{"id":458954,"date":"2025-06-10T02:08:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T02:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/?p=458954"},"modified":"2025-06-10T02:08:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T02:08:26","slug":"why-don-t-games-use-more-cores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/","title":{"rendered":"Why don t games use more cores?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_67_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#Why_Dont_Games_Use_More_Cores\" title=\"Why Don&#8217;t Games Use More Cores?\">Why Don&#8217;t Games Use More Cores?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#Introduction_to_Multi-Core_Processing\" title=\"Introduction to Multi-Core Processing\">Introduction to Multi-Core Processing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#How_Games_Use_Cores\" title=\"How Games Use Cores\">How Games Use Cores<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" title=\"Frequently Asked Questions\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#1_Is_it_Bad_to_Have_More_Cores_for_Gaming\" title=\"1. Is it Bad to Have More Cores for Gaming?\">1. Is it Bad to Have More Cores for Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#2_Does_Any_Game_Use_12_Cores\" title=\"2. Does Any Game Use 12 Cores?\">2. Does Any Game Use 12 Cores?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#3_How_Do_I_Force_Games_to_Use_More_CPU_Cores\" title=\"3. How Do I Force Games to Use More CPU Cores?\">3. How Do I Force Games to Use More CPU Cores?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#4_Do_Any_Games_Use_More_Than_4_Cores\" title=\"4. Do Any Games Use More Than 4 Cores?\">4. Do Any Games Use More Than 4 Cores?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#5_Is_12_Cores_Overkill_for_Gaming\" title=\"5. Is 12 Cores Overkill for Gaming?\">5. Is 12 Cores Overkill for Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#6_Is_24_Cores_Overkill_for_Gaming\" title=\"6. Is 24 Cores Overkill for Gaming?\">6. Is 24 Cores Overkill for Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#7_Why_Are_Games_Suddenly_Using_100_of_CPU\" title=\"7. Why Are Games Suddenly Using 100% of CPU?\">7. Why Are Games Suddenly Using 100% of CPU?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#8_Why_Do_Games_Not_Use_All_CPU_Cores\" title=\"8. Why Do Games Not Use All CPU Cores?\">8. Why Do Games Not Use All CPU Cores?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#9_Does_CPU_Cores_Affect_FPS\" title=\"9. Does CPU Cores Affect FPS?\">9. Does CPU Cores Affect FPS?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#10_Is_16_Cores_Overkill\" title=\"10. Is 16 Cores Overkill?\">10. Is 16 Cores Overkill?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#11_How_Many_Cores_Will_Future_Games_Use\" title=\"11. How Many Cores Will Future Games Use?\">11. How Many Cores Will Future Games Use?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#12_Why_Do_Games_Only_Use_2_Cores\" title=\"12. Why Do Games Only Use 2 Cores?\">12. Why Do Games Only Use 2 Cores?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#13_How_Many_Cores_Do_AAA_Games_Use\" title=\"13. How Many Cores Do AAA Games Use?\">13. How Many Cores Do AAA Games Use?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#14_Is_i9_13900k_Overkill_for_Gaming\" title=\"14. Is i9 13900k Overkill for Gaming?\">14. Is i9 13900k Overkill for Gaming?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/#15_Is_i9_Overkill_for_Programming\" title=\"15. Is i9 Overkill for Programming?\">15. Is i9 Overkill for Programming?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Dont_Games_Use_More_Cores\"><\/span>Why Don&#8217;t Games Use More Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>Games don&#8217;t use more <strong>cores<\/strong> because most of them are designed to take advantage of <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong>, which is the most important factor for <strong>gaming performance<\/strong>. The <strong>gaming industry<\/strong> has been slow to adopt <strong>multi-core<\/strong> processing, and as a result, many games are optimized to run on <strong>quad-core<\/strong> or <strong>six-core<\/strong> processors, with some games using up to <strong>8 cores<\/strong>, but rarely more than that.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction_to_Multi-Core_Processing\"><\/span>Introduction to Multi-Core Processing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The idea of using <strong>multiple cores<\/strong> to improve <strong>gaming performance<\/strong> has been around for a while, but it&#8217;s not as simple as just adding more <strong>cores<\/strong> to a processor. <strong>Game developers<\/strong> need to optimize their games to take advantage of <strong>multi-core<\/strong> processing, and this can be a complex and time-consuming process.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Games_Use_Cores\"><\/span>How Games Use Cores<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Most games use a combination of <strong>single-threaded<\/strong> and <strong>multi-threaded<\/strong> processing to handle different tasks such as <strong>graphics rendering<\/strong>, <strong>physics simulations<\/strong>, and <strong>AI processing<\/strong>. However, the way games use <strong>cores<\/strong> can vary greatly depending on the <strong>game engine<\/strong>, <strong>programming language<\/strong>, and <strong>system architecture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\"><\/span>Frequently Asked Questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Is_it_Bad_to_Have_More_Cores_for_Gaming\"><\/span>1. Is it Bad to Have More Cores for Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Having more <strong>cores<\/strong> is not necessarily bad for <strong>gaming<\/strong>, but it&#8217;s not always beneficial either. <strong>Game performance<\/strong> is more dependent on <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong> than on the number of <strong>cores<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Does_Any_Game_Use_12_Cores\"><\/span>2. Does Any Game Use 12 Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No, most games do not use <strong>12 cores<\/strong>. While some games may use up to <strong>8 cores<\/strong>, the majority of games are optimized to run on <strong>quad-core<\/strong> or <strong>six-core<\/strong> processors.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_How_Do_I_Force_Games_to_Use_More_CPU_Cores\"><\/span>3. How Do I Force Games to Use More CPU Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You can try forcing a game to use more <strong>CPU cores<\/strong> by using the <strong>Task Manager<\/strong> to set the <strong>affinity<\/strong> of the game process to use more <strong>cores<\/strong>. However, this may not always improve <strong>game performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Do_Any_Games_Use_More_Than_4_Cores\"><\/span>4. Do Any Games Use More Than 4 Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, some games use more than <strong>4 cores<\/strong>, but these games are relatively rare. Examples of games that use <strong>8 cores<\/strong> include <strong>Cyberpunk 2077<\/strong> and some <strong>AAA games<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Is_12_Cores_Overkill_for_Gaming\"><\/span>5. Is 12 Cores Overkill for Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, <strong>12 cores<\/strong> is overkill for <strong>gaming<\/strong>. Most games do not require more than <strong>8 cores<\/strong>, and <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong> is more important for <strong>gaming performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Is_24_Cores_Overkill_for_Gaming\"><\/span>6. Is 24 Cores Overkill for Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, <strong>24 cores<\/strong> is overkill for <strong>gaming<\/strong>. These types of processors are designed for <strong>high-multithreading activities<\/strong> such as <strong>video editing<\/strong> and <strong>3D modeling<\/strong>, not for <strong>gaming<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Why_Are_Games_Suddenly_Using_100_of_CPU\"><\/span>7. Why Are Games Suddenly Using 100% of CPU?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Games using <strong>100% of CPU<\/strong> can be a sign of a <strong>bottleneck<\/strong> in the system, where one component is not powerful enough to keep up with the others. This can cause <strong>low frame rates<\/strong>, <strong>lags<\/strong>, and <strong>crashes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Why_Do_Games_Not_Use_All_CPU_Cores\"><\/span>8. Why Do Games Not Use All CPU Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Games do not use all <strong>CPU cores<\/strong> because they are designed to take advantage of <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong>, and using more <strong>cores<\/strong> may not always improve <strong>game performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9_Does_CPU_Cores_Affect_FPS\"><\/span>9. Does CPU Cores Affect FPS?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, <strong>CPU cores<\/strong> can affect <strong>FPS<\/strong> (frames per second), but it&#8217;s not the only factor. <strong>GPU performance<\/strong>, <strong>RAM<\/strong>, and <strong>system configuration<\/strong> also play a significant role in determining <strong>FPS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10_Is_16_Cores_Overkill\"><\/span>10. Is 16 Cores Overkill?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, <strong>16 cores<\/strong> is overkill for <strong>gaming<\/strong>. Most games do not require more than <strong>8 cores<\/strong>, and <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong> is more important for <strong>gaming performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"11_How_Many_Cores_Will_Future_Games_Use\"><\/span>11. How Many Cores Will Future Games Use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Future games may use up to <strong>8<\/strong> or <strong>10 cores<\/strong>, but this will depend on the <strong>game engine<\/strong>, <strong>programming language<\/strong>, and <strong>system architecture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"12_Why_Do_Games_Only_Use_2_Cores\"><\/span>12. Why Do Games Only Use 2 Cores?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Games do not only use <strong>2 cores<\/strong>, but some games may be optimized to run on <strong>dual-core<\/strong> processors. However, most modern games use <strong>quad-core<\/strong> or <strong>six-core<\/strong> processors.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"13_How_Many_Cores_Do_AAA_Games_Use\"><\/span>13. How Many Cores Do AAA Games Use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most <strong>AAA games<\/strong> use <strong>4<\/strong> to <strong>6 cores<\/strong>, but some games may use up to <strong>8 cores<\/strong>. The number of <strong>cores<\/strong> used depends on the <strong>game engine<\/strong> and <strong>system configuration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"14_Is_i9_13900k_Overkill_for_Gaming\"><\/span>14. Is i9 13900k Overkill for Gaming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, the <strong>i9 13900k<\/strong> is overkill for <strong>gaming<\/strong>. This processor has more <strong>cores<\/strong> and <strong>threads<\/strong> than most games require, and the <strong>single-threaded performance<\/strong> is more important for <strong>gaming performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"15_Is_i9_Overkill_for_Programming\"><\/span>15. Is i9 Overkill for Programming?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, the <strong>i9<\/strong> is overkill for <strong>programming<\/strong> unless you are working on <strong>large-scale projects<\/strong> that require <strong>high-multithreading activities<\/strong>. For most <strong>programming tasks<\/strong>, a <strong>quad-core<\/strong> or <strong>six-core<\/strong> processor is sufficient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Don&#8217;t Games Use More Cores? Games don&#8217;t use more cores because most of them are designed to take advantage of single-threaded performance, which is the most important factor for gaming performance. The gaming industry has been slow to adopt multi-core processing, and as a result, many games are optimized to run on quad-core or &#8230; <a title=\"Why don t games use more cores?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/why-don-t-games-use-more-cores\/\" aria-label=\"More on Why don t games use more cores?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gameslearningsociety.org\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}