diff --git a/hw/VX_config.h b/hw/VX_config.h
index 63be0e93..e7a6b559 100644
--- a/hw/VX_config.h
+++ b/hw/VX_config.h
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #ifndef NUM_CORES
-#define NUM_CORES 4
+#define NUM_CORES 8
 #endif
 
 #ifndef NUM_WARPS
diff --git a/kernel/include/vx_spawn.h b/kernel/include/vx_spawn.h
index db77e683..83052f30 100644
--- a/kernel/include/vx_spawn.h
+++ b/kernel/include/vx_spawn.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 #ifndef CORES_PER_CLUSTER
-#define CORES_PER_CLUSTER 4
+#define CORES_PER_CLUSTER 8
 #endif
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus