6-Core vs. 8-Core CPU: What Should You Buy in 2024? (2024)

The 6-core vs. 8-core CPU debate is not a new one. Time and again, PC builders get confused between saving a few bucks and buying a 6-core CPU or paying a premium price for that extra bit of performance. It all depends on your primary usage and the areas where you can compromise. Whether it’s a gaming or work PC you’re building, this guide has all the answers to help you buy the right CPU in 2024.

Good to know: are you a first-time PC builder? Check out the gaming PC building mistakes you need to avoid.

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Gaming Performance

There are many things you need to consider before building a gaming PC. But one of the trickier questions to answer is whether to go with a 6-core or 8-core CPU. On the surface, it may seem that an 8-core CPU is the easy answer – after all, why wouldn’t you want a more powerful processor?

The whole point is whether you really need the power of the two extra cores, if all you’re doing is gaming. Most games still don’t utilize more than 6 cores, so it becomes almost pointless to spend extra on an 8-core CPU if you won’t be making use of the extra horsepower.

The key word here is “almost.” There are some heavy titles that are able to load all 8 cores sufficiently to justify the extra premium. Such games are limited right now, but Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 are known to benefit from 8-core CPUs.

Which graphics card you buy will still determine the bulk of your gaming performance. Plus, having a larger cache and extra cores on your CPU is likely to benefit your FPS more, as shown by AMD’s X3D CPUs with 3D V-Cache. For most gamers, and especially those building the most value-for-money gaming PCs, it’s better to go with a 6-core CPU, or better yet, one of the best budget gaming CPUs. You’ll still be able to play nearly all the latest titles at high FPS and resolutions for the foreseeable future.

Winner: 6-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Productivity Performance

If you’re building a PC to run compute-heavy applications, like Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, or AutoCAD, you’ll need all the cores you can get your hands on. Applications that benefit from multiple cores will run significantly faster on high-core-count CPUs. These multi-threaded workloads are the reason companies like Intel and AMD sell 8-core, 12-core, and even 16-core consumer-grade CPUs.

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Your trusty 6-core CPU will also run such applications without issue, but you won’t get the speedy performance that higher-core-count CPUs can deliver, especially if you’re a professional and want to save as much time as possible.

Typically, as the number of CPU cores increases, the clock speed of the individual cores decreases. You get all the benefits of the extra cores for your multi-threaded workloads, but applications that depend on clock speed could get slightly affected. Hence, you need to be clear about what matters more to you: gaming or multi-core workloads.

Winner: 8-core CPU

Tip: need more control running heavy apps? Learn how to assign specific CPU cores to an application in Windows.

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Multitasking

Multitasking is probably not what you think of when choosing which CPU to buy. You probably think installing 16GB or 32GB of RAM would be enough to run anything and everything you can think of, but the CPU plays a crucial role in enabling comfortable multitasking.

I’ve used multiple 6-core CPUs in the past, and while they were fast, they couldn’t keep up with everything. For example, installing a game would bring my system to a crawl, and I couldn’t use Chrome without contending with intermittent lags. That’s when I decided to upgrade to an 8-core CPU so that I could enjoy all the multitasking benefits that come with the two extra cores.

When you aren’t worrying about closing a few apps and background processes before launching more, that’s the real value of an 8-core CPU. It’s always better to buy a slightly more powerful CPU than you currently need, rather than spending more to upgrade it later on.

Winner: 8-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Power Consumption

Power consumption may not seem like a big deal at first glance. But, the amount of power your CPU draws is directly related to how much heat it produces, and consequently, the kind of cooling hardware you’ll need to keep it cool. If you don’t cool down a high CPU temperature, it is likely to get thermal throttled and reduce its performance to avoid permanent damage.

Modern 6-core CPUs from AMD and Intel have a maximum power draw (TDP) ranging from around 65W to 125W. Even budget air coolers can handle this level of heat output. On the other hand, 8-core CPUs can have a TDP as high as 250W, and they generally run hotter than their 6-core counterparts, requiring the best CPU coolers on the market.

You may also want to invest in liquid cooling if you want the very best of thermals and noise levels. Also, look for one of the higher-quality motherboards with decent VRMs that are built to handle the power requirements of an 8-core CPU.

Winner: 6-core CPU

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Longevity

You may assume that buying an 8-core CPU would result in better “future-proofing.” While this term is inherently flawed (PC hardware evolves quite rapidly), it’s surprising that the superior performance of an 8-core chip would be dwarfed by a new-generation 6-core part in almost every workload – even productivity.

This is because gen-on-gen architectural and IPC (instructions per clock) improvements tend to overshadow the benefit of two extra cores. Your current-gen 8-core will be no more “future-proof” than a 6-core part from the same generation.

Winner: Draw

6-Core CPU vs. 8-Core CPU: Price

Price is one of the most important factors when comparing 6-core and 8-core CPUs. After all, you can only spend so much on your CPU, irrespective of the performance considerations. As you can expect, 6-core CPUs are always cheaper than 8-core CPUs from the same generation or CPU family. They also usually end up being the most value-for-money chips for most users.

Modern 6-core processors tend to fall into the $300 to $325 price range, while 8-core parts fall into the $400 to $450 price bracket. That’s a generous 33 percent premium.

For the pricier 8-core CPU, you’ll get a boost in productivity and multitasking performance. They aren’t as fast as 12-core or 16-core but will offer much better price-to-performance.

It all comes down to two things: whether you have any use for the additional cores and whether the spend on the CPU leads to a balanced build. For instance, you shouldn’t blow your budget on just the processor and end up with a budget graphics card.

Winner: 6-core CPU

Buy a 6-core CPU If …

6-core CPUs are still great for the majority of users. You can always upgrade to an 8-core processor from the same generation without switching motherboards. Modern 6-core, 12-thread processors from both Intel and AMD offer tremendous price-to-performance if all you need is:

• A solid 1440p gaming PC for all but the heaviest titles
• Respectable performance in productivity applications
• Decent multitasking, except when running CPU-heavy tasks

Buy an 8-core CPU If …

8-core CPUs have become popular with users who’ve outgrown the capabilities of 6-core chips. For a small premium over 6-core CPUs, you can get access to a new level of performance without needing a pricier motherboard. You’ll want an 8-core if you’re looking for:

• A boost in multi-core workloads, like video editing
• A PC that can handle the heaviest games and your workload
• A gaming PC that will also handle streaming and productivity
• A multitasking powerhouse

FYI: confused between various Intel CPUs? Get the lowdown on i3 vs. i5 vs. i7 vs. i9.

Both 6-core and 8-core CPUs have different use cases and target customers, but 8-core CPUs are fast becoming do-it-all products that could gain massive adoption in the coming years. More and more people are requiring beefy systems to power their workflows, and with AAA games becoming more and more CPU-heavy, even gamers are starting to consider 8-core CPUs seriously. It’s inevitable that 8-core CPUs will become the norm sooner rather than later.

Tip: need a beefy gaming PC? These are the best gaming PC parts for your PC.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Tanveer Singh.