Search Results: waste of money consumer

As y'all may already know, 6 core consumer CPUs have been out since 2017 (FX Bulldozer doesn't count), and system requirements have risen over time. Before for a long time, 4 cores was enough to max anything out on PC, and then in the last say 5 years 4 cores became the minimum and 6 cores recommended. I've noticed in the last 1-2 years though that now it's 6 cores as minimum and 8 cores as recommended, but some new games like Borderlands 4 now lists 8 cores for both! Hell, I've been using 8 core CPUs for all my phones in the last near decade.

Clearly having a hexa core processor won't be viable for long, so obviously for a future PC I'm gonna skip that altogether. I currently have a quad core CPU as my gaming laptop is from 2019, and from previous post (s), I've indicated dying thermals, age of hardware, and OS overhead (24H2) has caused it to lose performance. Being the stubborn boi that I am, I'll just double down on my now potato until 2027 or 2028, even though I can literally build my own PC currently for about a grand. Due to the tariff wars, I'd rather save money and not waste it unless needed.

I know that octa core is gonna be good to have for the next few years, but since I like to multi-task and I'll be doing more than just gaming, I think 8 cores might not be enough. If I had the money to, of course I'd go for 16 cores or higher, although I don't atm and who knows if my laptop will suddenly die on me eh? So if that happens and I'm forced to "prematurely" transition to desktop, I'll have to choose either 8 or 12 cores. I've already set my sights on either the Ryzen 7 9700X or Ryzen 9 9900X as my top contendors. Won't consider Intel because Core 13th and 14th Gen have QC issues, and Core Ultra just sucks.