I will be testing more games ongoing with CPUCores to show how the software works for particular games.

My benchmark system was created to be an average Steam gaming system according to the Steam Hardware Survey as well as the target market for CPUCores (2 core cpu + 4 core cpu, low to medium-high systems).

The benchmark system is a 3.2 ghz dual core Intel G3258 + GTX 960 GPU + 4TB HDD.

The CPU was picked for 2 reasons:

-- #1 It represents the dual core users (nearly 50% of all Steam users)
-- #2 It has a very high per-thread performance, bringing overall CPU power closer to some medium-end 4 core CPUs.

So if you had to average 2 core and 4 core CPUs then I believe this would be the CPU to pick.

To see how your CPU compares with the benchmark system, please visit here: http://cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Look up your CPU and find the number. For reference, here is the benchmark CPU:


The GPU was picked for 3 reasons:

--- #1 It represents some middle ground between the most used Steam GPU (GTX 970) and the second.
--- #2 It is more likely a user upgrades their GPU than their CPU, so GPUs tend to be a higher tier so to speak than the CPU.
--- #3 This allows benchmarks to show more CPU gain that is not as limited by the GPU

NOTE: This benchmark PC cost under $500

Benchmarks are typically done using FRAPS with identical before and after scenarios. FPS recording is done only inside the game (no menus).

Enjoy!