The Basics of Cores and Threads
A CPU core is essentially a complete, independent processor.
A quad-core CPU effectively has four CPUs in it.
The operating system handles the threads sent to the CPU to process.
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This includes both threads that the operating system requires and the software applications running on that operating system.
The problem is that some types of applications are difficult to split into multiple threads.
For example, both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 have eight physical CPU cores.
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Most games on PC are multiplatform releases, making consoles the lowest common denominator.
Related:What Is Hyperthreading?
With SMT, each physical CPU core presents as two “logical” cores to the operating system.
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Each logical core can handle two threads at the same time.
However, it will perform better than a quad-core without SMT.
Modern gamers may want to run multiple applications alongside the game they are playing.
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A real-time strategy game may have many threads for AI routines powering hundreds of units in the game.
Even GTA V, released for PC in 2013,scales well beyond a quad-core system.
We think six-core (hexacore) CPUs are the clear entry-level choice.
This provides four cores for modern games and two cores to handle non-gaming tasks without affecting performance.
Related:What Are P-Cores and E-Cores on an Intel CPU?
For example, theIntel Core i5-12600Koffers six high-performance hyperthreaded CPU cores alongside four non-hyperthreaded efficiency cores.
Going beyond eight high-performance cores isn’t something we’d recommend purely for gaming.
Related:Buying a Prebuilt PC?
9 Things to Check First
