The number of CPU cores has a varying effect on game performance. CPU cores which are single-threaded are quite useful in single-threaded games, and for multi-threaded games, the patience is spread across multiple cores at the same time. In this way, typically, a CPU with larger number of cores can perform more operations simultaneously which is quite helpful for multitasking as well as intensive tasks. But, for most of the games, between six to eight cores appear to be optimal and, for very many games, even four cores would be sufficient. One should keep core count and the rest of the components of the system in mind while core count is being evaluated with regard to the games.