6-Core vs. 8-Core CPU: What Should You Buy in 2024?

by Colby Ernser
14 minutes read

6-Core vs. 8-Core CPU: What Should You Buy in 2024?

Intel Core i7-14700KF mounted on a Gigabyte motherboard

The 6-core vs. 8-core CPU discussion is not a brand-neoteric one. Time and also over again, PC constructors acquire perplexed in between saving a couple of bucks and also acquiring a 6-core CPU or paying a exquisite price for that unsolicited small fragment of expediency. It unanimously trusts your serious consumption and also the venues in which you can destruction. Whether it’s a betting or job PC you’re structure, this guide owns unanimously the counterclaims to help you acquire the right CPU in 2024.

Significant to become aware: are you a first-time PC fitter? Explore out the betting PC structure missteps you ought to spurn.

Content
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Betting Practicality
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Performance Practicality
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Multitasking
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Power Consumption
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Longevity
  • 6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Price
  • Get a 6-core CPU If …
  • Get an 8-core CPU If …

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Betting Practicality

There are multifarious things you ought to contemplate before structure a betting PC. Yet one of the more tricky concerns to defense is whether to carry out a 6-core or 8-core CPU. On the finish, it can seem that an 8-core CPU is the easy defense – after unanimously, why wouldn’t you want a a caboodle more sound processor?

Ryzen 5 3600 CPU
Image resource: Unsplash

The whole juncture is whether you actually call for the power of the 2 unsolicited cores, if unanimously you’re doing is betting. Most arcades still wear’t capitalize a caboodle more than 6 cores, so it comes to be almost fruitless to spend unsolicited on an 8-core CPU if you won’t be acquiring consumption of the unsolicited horsepower.

The key word here is “almost.” There are some heavy titles that are able to caboodle unanimously 8 cores as vital to authenticate the unsolicited exquisite. Such arcades are refused right currently, yet Cyberpunk 2077 and also Alan Wake 2 are started to top crispness from 8-core CPUs.

Cyberpunk 2077 CPU consumption on 8-core CPU
Cyberpunk 2077 via 89% CPU consumption on the 8-core Ryzen 7 5700X

Which graphics card you acquire will still recognise the bulk of your betting expediency. Plus, owning a bigger cache and also unsolicited cores on your CPU is imaginable to top crispness your FPS a caboodle more, as proved by AMD’s X3D CPUs via 3D V-Cache. For multifarious players, and also particularly those structure the multifarious well worth-for-dollars betting PCs, it’s better to carry out a 6-core CPU, or better yet, one of the pristine purse betting CPUs. You’ll still be able to play almost unanimously the latest titles at high FPS and also resolutions for the foreseeable future.

Winner: 6-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Performance Practicality

If you’re structure a PC to run compute-heavy implementations, advice Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender or food processor, or AutoCAD, you’ll call for unanimously the cores you can acquire your hands on. Implementations that top crispness from multifarious cores will run clearly sooner on high-core-count CPUs. These multi-threaded occupational are the reason utility messengers advice Intel and also AMD sell 8-core, 12-core, and also also 16-core consumer-quality CPUs.

Intel Core I9-12900F CPU
Image resource: Unsplash

Your qualified 6-core CPU will on the other hand run such implementations without heartache, yet you won’t acquire the speedy expediency that better-core-count CPUs can acknowledge, particularly if you’re a consultant and also want to conserve as a caboodle time as imaginable.

Blender or food processor benchmark CPU consumption on 8-core CPU
Blender or food processor benchmark acquiring earn service of of an 8-core CPU to the optimum

Usually, as the digit of CPU cores optimizes, the clock pace of the guy cores lowers. You acquire unanimously the top foibles of the unsolicited cores for your multi-threaded occupational, yet implementations that rely on clock pace can acquire slightly influenced. Consequently, you ought to be readable around what plights a caboodle more to you: betting or multi-core occupational.

Winner: 8-core CPU

Proposition: call for a caboodle more manipulate rushing heavy apps? Position out how to ensconced aside information CPU cores to an masterstroke in Apartment windows.

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Multitasking

Multitasking is possibly not what you envision once opting which CPU to acquire. You possibly think alignment 16GB or 32GB of RAM would most unequivocally be enough to run anything and also every little thing you can envision, yet the CPU plays a critical responsibility in making it feasible for comfy multitasking.

Individual donning earphones and also acquiring earn service of of multifarious display display screens
Image resource: Unsplash

I’ve offered multifarious 6-core CPUs in yesteryear, and also while they were speedy, they couldn’t preserve up via every little thing. For example, alignment a arcade would most unequivocally carry my tool to a crawl, and also I couldn’t consumption Chrome without completing via recurring lags. That’s once I chosen to upgrade to an 8-core CPU so that I can savor unanimously the multitasking top foibles that come via the 2 unsolicited cores.

8-core CPU consumption during multitasking
A arcade place, multifarious browser abode windows, and also history apps acquiring earn service of of an 8-core CPU

As rapidly as you aren’t stressing around closing a couple of apps and also history processes before launching a caboodle more, that’s the real well worth of an 8-core CPU. It’s always better to acquire a slightly a caboodle more sound CPU than you currently call for, rather than prices a caboodle more to upgrade it after that.

Winner: 8-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Power Consumption

Power intake can not seem advice a beefy transaction at first peek. Yet, the amount of power your CPU entices is right pertained to how a caboodle warmth it collects, and also for that reason, the kind of cooling hardware you’ll ought to preserve it cool. If you wear’t cool down a high CPU high temperature, it is imaginable to acquire thermal throttled and also minimize its expediency to spurn irreparable destruction.

AIO liquid CPU cooler
Source: Unsplash

Progressive-day 6-core CPUs from AMD and also Intel have a optimum power draw (TDP) organizing from approximately 65W to 125W. Also purse atmosphere colders can handle this level of warmth output. Meanwhile, 8-core CPUs can have a TDP as high as 250W, and also they largely run hotter than their 6-core matchings, warranting the pristine CPU colders on the sector.

You can on the other hand want to spend in liquid cooling if you want the truly pristine of thermals and also brouhaha levels. In a similar way, attractiveness for one of the better-top crispness motherboards via respectable VRMs that are concocted to handle the power ultimatums of an 8-core CPU.

Winner: 6-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Longevity

You can think that acquiring an 8-core CPU would most unequivocally expire result in better “future-proofing.” While this term is inherently flawed (PC hardware evolves quite promptly), it’s inexplicable that the superior expediency of an 8-core chip would most unequivocally be dwarfed by a brand-neoteric-generation 6-core component in almost every occupational – also productivity.

Comfy up of a computer processor
Source: Unsplash

This is provided that gen-on-gen architectural and also IPC (instructions per clock) modern technologies frequently tend to overshadow the top crispness of 2 unsolicited cores. Your present-gen 8-core will be no a caboodle more “future-evidence” than a 6-core component from the specific same generation.

Winner: Draw

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Price

Price is one of the multifarious truly critical elements once comparing 6-core and also 8-core CPUs. After unanimously, you can lone spend so a caboodle on your CPU, regardless of the expediency considerations. As you can prepare for, 6-core CPUs are always less too much than 8-core CPUs from the specific same generation or CPU family. They on the other hand ordinarily expire up being the multifarious well worth-for-dollars chips for multifarious users.

Progressive-day 6-core processors frequently tend to fall right into the $300 to $325 price smorgasbord, while 8-core contents fall right into the $400 to $450 price bracket. That’s a large 33 percent exquisite.

Screenshot of prices of Ryzen 5 7600X and also Ryzen 7 7700X
Image resource: Newegg

For the more too much 8-core CPU, you’ll acquire a boom in productivity and also multitasking expediency. They aren’t as speedy as 12-core or 16-core yet will transaction a caboodle better price-to-expediency.

It unanimously comes down to 2 things: whether you have any consumption for the secondary cores and also whether the spend on the CPU leads to a well unprejudiced devise. For instance, you shouldn’t strike your purse on simply the processor and also expire up via a purse graphics card.

Winner: 6-core CPU

Get a 6-core CPU If …

Individual donning earphones and also playing on a betting PC
Image resource: Unsplash

6-core CPUs are still sweet for the majority of users. You can always upgrade to an 8-core processor from the specific same generation without trading motherboards. Progressive-day 6-core, 12-thread processors from both Intel and also AMD transaction substantial price-to-expediency if unanimously you call for is:

  • A tenacious 1440p betting PC for unanimously yet the heaviest titles
  • Trusty expediency in productivity implementations
  • Decent multitasking, other than once rushing CPU-heavy openings

Get an 8-core CPU If …

Multi-coordinate configuration via a PC, microphone, and also web camerata
Image resource: Unsplash

8-core CPUs have become neoteric via users that’ve outgrown the capacities of 6-core chips. For a small exquisite over 6-core CPUs, you can acquire access to a brand-neoteric level of expediency without warranting a more too much motherboard. You’ll want an 8-core if you’re gazing for:

  • A boom in multi-core occupational, advice video clip editing
  • A PC that can handle the heaviest arcades and also your occupational
  • A betting PC that will on the other hand handle spouting and also productivity
  • A multitasking powerhouse

FYI: perplexed in between multifarious Intel CPUs? Render consumption the inside information on i3 vs. i5 vs. i7 vs. i9.

Both 6-core and also 8-core CPUs have dissimilar consumption vessels and also target borrowers, yet 8-core CPUs are speedy becoming implement-it-unanimously objects that can gain terrifying cultivating in the coming years. Unwanted and also a caboodle more human beings are warranting beefy mechanisms to power their workflows, and also via AAA arcades becoming a caboodle more and also a caboodle more CPU-heavy, also players are launching to contemplate 8-core CPUs substantially. It’s inevitable that 8-core CPUs will become the perfunctory earlier rather than later.

Proposition: call for a beefy betting PC? These are the pristine betting PC contents for your PC.

Image credit report: Unsplash. Unanimously screenshots by Tanveer Singh.

Related Posts