{"video_id":"-GgDZKGA89I","title":"CPU Cores for Gaming, Streaming, & Rendering Simultaneously - Is More Actually Better?","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2015-05-07T14:53:29Z","duration_s":474,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":7.52,"text":"so we reviewed the core i7 5960x here an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":4.24,"end_s":10.0,"text":"eight core hyper-threaded ddr4 fueled","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.52,"end_s":15.12,"text":"monster of a computer processor that seems to be positioned as the elite tier","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.88,"end_s":19.6,"text":"CPU in gaming systems among boutique system builders and yet","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":16.96,"end_s":24.92,"text":"doesn't appear at first glance at least to offer a compelling improvement over a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":21.92,"end_s":28.0,"text":"more mainstream and much less expensive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.92,"end_s":30.72,"text":"ddr3 equipped quad core processor like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":28.0,"end_s":35.12,"text":"the core i7 4790k perhaps there is more to this than meets","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":33.52,"end_s":38.559,"text":"the eye though like how i've been using an iphone 6 for a couple weeks i mean","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":37.12,"end_s":45.719,"text":"actually that one's pretty easy i have a review coming subscribe so you don't miss it anyway back to CPU performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":42.239,"end_s":45.719,"text":"for now though","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":50.399,"end_s":58.32,"text":"Corsair gaming RGB keyboards feature precision cherry mx RGB key switches for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":55.48,"end_s":63.44,"text":"16.8 million color per key backlighting for virtually unlimited customization","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.8,"end_s":68.56,"text":"click now to learn more so here's the problem with the way that benchmarks are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":65.92,"end_s":73.76,"text":"typically run in a CPU review in order to isolate as many variables as possible","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.28,"end_s":77.439,"text":"and keep the results as reproducible as possible this is the correct way to do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":76.08,"end_s":82.56,"text":"things scientifically speaking by the way background processes on the system are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":80.32,"end_s":88.32,"text":"kept in check so only the applications being benchmarked at a given time are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":85.52,"end_s":93.759,"text":"run and fresh system images are loaded very regularly to ensure random extra","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":91.68,"end_s":99.119,"text":"junk isn't interfering with getting the best results possible however in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":96.96,"end_s":103.84,"text":"real world a more cluttered environment the kind where you've got you know a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":101.04,"end_s":108.32,"text":"thousand sometimes poorly coded random apps in the system tray like bloated","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.0,"end_s":113.439,"text":"gaming peripheral software anti-virus game streaming voip clients printer auto","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.799,"end_s":116.56,"text":"updaters etc is oftentimes more realistic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.399,"end_s":121.439,"text":"and beyond that power users and prosumers may be interested to know how","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":119.04,"end_s":126.32,"text":"their system will perform in games when they intentionally have a demanding","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":123.92,"end_s":132.64,"text":"application running in the background so the test i set up is based on a worst","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":129.599,"end_s":134.56,"text":"case scenario for a prosumer like a game","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.64,"end_s":140.16,"text":"streamer someone who's heavily into gaming and uses their gaming rig for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":137.2,"end_s":144.959,"text":"some content creation as well so here's my hypothetical scenario our pro","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":142.959,"end_s":150.08,"text":"streamer just finished editing together a highlight reel in sony vegas pro 12","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":147.44,"end_s":154.959,"text":"and is rendering the file then he or she wants to fire up a game we'll use far","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":152.239,"end_s":160.4,"text":"cry 3 at 1080p ultra details with 8x msaa wants to stream aforementioned game","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.0,"end_s":164.8,"text":"on twitch using the fast preset with an hd webcam feed in the corner using","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.4,"end_s":169.2,"text":"xsplit wants to use screen capture to have a buddy skype in to join the stream","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":167.28,"end_s":172.64,"text":"and then while all that's happening an antivirus scan starts running in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.2,"end_s":177.64,"text":"background so for the test i used an ASUS rampage 5","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.2,"end_s":182.8,"text":"extreme motherboard with a core i7 5960x then i used the handy dandy","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":180.4,"end_s":187.36,"text":"multiplier adjustments that all k and x series chips have along with ASUS's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.28,"end_s":192.319,"text":"manual turbo boost controls and hyper threading toggle to simulate the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":189.2,"end_s":194.56,"text":"performance of all the other cpus in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":192.319,"end_s":196.959,"text":"test so i'm using this the same platform same os","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":195.68,"end_s":200.959,"text":"everything so there are two different ways to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":199.12,"end_s":206.159,"text":"evaluate the performance of our system here first up we can look strictly at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":203.76,"end_s":210.08,"text":"average FPS in our game over a two minute span at the beginning of my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":207.76,"end_s":214.879,"text":"benchmark the overclocked eight core runs away with this but not everyone","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":212.08,"end_s":222.2,"text":"overclocks and at stock speed our quad core 4790k with hyper threading does","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":218.4,"end_s":225.04,"text":"just as well as our stock","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":222.2,"end_s":230.4,"text":"5960x which costs about three times as much presumably thanks to its high turbo","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":227.28,"end_s":232.4,"text":"clock speed of 4.2 to 4.4 gigahertz","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":230.4,"end_s":237.28,"text":"adding minimum frame rates to the mix gives us a little bit more insight","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":234.0,"end_s":239.04,"text":"though now we can see that our six core","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.28,"end_s":242.959,"text":"seems to be struggling a bit thanks to its lower core count or lower clock","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.36,"end_s":247.04,"text":"speed compared to the other competitors depending on which one we're looking at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":244.4,"end_s":253.2,"text":"it against and even though on average our quad cores hold up against our eight","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.04,"end_s":255.12,"text":"core the dips in frame rate are 20 lower","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":253.2,"end_s":259.359,"text":"which would normally be okay but what the numbers don't even tell us here is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":257.199,"end_s":264.56,"text":"how noticeable the hitching and stuttering is in each of those configs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":262.4,"end_s":268.56,"text":"the a-core configs on the other hand both ran the game with smoother","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.16,"end_s":273.44,"text":"animations and the six core stuttered occasionally but better than the quad","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.72,"end_s":278.16,"text":"cores the quad core with hyper threading was noticeable but usable and the quad","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.24,"end_s":283.68,"text":"core without hyper threading was basically unplayable and you can see a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.12,"end_s":287.44,"text":"full explanation for why these FPS numbers might look okay even though the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.36,"end_s":292.0,"text":"animations are terrible in the video linked here","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.199,"end_s":295.759,"text":"but there's another completely different angle that we can use to examine this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":293.84,"end_s":299.919,"text":"torture test scenario to give us a clearer idea of how the chips are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":297.44,"end_s":304.24,"text":"holding up to the load how well was the stuff in the background running well","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.56,"end_s":309.039,"text":"first let's have a look at dropped frames in the twitch stream only our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.759,"end_s":313.12,"text":"non-hyper-threaded quad-core dropped frames here so we can see that our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.88,"end_s":318.72,"text":"simulated 4690k was really struggling to multitask like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.6,"end_s":321.919,"text":"this in a way that the others weren't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":318.72,"end_s":324.4,"text":"now finally we can look at render times","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.919,"end_s":330.4,"text":"it's a one minute chunk of my Corsair gaming k70 RGB keyboard video that i","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.52,"end_s":334.8,"text":"exported at 1080p with CPU encoding while everything else was running and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":332.32,"end_s":340.639,"text":"this is where we see the men separated from the boys our hyper threaded six","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":337.6,"end_s":343.039,"text":"core stutters less in-game and renders","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":340.639,"end_s":347.28,"text":"the video a full two minutes faster than the hyper-threaded quad core even though","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":345.199,"end_s":352.8,"text":"its average frame rates are not as good then our a-core improves frame rates","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":350.4,"end_s":357.68,"text":"smooths out gameplay completely and knocks another 40 seconds off the render","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.72,"end_s":361.919,"text":"time with our overclocked 4.4 gigahertz 8 core delivering smooth gameplay the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":359.68,"end_s":367.36,"text":"best frame rates out of all the configs and also it manages to render the video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":364.479,"end_s":371.199,"text":"in a third the time of our similarly clocked quad core with hyper threading","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":370.4,"end_s":374.96,"text":"so in conclusion am i saying any of this is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.52,"end_s":378.8,"text":"the kind of thing a normal user will encounter every day or am i saying that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.8,"end_s":383.36,"text":"this is the only way to achieve butter smooth gaming while working on projects","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.88,"end_s":387.28,"text":"in the background absolutely not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.88,"end_s":391.12,"text":"using a device with an onboard h.264 encoder setting up a separate machine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":389.28,"end_s":395.6,"text":"for capture or utilizing a network render farm are all strategies that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.52,"end_s":399.759,"text":"might actually be more elegant depending on the exact workload now the point of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.84,"end_s":405.36,"text":"this video was just to explore the effects of an overwhelming workload on a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":402.639,"end_s":409.6,"text":"variety of different configs and have a look at what those lucky dogs with eight","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":407.52,"end_s":414.8,"text":"core extreme editions can throw at their machines before they even really start","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.919,"end_s":419.36,"text":"to feel it and the answer i guess is a whole heck of a lot","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.039,"end_s":422.479,"text":"guys thanks for watching like this video if you liked it dislike it if you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":420.72,"end_s":425.68,"text":"disliked it leave a comment letting me know was this about what you were","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":424.16,"end_s":429.68,"text":"expecting did you think it would be able to handle much more did you think even","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":427.84,"end_s":432.72,"text":"the a core would suffer love to hear from you guys also check","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.44,"end_s":437.759,"text":"out the link in the video description you can give us a monthly contribution to help support us to make videos you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":435.84,"end_s":441.199,"text":"can buy a t-shirt cool one like this which does the same thing or you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":439.68,"end_s":446.4,"text":"change your amazon bookmarks one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy cpus or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":445.28,"end_s":451.44,"text":"tape or stands or whatever else it is you buy on amazon i actually got these on amazon","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":449.84,"end_s":457.06,"text":"great great product very inexpensive anyway thanks again for watching and as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.28,"end_s":473.44,"text":"always don't forget to subscribe","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":473.44,"end_s":475.52,"text":"you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"so we reviewed the core i7 5960x here an eight core hyper-threaded ddr4 fueled monster of a computer processor that seems to be positioned as the elite tier CPU in gaming systems among boutique system builders and yet doesn't appear at first glance at least to offer a compelling improvement over a more mainstream and much less expensive ddr3 equipped quad core processor like the core i7 4790k perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye though like how i've been using an iphone 6 for a couple weeks i mean actually that one's pretty easy i have a review coming subscribe so you don't miss it anyway back to CPU performance for now though Corsair gaming RGB keyboards feature precision cherry mx RGB key switches for 16.8 million color per key backlighting for virtually unlimited customization click now to learn more so here's the problem with the way that benchmarks are typically run in a CPU review in order to isolate as many variables as possible and keep the results as reproducible as possible this is the correct way to do things scientifically speaking by the way background processes on the system are kept in check so only the applications being benchmarked at a given time are run and fresh system images are loaded very regularly to ensure random extra junk isn't interfering with getting the best results possible however in the real world a more cluttered environment the kind where you've got you know a thousand sometimes poorly coded random apps in the system tray like bloated gaming peripheral software anti-virus game streaming voip clients printer auto updaters etc is oftentimes more realistic and beyond that power users and prosumers may be interested to know how their system will perform in games when they intentionally have a demanding application running in the background so the test i set up is based on a worst case scenario for a prosumer like a game streamer someone who's heavily into gaming and uses their gaming rig for some content creation as well so here's my hypothetical scenario our pro streamer just finished editing together a highlight reel in sony vegas pro 12 and is rendering the file then he or she wants to fire up a game we'll use far cry 3 at 1080p ultra details with 8x msaa wants to stream aforementioned game on twitch using the fast preset with an hd webcam feed in the corner using xsplit wants to use screen capture to have a buddy skype in to join the stream and then while all that's happening an antivirus scan starts running in the background so for the test i used an ASUS rampage 5 extreme motherboard with a core i7 5960x then i used the handy dandy multiplier adjustments that all k and x series chips have along with ASUS's manual turbo boost controls and hyper threading toggle to simulate the performance of all the other cpus in the test so i'm using this the same platform same os everything so there are two different ways to evaluate the performance of our system here first up we can look strictly at average FPS in our game over a two minute span at the beginning of my benchmark the overclocked eight core runs away with this but not everyone overclocks and at stock speed our quad core 4790k with hyper threading does just as well as our stock 5960x which costs about three times as much presumably thanks to its high turbo clock speed of 4.2 to 4.4 gigahertz adding minimum frame rates to the mix gives us a little bit more insight though now we can see that our six core seems to be struggling a bit thanks to its lower core count or lower clock speed compared to the other competitors depending on which one we're looking at it against and even though on average our quad cores hold up against our eight core the dips in frame rate are 20 lower which would normally be okay but what the numbers don't even tell us here is how noticeable the hitching and stuttering is in each of those configs the a-core configs on the other hand both ran the game with smoother animations and the six core stuttered occasionally but better than the quad cores the quad core with hyper threading was noticeable but usable and the quad core without hyper threading was basically unplayable and you can see a full explanation for why these FPS numbers might look okay even though the animations are terrible in the video linked here but there's another completely different angle that we can use to examine this torture test scenario to give us a clearer idea of how the chips are holding up to the load how well was the stuff in the background running well first let's have a look at dropped frames in the twitch stream only our non-hyper-threaded quad-core dropped frames here so we can see that our simulated 4690k was really struggling to multitask like this in a way that the others weren't now finally we can look at render times it's a one minute chunk of my Corsair gaming k70 RGB keyboard video that i exported at 1080p with CPU encoding while everything else was running and this is where we see the men separated from the boys our hyper threaded six core stutters less in-game and renders the video a full two minutes faster than the hyper-threaded quad core even though its average frame rates are not as good then our a-core improves frame rates smooths out gameplay completely and knocks another 40 seconds off the render time with our overclocked 4.4 gigahertz 8 core delivering smooth gameplay the best frame rates out of all the configs and also it manages to render the video in a third the time of our similarly clocked quad core with hyper threading so in conclusion am i saying any of this is the kind of thing a normal user will encounter every day or am i saying that this is the only way to achieve butter smooth gaming while working on projects in the background absolutely not using a device with an onboard h.264 encoder setting up a separate machine for capture or utilizing a network render farm are all strategies that might actually be more elegant depending on the exact workload now the point of this video was just to explore the effects of an overwhelming workload on a variety of different configs and have a look at what those lucky dogs with eight core extreme editions can throw at their machines before they even really start to feel it and the answer i guess is a whole heck of a lot guys thanks for watching like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know was this about what you were expecting did you think it would be able to handle much more did you think even the a core would suffer love to hear from you guys also check out the link in the video description you can give us a monthly contribution to help support us to make videos you can buy a t-shirt cool one like this which does the same thing or you can change your amazon bookmarks one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy cpus or tape or stands or whatever else it is you buy on amazon i actually got these on amazon great great product very inexpensive anyway thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe you"}