Just like most of you reading this, I used to subscribe to the wisdom that "6 cores are enough for most people". Until 2022, I had only ever used CPUs with up to 6 cores, nothing more. What changed that year was that I got the opportunity to get a fully paid-for PC courtesy of Nvidia and WD, so I got carried away. I let temptation trump logic, and splurged a big portion of the prize money on the Ryzen 7 5700X. An 8-core chip isn't the most powerful thing you can buy, but I sure hoped to see some tangible improvements. However, I was sorely disappointed.

I was unimpressed by the gaming performance

I was hoping for something, at least

Perhaps the thing I hoped for the most after getting an 8-core CPU was improved gaming performance. I had used a combination of a budget GPU and 6-core CPU on most of my previous builds, and now that I had an 8-core CPU paired with the mighty RTX 3080, I had some huge expectations. The first game I played on my new PC was Cyberpunk 2077, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, the performance didn't exactly blow me away.

My PC struggled to cross 60 FPS without some aggressive in-game settings dilution. Now, I know the RTX 3080 is also to blame, but with my 8-core system, I was pretty much getting the FPS seen on rigs with 6-core CPUs (with comparable GPUs). And even in other titles like Flight Simulator 2020, Dying Light 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, or Red Dead Redemption 2, I failed to realize any meaningful gains that could have justified buying the Ryzen 7 5700X for a gaming PC.

Many games still can't utilize multi-core CPUs to the fullest, but getting more or less the same kind of gaming experience on an 8-core chip vs. a 6-core one was a bit of a letdown. I bought it impulsively because I really wanted to have an 8-core chip for once, but I'd be lying if I didn't hope for game-changing results in at least one department. That brings me to my next source of disappointment.

My PC still slowed to a crawl in some workloads

What was the point, then?

On my previous PC with a Ryzen 5 1600, I was okay with the knowledge that I was using a budget CPU. I never got worked up over the occasional slowdown or expected anything unrealistic from my 6-core chip in productivity workloads. However, when I got an 8-core Zen 3 processor, I expected these problems to go away. The Ryzen 7 5700X cost significantly more than the Ryzen 5 5600X at the time, and I thought I would have something to show for it.

The performance of the 8-core chip, however, was lacking in many departments. Whenever I was unpacking large files or engaging in aggressive multitasking — tons of browser tabs, background applications, and gaming — the CPU practically slowed to a crawl. CPU usage hit 100% and the mouse cursor stopped obeying my commands. Switching between programs took ages, and I was left feeling that I was working on an ancient machine.

I'm not a productivity user (yet), but the occasional dabbling in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve was enough to show me the limits of my 8-core CPU. I wasn't hoping for magic, but dealing with a practically unusable system wasn't on my list either. This made me think about whether I had completely wasted the money I spent on an expensive 8-core chip, which brings me to my final point.

I could have used the money on other components

Hindsight is 20/20

As part of the competition prize, I won the RTX 3080 FE and WD Black SN770, and had to spend the remaining $900 on the rest of the components. This was enough to put together a smashing build, but only if I made the right choices. Spending around $330 on an 8-core CPU on a gaming-only build wasn't one of them. This naturally left me with fewer dollars to spend on the motherboard, RAM, SSD, power supply, case, and CPU cooler.

I've already written about how I regret buying a 240mm AIO liquid cooler for this build. Getting a 6-core CPU would have allowed me to spend more on a 360mm AIO from a better brand, with some spare change left for other components. I could also have spent more on getting an additional NVMe drive or a power supply with more capacity. And the Lancool II Mesh that I picked was great, but skipping the 8-core chip could have made room for, say, the NZXT H9 Flow.

Building a balanced PC requires saving money in the right areas, and that's where I faltered. Buying the 8-core CPU felt nice, but it didn't deliver anything substantial in the long term.

High-core-count CPUs are unnecessary for the majority of builders

Most people who are building gaming-focused PCs don't need anything more than a 6-core CPU in 2025. Modern CPUs have come a long way in terms of single-core performance, and most games are still tied to that. If you really want to spend more on your PC, you can invest it in a more powerful graphics card, additional RAM, a faster SSD, or even a longer-lasting power supply. If you want to run regular productivity workloads on your PC, an 8-core CPU won't cut it anyway — you're better off with a 12-core or 16-cord chip.