CPU Cores Versus L3 Cache For Gamers

Multithreaded Counts Or L3 Size?

TechSpot have taken issue with the somewhat common belief that you now need at least eight cores to run games decently, seeing as how that is what the current consoles have.  This is a little difficult to test as the processors they tested don’t run at the same frequencies, nor do all games make use of the same amount of CPU power as others.  That is why they clocked the Intel CPUs at a similar frequency and disabled , or as best they could, so the information they were able to glean is both interesting and useful for anyone hoping to find the parts to build a new PC.

As is tradition, in order to be able to show a performance difference between CPU models they ran the tests at 1080p with an RTX 3090.  They also split AMD and Intel into their own charts, due to the separate testing procedures they used.  If you take a quick look at the review you can see that while the core count does have a bit of effect on the performance of the benchmarked games it is really the L3 cache which really makes a difference.

Take a look at their results, for both AMD and Intel for more details.  It might lead to a meaningful adjustment of your shopping list.