Quad core vs octa core

[timeshifter84]

I've been wondering, as a gamer, should I go for a good quad core cpu (A or FX series) and save money for some other component or should I go with an octa core cpu? Do I have benefits in real life performance with octa core processors? Do games even use them? I've been pondering this question for a while now. I can save up to 50 EUR on quad vs octa.

Appreciate all the help and advices you have guys

PS: no Intel involved. I'm tired of their horrible price/value ratio and I already have an AMD AM3+ motherboard anyway.

 

[Danimal1q2w3]

You want whichever cpu has the strongest single threaded performance. That's why everyone goes for Intel because the single threaded performance is so high. The number of cores is practically irrelevant. Practically. A good quad core with good single threaded performance would do you fine. People keep saying that consoles use 8 core processors blah blah blah but you're better off with a quad core for gaming if it has strong single threaded performance, but if you use any applications that can utilize all 8 threads you would see an advantage to an octacore processor. In truth an fx 8350 is only like twenty bucks cheaper than a solid 4th gen i5. Too bad your board is already amd. Good luck friend

 

[timeshifter84]

Strangely, FX6300 has a slightly better single thread performance than FX8320.

 

[mlga91]

They're around the same at stock speeds (single thread performance) if you got a nice am3+ motherboard you can get a fx6300 and overclock it to get better performance, dont forget to get an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Androsije]

Hello, I am into 3D modeling and in game design!
More specifically work with programs like Maya, ZBrush, UE4 etc
So i'm want to buy new pc.
I came to the wall, and I do not know further
CPUs Intel quad (i7 / i5) vs amd octa
more precisely (fx9590 4.7 ghz)
Why does everyone say that Intel's Quad-core are in rank whit AMD processors Octa-core,even they are better.
Video card I picked is gtx 780ti
I know that is quad core better for games, because games don't use all advantage of all cores (8)
But my question is why is intel better?
Common sense would suggest that the 8 greater than 4!

 

[iamlegend]

IPC = instructions per cycle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_per_cycle

3D rendering, game streaming, etc.
i7 have 4 physical cores and 4 virtual cores (8 cores for hyperthreading).
8320 have 8 physical cores but weaker IPC.

Purely gaming:
Games utilizes 4 cores maximum.

i5 has 4 physical cores.
8320 has 8 cores with weaker IPC compare to i5 and i7.

If games only utilizes only 4 cores then you will not be needing the extra 4 cores that is present in the 8 core CPU.


Conclusion:

Pure gaming = i5
Gaming, rendering, streaming = i7
On budget Gaming, rendering, streaming = 8320.


Hope this helps.

 

[DubbleClick]

Not to forget that in amd's fx architecture two "cores" only add up to one 256 bit fpu and share resources together. As well as the whole design is fundamentally different from intels haswell. In most tasks an i7 4790k downclocked to 2.8ghz is roughly equal to an fx 9590 overclocked to 5.0-5.2ghz. In the last few percent, at stock, it does still outperform any amd the there is.

As for the op, intel doesn't have a bad price/performance ratio. For gaming, intel offers MUCH betterbudget options than amd. A $70 pentium g3258 paired with a $50 b85 board outperforms an amd fx 8350 ($140) with a 990fx board ($120+++) in most games. However for rendering, modelling or other well threaded tasks, you'll see a fx 8320 + 970a board ($200) roughly equivalent to a xeon e3-1231v3 + b85 board ($280). However the xeon is a little stronger and after two years of regular use the fx will end up more expensive because of its higher power consumption.

If you now got an am3+ board and want a solid cpu that is suited for average gaming, get a fx 6300, an aftermarket cooler and oc it as high as you can. That is, if you don't have to pay for electricity, otherwise changing to intel is simply the smarter move.