Not all functions of vue use all the cores though.  Fortunately, rendering does.  However, populating eco-systems doesn't (this is where I often get tripped on the 10-minute beach ball).

TIP - For those without lots of cores, carefully adjusted render settings can get you almost as much additional mileage efficiency as lots of CPU cores.  Model without textures and atmospheres, test small sizes, and nudge render quality settings up slowly as you go.