CPU is the main component and core part of a PC. Without any doubt, your CPU will affect gaming in numerous ways. Especially, as we all know gaming requires a strong build and influential role of CPU as well.
So precisely, How does CPU affect gaming? Certain games perform better with more cores because they take advantage of them. Others may not, since they are intended to utilize just one core, and the game benefits from a quicker CPU. Otherwise, it would lack sufficient power to operate and will be sluggish. Moreover, without a powerful CPU, the experiment will be bizarre.
The overall gaming performance depends on a lot of factors though. Along with the role of CPU in gaming, we are going to share what you should do to have a good experience and how to improve it. Let’s begin the adventure!
How does CPU affect gaming?
Are your CPUs going to affect your games or not depending on what kind of game you will be playing? Some games require more processing power, whereas some games need more graphics power.
For example, if you play a modern online multiplayer fps game where other people control all the characters. In this case, the CPU has to do nothing. So, if you ask does CPU affect fps? The answer is no, it doesn’t.
But if you are going to play games like real-time strategy games against a computer, football game, or cricket game where the other character, environment, and in-game physics has to be controlled by your computer, the CPU plays a massive role in this scenario.
Now, as we have mentioned it depends on what kind of games you are playing. Most of the games require GPU instead of CPU. They do not need a lot of processing power. For example, most of us play online multiplayer games where real people control all the characters, so the games do not put any pressure on the CPU.
On the other hand, some games mainly depend on the CPU. Like a Football game, real-time strategy, etc., this kind of game requires almost all of your CPU power to run. The more powerful your CPUs are, the better performance you will get.
As we have mentioned, the CPU does all the process, manage, and execute commands. They also do all the calculations in the games while we play them. The CPU does a significant job while we play games. They calculate the movements of the character and the input that we send through the mouse and keyboard.
If you play an online multiplayer game, then the CPU doesn’t have to do lots of processes. Still, if you are playing CPU-hungry games like football, cricket, real-time strategy games against computers, or any kind of games against computers, then your CPU has to do lots of processing. As for the opponents, the CPU has to make every move, and that’s a lot of processing.
Now you might be thinking that for you to play games, you need a supercomputer. Well, that’s not true at all. Because if you are playing any standard online multiplayer games, then you can play the games very smoothly with only one or two core CPUs. A CPU is high-speed and robust, and you can’t even imagine how many commands it can process in a second.
However, there are a couple of games that can even make a mighty CPU struggle, and there are games that will run even on a five or ten years old dual-core CPU. so how much the CPU will affect your gaming performance will depend on what kinds of games you will be playing. If you purchase a four to six-core CPU, then you should be fine as most games don’t use more than eight cores.
What does the CPU do for gaming?
The CPU is the brain of a computer. It does all the computing tasks that we require. It’s kind of difficult to describe what the CPU does in short, but let me put it like this, if you are driving a car, then the CPU is the engine. Its main job is to process, manage, and execute commands.
Now that we know what the CPU is, let’s learn what the CPU does when we play games. If you want to play games, you need a GPU to process the games’ visual details. The GPU does all the visual processes, but it doesn’t know what it needs to do. The GPU needs instruction, and the CPU tells the GPU what to process.
Moreover, a CPU does a lot more than this. When you are playing online games and performing a task like a jump, moving, or shooting someone, the CPU calculates everything and tells your GPU what to do next. Also, if you are playing against the computer, the CPU processes all the movements and tells the other character what to do.
Now you might be wondering what else the CPU does while we game. When we play games, we need to control our character to perform various tasks. When we move our character, we input the command using the keyboard and mouse. It’s all processed by the CPU., so when you move your mouse and do something, the CPU calculates how much your character needs to move.
How much difference does a CPU make in gaming?
You already know that your gaming performance depends on what kind of games you are playing. If you are playing a game that requires lots of processing, then you are going to need a powerful multi-core CPU, but if you play any story-based games or online multiplayer games, then you do not need a powerful CPU. Instead, it would be best if you had a powerful GPU to handle your games smoothly.
However, many of you might be wondering, can a CPU make any difference in gaming? Well, we tasted some games for you, and the result might shock you. While we were testing story-based games, we saw a minor fps increase in some games, but it was the same most of the time.
However, when we checked real-time strategy games like cricket and football games, we saw an fps increase. But it wasn’t that much. So, in the end, we can indeed say that if you bought a four or six-core CPU, you would be able to play any games without any bottleneck. If you want good gaming performance, then you should buy a powerful GPU.
Will upgrading the CPU improve gaming performance?
Whether you have a high-end 16-core CPU or a four to six-core CPU, it won’t affect your gaming performance that much. With more core, what you will gain is fluent multitasking. If you want raw gaming performance, then you don’t need more than six cores. For better performance, you should get a powerful GPU.
Now let’s say that you have a very old computer and want to upgrade it to play the latest games smoothly. So if you upgrade your CPU, will it give you better gaming performance? Well, the answer depends on which CPU you are using right now.
If you are using a relatively old single-core CPU or dual-core low-core speed CPU, then upgrading your CPU will reward you with excellent gaming performance. Also, it would be best if you had a superior GPU too. Changing a CPU will not give you good gaming performance/ because it will only provide you with process power. To get better gaming performance, you need a better GPU.
However, if you are currently using a four or six-core CPU which has a good core speed, then you don’t need to change your CPU because it can run all available games without bottlenecks. In the end, it all depends on which CPU you have right now and what kind of games you want to play.
Does CPU temperature affect gaming performance?
When you are playing games, most of the hard work is done by the GPU, while the CPU processes everything and tells the GPU what to do. So as long as you have a four or six-core CPU, you won’t have to worry about it. But if you have a very old CPU with low core speed, you might face bottlenecks, even overheating.
If your CPU is overheating, it will affect your gaming performance significantly, and your CPU will throttle or shut down before it creates any permanent damage. So while you are playing games and suddenly you notice that your CPU is overheating, you should check your task manager to see what’s causing it.
Overheating is very bad for your CPU and your computer, and it will significantly affect your gaming performance. When your CPU starts to overheat, it will throttle to reduce the temperature, and if it can’t, then it crashes or shuts down to minimize any permanent damage to your CPU.
How much does CPU affect FPS?
CPU affects FPS in different ways depending on the game and system requirements. Generally speaking, the more influential the CPU, the better the graphics will be. However, there are some games where the CPU doesn’t have a large impact on pictures, while other games require a high-powered CPU to maintain good framerates.
It’s important to check your game’s system requirements before the purchase in order to ensure that your chosen graphics processor is up to snuff.
Does 16GB RAM make a difference in FPS?
Yes, 16GB RAM does make a difference in FPS. In fact, most games today require at least 8GB of RAM to function optimally. If you’re gaming on a lower-end computer with 4GB of RAM, adding an 8GB memory module will provide some relief.
However, if you’re gaming on a high-end computer with 16GB of RAM, adding an additional 8GB memory module won’t make that much of a difference. Games are becoming more and more demanding as time goes on and the requirements for optimal performance continue to increase.
Final words
In the end, we hope that you understood the differences in gaming performance you will get if you purchase a potent CPU. The difference you will get is shallow unless you come from a 10-year-old Pentium CPU, so as long as you are buying a four or six-core CPU, you will be fine, and you will get excellent performance.
Therefore we really hope that you got the answer to how CPU affects gaming. And that you will purchase your next gaming computer or upgrade the existing one wisely. We will highly recommend that, if your main intention is to game, then you should spend the money on a powerful GPU and purchase a four to six-core CPU.