Does an i9-12900k 16 core processor do any good for CS?

[Snowwie]

My current 6 core processor, i7-5820k running natively at 3,3Ghz (OC to 4Ghz) is now 7 years old. It still runs the game fine, but I also think about background processes that nibble away CPU resources. Now we all know that CS only utilizes 4 cores / 8 threads. Nonetheless the i9-12900k processor can go up to 5,2Ghz on turboboost, but runs natively on 3,2Ghz. I wonder how many CS players are here, who already have this processor? I am thinking about a complete new system build, but I am just curious how this processor actually deals with CS in relation to older processors, like for example my i7-5820k 6 core. :-)

[Tsubame ⭐]

You will see a slight improvement over your current processor, that is for sure, more noticeable on large cities, though I would not buy it specifically due to this game alone.

Remember CS has hard limits that limit the discrepancy between low and high end hardware. Once you add in mods that increase these limits, you may make better use of the game to push your hardware to the limits, and hence the upgrade will be more noticeable in these cases.

[MarkJohnson]

I went from a 4790k 4.4GHz to 5820k 3.3GHz to the 8700k and now a 5800x (8-core/16-thread) and haven't noticed much of any different between any of them. Just more overhead for other tasks.

I seen a little improvement going to 64GB RAM and 16GB video, as that relived some lag. Especially 16GB vRAM. I can now maintain 50FPS and smooth video in most cases. If I stay away from workshop.

But until they make more heavily threaded games, you likely won't get much of a boost in any game from the 12900k. FPS games will get the biggest boost, but you are still limited to 4-core/8-threads for all games, except Ashes of the Singularity, which utilizes 6-core/12-thread CPUs.

The Apple's M1 chips are doing very good on multithreading right now. I think they are going 128 threads on one early report. I haven't heard much since. But they should be releasing the new chips any day now, so we should have more true real world results, instead of Apples overhype.

[Snowwie]

It will all come down on single core speed on any cpu I guess, the higher that clock speed, the better for the game (simulation). Also I keep Cities Skylines 2 in the back of my mind in which undoubtfully Collossal Order will make this sequel make better use of multiple processors. The 12900k is as off March 2022 a beast of a processor, with 16 cores. There are of course processors with more cores, but with lower single core speeds. And we currently have no idea what, if and how Cities Skylines 2 will require and if it would run better on a 16 core 5Ghz processor or on a 64core 2,5Ghz processor. Just a thought.

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by Snowwie:

It will all come down on single core speed on any cpu I guess, the higher that clock speed, the better for the game (simulation). Also I keep Cities Skylines 2 in the back of my mind in which undoubtfully Colossal Order will make this sequel make better use of multiple processors. The 12900k is as off March 2022 a beast of a processor, with 16 cores. There are of course processors with more cores, but with lower single core speeds. And we currently have no idea what, if and how Cities Skylines 2 will require and if it would run better on a 16 core 5Ghz processor or on a 64core 2,5Ghz processor. Just a thought.

I surprisingly didn't have that issue at all when going from 4790k (4.4GHz) to 5820k (3.3Ghz). The 5820k ran exactly the same even though a 25% drop in speed. I thought for sure it would lag out as I was using all 4-core/8-threads of the CPU. Ironically, the 5820k was also more efficient as it was only using around 40% of the CPU. My guess was the 6-full cores verses the 4 full cores of the 4790k. I imagine the hyperthreading cores weren't as efficient as the full core at processing, so it had a light load on overall CPU usage. Just a guess though. but it was weird it was slower and using less CPU power and still processing 100% of the game without a hitch.

But moving from 8700k (6-core/8-thread) to 5800X (8-core/16-thread) didn't have the same effect, even though it now had 8-full cores. Maybe 6-cores=4-core/8thread in processing power? So the additional 2 core of the 8-core cpu made no difference as the game was tapped out. It's hard to judge these hyper-threading cores. They seem to excel at AI calculations though.

[Stealthy]

12900K does good job. With RTX3080 I keep having about 50-60FPS on 150k city, no matter where in it I am.

Performance boost in gaming was noticeable compared to my old Threadripper 3960X as the single core speed went considerably up.

Remember that with 12th generation Intel processors you must run Win 11 to get the best out of them.

[Snowwie]

Originally posted by Stealthy:

12900K does good job. With RTX3080 I keep having about 50-60FPS on 150k city, no matter where in it I am.

Performance boost in gaming was noticeable compared to my old Threadripper 3960X as the single core speed went considerably up.

Remember that with 12th generation Intel processors you must run Win 11 to get the best out of them.

But how many assets and mods do you use? Sure I can also hit 50/60 fps with my system, as long I play the game in Vanilla mode, it runs as smooth as butter.

[CyberVibes]

When buying a new pc it's always better to get the best components for future proofing as at some point games will start utilising the extra cores and threads. I upgraded from a 6600k to 11700k and upgraded ram from 32GB to 64GB noticed a massive difference. My game only stared to slow down as i reached the 9500 assets from an original 6000 and adding more tasks through mods but it runs with a third more workshop and an extra 20 mods better than my old machine handled the lesser amounts.

[Stealthy]

Originally posted by Snowwie:

But how many assets and mods do you use? Sure I can also hit 50/60 fps with my system, as long I play the game in Vanilla mode, it runs as smooth as butter.

Not sure but over 2000 assets was in the last loading screen list.

Assets won't slow you down, they just eat your RAM up. They can slow down if they are too heavy, but I don't use anything where mesh checker doesn't show greens only.

As for the mods, stuff like city watch vitals kills instantly 5 to 10FPS and TMPE even more. I don't use either.

[NameInvalid]

The benefit of latest gen intel CPU for this game specifically isn't the core count, not the Ghz either, but the improved single thread performance. The i9 12th gen is double the single thread performance compared to your current cpu. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
But then again, this game does run on the older DX11 API................... that means you gonna hit the calculation bottleneck sooner or later. Will the i9 12th gen allows your city to grow larger without hitting the simulation bottleneck? Yes, but you will still hit the bottleneck later. You will know it when the speed increament no longer increase the game speed.