good for gaming, not just now but also at least top/high end for a year or 2 (preferably 2)?

Ive added prices for comparison, however my current basket does have the 990X in, so I have budget for that... so please go on comparable gaming performance between the 4, rather than saying desktop is cheaper or I wouldnt waste 600 quid on something that gives you 10% gains etc

 

[Jfan]

This thread intrigues me as on a potential laptop purchase I have these 4 CPU options:

i7 950 Quad Core 3.06Ghz 8mb Cache - £0 (comes as default in spec)
i7 960 Quad Core 3.2Ghz 8mb Cache - + £250
i7 970 Six Core 3.2Ghz 12mb Cache - + £272
i7 990X Six Core 3.46Ghz 12mb Cache - + £594

Now which of these would be any good for gaming, not just now but also at least top/high end for a year or 2 (preferably 2)?

Ive added prices for comparison, however my current basket does have the 990X in, so I have budget for that... so please go on comparable gaming performance between the 4, rather than saying desktop is cheaper or I wouldnt waste 600 quid on something that gives you 10% gains etc

Out of those, I think i'd go for the 970, and spend the money saved on something else, Ie a nice SSD if it hasnt already got one

 

[mehuk]

Out of those, I think i'd go for the 970, and spend the money saved on something else, Ie a nice SSD if it hasnt already got one

Ok cheers; it has a 256Gb SSD as the main HDD, 2x580Ms SLI and 8GB RAM - so any money saved in reality goes back in my pocket.

 

[Final8y]

In a word no.

No game in existence that uses all 6 cores

BFBC2 already does & runs my hex at 80% & pegs it at 100% while loading maps & Dirt3 benefits from 6 cores.