Moving from eight to 16 processor cores failed to speed up a single PC game during benchmark testing by technology publication iChip.
The outlet reported that doubling the active core count from eight to 16 offered no performance benefit across nine tested titles, with several major games recording lower frame rates on 16 cores than on eight.
The benchmark runs were conducted at 1080p resolution on a system equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, testing configurations capped at two, four, six, eight, and 16 cores. In Cyberpunk 2077, performance climbed from 65 frames per second on two cores to 162 frames per second on eight cores, before dropping to 159 frames per second on 16 cores. The Last of Us Part II showed a similar pattern, rising from 89 frames per second on two cores to 225 on eight cores, before falling to 212 frames per second on 16 cores.
Performance drops in tested games
The steepest decline occurred in Silent Hill: Townfall, where 16 cores delivered 154 frames per second compared to 188 frames per second on eight cores, marking a loss of 34 frames per second. Forza Horizon 6 also ran slower on higher core counts, dipping from 192 frames per second on eight cores to 185 frames per second on 16 cores.
Other games showed negligible differences once the core count reached four or six. In The Blood of Dawnwalker, four cores achieved 127 frames per second, while six cores and 16 cores both registered 128 frames per second. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced gained just one frame per second between six and 16 cores, moving from 128 to 129, while Crimson Desert edged from 192 frames per second on six cores to 193 on 16 cores.
Core scaling and gaming performance
Testing at 1080p resolution with a flagship graphics card is standard procedure to assess processor limits. Lower resolutions reduce graphical demands, exposing whether the central processor restricts frame delivery. Most video game engines are designed around six or eight cores, meaning extra cores can introduce thread coordination overhead rather than added speed.
