AMD Ryzen Quad-Core 2+2 versus 4+0 Core Setups Analyzed

The game performance of Ryzen processors has been topic of much discussion ever since the CPUs have been released. The 8-core parts are 2x 4 cores clusters called a CCX each. In-between the two CCXes is an interconnect for caches and communication etc. 

The now commonly accepted thesis is that the bandwidth over that inter connect is limited. It clocks similar to your DDR4 memory, hence faster memory does have an effect on game performance. So with 8-cores, how would game performance be if you used just 4 cores on one CCX, or 2 cores per CCX? As in theory, if you shut down two cores per CCX, that interconnect would not be flooded so much and in theory that should increase CPU bound (lower resolution) game-performance. 

The guys over at Hardware Unboxed (a YouTube channel) put that to the test as the ASUS HERO motherboard allows to configure these setups in the BIOS. The end results are interesting, as really .. whatever configuration you choose, it just doesn’t matter that much. And that also tells a thing or two about upcoming 6 and 4 core processors from AMD.

Long story short, your best bet for faster game CPU bound game performance, remains to be overclocking the processor a bit and using fast high frequency memory. 

Source Hardware Unboxed (YouTube) via TPU. Have a peek at the game results below, you can click the thumbnails.