How long will it take games to be optimized for all 8 cores?

In your opinion? If you were building a Gaming PC right now, how many cores would you go with? Is there really any point in building a computer right now with say an i5? Assuming games will become more CPU dependent when the PS4/Xbox 720 are released?

Do you think games like BF4 will instantly be designed to use all 8 cores or will they faze it in and take a few years so that they don't end up like the current consoles where they've been outdated for far too long?

Of course right now, nobody can really tell. Just looking for an opinion, thanks.

It depends on the speed (GHz) of the octo-cores that will be in the next-gen systems. As if it is a slower 8 core (eg 1.6GHz) A fast Quad (3.2GHz+) could perform roughly the same. As through the magic of CPU scheduling this can occur.

If the cores are fast (eg around 3GHz) then I imagine we will see much quicker deployment to a full 8 core utilization (even if it isn't full utilization it will certainly be programmed with greater multi-threading capabilities).

But then we may not see 8 core utilization, as a single core maybe reserved for system use, such as running the OS and keeping background process alive.

But what ever happens it is inevitable that consoles shall be choking PC gaming. My guess, yet again, in the GPU side of things. The only way this won't happen immediatley is if they put the fastest next gen chip in.

- zanginator

they are putting in 1.6ghz amd octo-core processors in the ps4 and xbawx 720

 

I imagine that the slower speed will greatly encorage higher threading, it's all about making the most use of what you got.

Oh, they are? Good guess then :P

This is also might be to keep power consumption and heat production down. As these devices will most definatley be smaller than the current crop.

New info guys, PlayStation 4 core's are clocked at 2.0 Ghz not 1,66Ghz. It was simply underclocked :P

Maybe next year, some games may have the capability to start using hexa/ octo-cores, since these two main, new consoles are gonna use 8 cores, and since a lot of games also have a console version. Meaning if console games use 8 cores, why not PC games, too? <==== Hopefully in developers mind.

So you wouldn't recommend buying a quad core (i5) CPU if hoping to last at least a good few years?

FX 8350 is way to go... Stronger and even cheaper...

How long is a piece of string?

Id say abouit a year after the new round of Consoles are released until it becomes more or less the standard.

 

Well we'll see how it turns out.

Current predictions say that Moore's law is slowing down by the end of 2013 to a doubling every 3 years instead of every 18 months, so Silicon chips are starting to get close to their max potential, I think the end of the doubling is predicted by 2015-2020. So this console generation might not get as badly outdated as quickly as the previous one.

I'm pretty sure quad-cores will still be usable in a few more years. I mean, just because games can use more than 4 cores now, doesn't mean that quad-cores are irrelevant. If they want to sell, they need to make it work on them on most settings, if not all, as in a few years, a majority of gamers will probably still have quad-cores, or have just moved to quad-cores. I mean like now, with games that can use all 4 cores can still be played with high/decent settings with dual-cores, triple-cores and dual-cores with hyper-threading. This simply means that in a few years, with games capable of using more cores, than if you have, say an 8 core running on a specific setting, it would perform better than a quad core with the same architecture on the same settings, but the quad can still get playable framerates, just with less FPS compared to the 8 core. Hope that was easy to understand

Couldn't have explained it any better.

Just out of interest, how long do people think dual cores will last? Like an i3? By that I mean, as the minimum requirement.

Like right now, if you try and boot up a game like BF3 on a single core, it quite simply won't even open.

A lot of people with budget builds use an i3, and sure BF4 will run on one because Crysis 3 does but after that, I think it's curtains.

dont forget that the quad core intels are simmilar to the 8 core amds, because most intels are dual threaded

so quad cores definatly wont become irrevelent anytime soon, unless you're talking amd, then maybe in terms of gaming

1.6ghz 8 cores due to power envelope and heat...

The biggest issue with this gen consoles (PS3 + 360) was overheating, RROD and YLOD.....

This hurts sales if the hardware is shit...

 

So 8 low speed cores, will be able to match what? a 3.0ghz Quad core roughly.

Recon-UK, there was a rumor that the CPU of PlayStation 4 will be clocked at 2ghz. I think it was confirmed, so PlayStation 4 was downclocked at PlayStation conference...

Even if it is nor not, it is nothing compared to a desktop CPU, we all have the power to overclock things way above spec.

I mean PC wise, by the time games take up 8 cores. We will probably have CPUs that double the amount of cores. I think games will be playing catch up with that for some time.

I don't think we will ever get above 12 core's, it would be complex to program a game to use all those core's and its a waste. Only the arhitecture of processors will improve to take full potential and not just more core's, smaller, smaller, more ghz... Kaboom, fryied like a chicken.