Before I picked the 8-core Ryzen 7 5700X for my current build, I had never used any CPU with more than 6 cores. And after three years, I can confidently say that wasting money on an 8-core chip was an impulsive, expensive mistake. Not only did I gain nothing in gaming performance, but I also reduced my budget for the rest of the build, which could have been spent on a better CPU cooler, a second SSD, or even a slightly beefier PSU. I've learned my lesson, and I'm limiting myself to 6-core CPUs for my next PC.

4 6-core chips have come a long way

It's not 2015 anymore

There might have been stark differences between 6-core and 8-core CPUs around 8–10 years ago, but since then, they've been closer than ever. The microarchitectures have evolved, process nodes have shrunk to 3nm, and the result is that a 6-core chip today can pretty much do anything the average user needs. Processors like the Ryzen 5 7600 or Ryzen 5 9600X don't feel limiting at all in most workloads.

My use case, to be specific, is AAA gaming, light multitasking, and a bunch of background applications like Wallpaper Engine and SignalRGB. If I had picked the Ryzen 5 5600X instead of the Ryzen 7 5700X, I wouldn't have considered it a downgrade. Today's 6-core CPUs offer all the performance, thermal efficiency, and features I need from my system. They may not be enough for enthusiasts and professionals, but for the rest of us, they pack all the power we need.

3 I'll never need more productivity horsepower

Habits don't change overnight

If I'm being honest with myself, I'll never become a productivity savant who needs tons of cores to power video editing, rendering, and AI workloads. I could go ahead and splurge on an 8-core or 12-core CPU to "future-proof" my next build, but I know deep down that I'll upgrade to something else within a few years anyway. So, a 6-core CPU is all I need on my next PC — any occasional productivity task I need to do will be fine on 6 cores.

As a writer, solopreneur, and gamer, all I care about is a CPU that's powerful enough to handle my daily workload. And even if I learn new skills that require some extra productivity chops on my PC, I'll always have the option to upgrade to a 12-core or 16-core CPU on the same motherboard (I'm planning to build on AM5). However, thinking about that hypothetical and spending way more than I need to today isn't the best idea.

2 Gaming is still great on 6-core CPUs

That's what I care about

We all know that the graphics card is the star of a gaming PC, and once you have enough CPU horsepower, adding more cores does basically nothing to improve performance. Modern games still rely on single-core performance. Multi-core utilization has improved over the years, but it's still challenging for the majority of titles (at least the ones that I play). For the foreseeable future, 6-core CPUs will be more than fine for gaming.

And I know that 8-core Ryzen X3D chips are the best for frame-chasers, but they're not exactly in the same ballpark as 6-core CPUs in terms of pricing. Only high-end buyers can consider spending over $450 on a gaming CPU. The vast majority of PC gamers will continue to spend most of their budget on the graphics card, which determines the bulk of the performance. The CPU is an important piece of the puzzle, but it's hardly a critical one.

1 I can build a more balanced rig with a 6-core chip

The value curve flattens after 6 cores

The biggest advantage of getting a 6-core CPU instead of anything more expensive is that I can spend more on the rest of the components without limiting my gaming performance. In fact, if I buy a more powerful GPU, SSD, or RAM instead of a Ryzen X3D CPU or a 16-core beast, that will be the best investment to increase my FPS. I can even save money on the CPU cooler since I won't have a power-hungry chip to cool.

Building a more balanced PC is much more important to me than having an overkill CPU to brag about. Even if I had the money to buy, say, a Ryzen 9 9950X3D, I wouldn't be able to justify it to myself. I'd much rather buy a Ryzen 5 9600X or Ryzen 5 7600X, and get an RTX 5080 instead. I always like to spend some portion of my budget on esthetics, so buying a good-looking motherboard or case is important to me when picking components for a build. Choosing a 6-core CPU would certainly help in that regard.

Switching from an 8-core to a 6-core CPU

Many people think of upgrading to a higher-core-count CPU, but I'm confident in switching to a 6-core CPU after using an 8-core chip for years. It was great to own an 8-core CPU for the first time, but I can't really justify buying one again — the benefits just aren't there for me. There's no boost to gaming performance, and I don't need the higher multi-core performance anyway. Buying a 6-core chip for my next build will also allow me to build a more balanced and better-looking PC.