Speed and efficiency of data processing have always been the main requirements when buying a computer. These parameters depend not only on the processor, but also on the number of cores in it. Many users do not know where to view this information, and this can be done in several ways. In some cases, this is done differently for different versions of the Windows operating system.
Information about the number of processor cores using Windows. Control Panel
The most common way is to find all the necessary information by the name of the processor itself. You can find the model name in the control panel:
- From the Start menu, go to Control Panel.
- We need the “System and Security” section.
- Next, select the “System” subsection.
- A window opens with basic information about the computer, where the name of the processor is indicated.
On the official website of the developer you will find the full characteristics of this model, among them you will see the number of cores. This method is suitable for any version of Windows, but in addition to the system itself, you will also have to use the Internet.
Information about the number of processor cores using Windows. Task Manager
The very convenient Task Manager utility not only helps manage processes and services, but can also provide data about the processor and its performance.
For Windows 7 and earlier:
- For quick access to the utility, a combination of three keys has been invented: “Alt” + “Ctrl” + “Delete”. Press them together.
- “Task Manager” will appear in front of you, go to the “Performance” tab.
- Find out what manufacturer your processor is.
The fact is that for AMD processors the number of cores will be equal to the number of graphics in “Performance”. With Intel, the situation is different due to the possible use of Hyper-threading technology, which visually increases the number of cores. So be careful.
For Windows 8 and higher:
- As in earlier versions, the “Task Manager” is called up using “Alt” + “Ctrl” + “Delete”.
- The “Performance” tab displays the performance of the processor.
You followed the specified path, but instead of the number of cores there is nothing? It happens, just open the window.
If you want to see the number of cores in graphs, as in earlier versions, find “Open Resource Monitor” at the bottom.
Information about the number of processor cores using special software
The operating system may not always accurately display the number of cores. For these reasons, software developers have developed several useful programs to help you see all the details about your system.
CPU-Z is the most popular of the free utilities. You can download it on the official website cpuid.com . The Russian-language version can be found, but it’s better not to risk it and download from a trusted source.
How to use the program:
- Start CPU-.
- On the very first “CPU” tab at the bottom there is a “Cores” item, which indicates the number of cores.
If you think that the installed processor is weak, then you can replace it with a more powerful one. Many users complain about slow operation, and freezes are common. The processor simply can't do its job. Using the above tools, you can not only satisfy your interest, but also make your computer more efficient.
Some people are eager to know all the details of their system hardware.
In Windows 8, you can easily view juicy specifications about your processor speed, memory usage, and OS bit version.
Just press Windows Key + x + y to get a summary... but what if you want to see how many cores you have?
First let me explain what I mean by "Cores".
Processors do a lot
I'm going to say figuratively that a computer's central processing unit (CPU) is analogous to your central nervous system: your brain.
That is, every click, keystroke and action is processed through the processor in the same way that every touch on an object, for example, as a person, is controlled by your brain.
The CPU has the laborious task of synthesizing billions of electrical pulses per second. Technically speaking, the CPU contains foundational technologies such as:
- Arithmetic logic unit
- Interrupt handling
- I/O Control
Let's take a quick look at the trio.
Processor Arithmetic Logic Unit or ALU
ALU is a fancy name for the digital circuit that designs all the basic math and logic functions in your computer.
I guess if we continue our brain analogy, the ALU would be the cortex of your brain. We're getting philosophical here, but your stream of consciousness is the closest comparison I can bring to ALU because that's where the activity is busiest.
Interrupt handling
You're hammering away on an email when your boss suddenly stomps into your office and breaks your concentration.
He drops the heavy UPS box onto your desk, the sheer weight of the fall nearly landing on your desk lamp.
After the dust is cleared, he barks, “Hey, I need you to expedite this package to New York. The CEO expects this tonight.”
Interruptions and intensity, but they are a great way to illustrate the daily life of a processor.
The CPU is constantly receiving interrupt signals from software and hardware, which means its attention is always being pulled away from the current task (known as a thread).
Processors manage all of these interrupts and ensure that the active thread is still running reliably.
I/O Control
When you think of I/O control, think of a police officer.
In addition to managing interrupts and performing math operations, the CPU coordinates the flow of data to and from itself using a specialized controller called a Channel Processor.
Typically the CPU offloads chunks of I/O functions to this channel processor, which then handles the data exchange on its own.
Core cores
So what's the deal with processor cores?
Just think of one processor core as one CPU
So a dual-core processor means you have two cores; That is, two processors inside one physical processor socket.
This pattern continues for quad-core processors and so on.
Thus, a dual-core processor is one processor with two cores, which is roughly equivalent to having two physical processors.
Having multiple cores means you can process multiple instructions in parallel. Plus, you actually get a performance boost by squeezing multiple cores onto a single piece of silicon because the signal has less distance to travel and therefore doesn't attenuate as easily, and allows chip designers to push more data each clock cycle.
Okay, enough of the pedantic details, here's how to see how many cores your computer has.
How to find out how many cores are in a computer and laptop?
Open a command prompt by pressing Windows Key + x + a and paste the following command:
WMIC CPU Get/Format: list
Scroll down and find NumberOfCores and NumberOfLogicalProcessors. In the graph above you can see that I have a quad core processor.
The second parameter is twice the first because my computer uses Hyper Threading technology.
How to find out how many cores are in a computer and laptop: A quick way
Another way to view your kernels is to simply press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your desktop and open the Performance tab.
As you understand, this method is in the “Task Manager” system application, through which you can find out some information about your device. Open the program and go to the "Performance" section and select "Processor", then look for the Kernel line in the new window.
These eight mini-graphs represent eight logical cores. These logical cores include both physical and virtual hyperthreaded cores.
If you only see one chart, you can right-click on it and mouse over the change graph and select Logical Processors.
You can also approach the verification process in several other ways:
Through verification using a special program. There you can find out information not only about the number of cores on your processor, but also more detailed information about all other important components of the specifications, for example, the frequency of the cores.
- An example of such a program is the excellent CPU-Z. Which is very popular among its users.
The second way is to look at the processor specifications on the box of the device that was supplied when purchased in the store.
That's all. As you can see, everything is done very simply and in response to the question “”, a fairly large number of solutions are provided.
If you have any questions about the topic " How to find out how many cores are in a computer and laptop?", then you can write them to us in the comment form on our website.
Good afternoon. When buying a computer, each of us tries to choose a better computer. More RAM, more hard drive, and everything should be the best. Although, this is not always justified. I think I won’t tell you a big secret if I tell you that for simple work on the Internet, communicating on social media. networks and watching movies, you don’t need big bells and whistles. Image and fashion play a role.
A stronger processor and more RAM will be useful for working with complex software, including games. But still, people want a better and faster computer. What does better mean? First of all, a person focuses on the number of processor cores, in the hope that with a larger number of cores the computer will not only work, but fly.
Although, I may disappoint some people, but not all programs support multi-core mode, and the effect will be insignificant, if at all. But that's not what we're talking about now. Have you bought a computer and want to know how many cores the processor of this computer has? How to do it? I will offer four of the most common methods.
How to find out how many cores are in your computer through Task Manager
Quite a simple method. You need to launch the task manager and simply count the cores. I wrote in detail about the work of the task manager in the article: - But let's remember. To start, enter the hot keys Alt + Ctrl + Del. A window will open where we will select “start task manager”.
In the new window, select the “performance” item. We look at the CPU load chronology. We have two windows open.
Each of these windows shows the processor load and indicates the number of cores.
Find out using Device Manager
The names are similar, but they are not the same thing. To enter the device manager, right-click twice on the “Computer” shortcut. Select the “Properties” item.
In the right column, select “device manager”.
A new window opens, consider its items and select the “Processors” line. By clicking on this line, it becomes clear to us how many cores we have. For example, I have 2 of them.
This technique does not always work on Intel processors, because... kernels are often split into two or more threads, which the OS may consider to be a separate kernel. In this case, we can use a third-party program. I prefer Speccy software.
Speccy will tell us how many cores are in a computer
Speccy is a fairly convenient program. I already discussed it in the article: - . But let me remind you. This program shows numerous data about your computer, general information about the PC, hard drive, OS, video card, etc. Including the processor. We will choose him.
We launch Speccy, select the processor and see numerous information in the window that opens.
But we are interested in the number of cores. As you can see from the screenshot, in my case there are two of them, including the flows shown separately, i.e. You won’t get confused, unlike the previous method. In this case, if you have Speccy installed, you will actually know the answer in two seconds! Very convenient software. I recommend.
Let's check the documentation
Also, there is another method, the most common one. Just refer to the processor documentation. For Intel, pay attention to the line Core 2 Duo, Dual. It means that you have 2 cores. If you see Quad, you have 4 cores.
If you have an AMD processor, as in my case, you need to look at what number you have after X. For example, if X4, you have a quad-core processor. Well, further, by analogy.
I think I explained to you in detail how to find out how many cores are in a computer? Good luck!
Popular sample question
Hello.
Tell me how to find out exactly how many cores are in the processor on my laptop. It’s just that when I bought it, they said it was a dual-core processor, and when I opened the device manager, I saw that I had four cores. How so?
(By the way, Intel Core i3 processor)
Good day!
Indeed, there is often confusion with these kernels. But what “kills” most of all is that dishonest sellers often play on this, selling a dual-core processor as a quad-core one (the whole point is that Intel processors (including Intel Core i3, i5, i7) special is used Hyper Threading (HT) technology).
Method 1: special utilities
One of the most accurate and reliable ways to find out information about your processor (without disassembling the computer) is to use the help of specialists. utilities: AIDA 64, CPU-Z, Speccy, etc. I note that if you (for a tangible amount for yourself)– I highly recommend looking at the characteristics of the device in such programs (Windows properties can be faked/edited relatively easily).
By the way, I have a separate article on my blog dedicated to such utilities (see link below).
To help! The best utilities for determining computer characteristics are:
For example, I like the CPU-Z program (because you just need to launch it, you don’t even need to install it 👏). Pay attention to the screenshot below: in the main CPU-Z window you can immediately find out all the main characteristics of the processor (Cores are cores; there are 2 of them on my work laptop).
Identical information can be found in another fairly convenient utility - Speccy. You need to open a tab in it "CPU"(see screenshot below).
Method 2: Using msinfo32
In Windows you can find out a lot of information about your computer without any extraneous utilities. (however, as I said above, they may not always be reliable*).
To open a window "System information" : Press a combination of buttons Win+R, enter the command msinfo32 and press OK. Example below.
msinfo32 - CPU model / Clickable
Method 3: through Windows and official properties. products webpage
Method 4: Task Manager
Note! If your OS is Windows 7, then I do not recommend this method to you! The fact is that this OS does not distinguish logical processors (or threads) from cores (or cores), as Windows 10 (8) does. So you can easily make a mistake...
To open the task manager, press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Esc (or Ctrl+Alt+Del). Then open the tab "Performance" – the number of cores will be shown at the bottom of the window (they are highlighted in red in the screenshot below).
Comment!
By the way, such a difference in Intel cores and logical processors creates great confusion among users (and even helps dishonest sellers pass off dual-core devices as quad-core ones).
And it's all about the specials. Intel technologies – Hyper Threading. I'll look at what this means in more detail below...
What does it mean: cores – 2, logical processors – 4
The number of cores and logical processors is taken as an example. In your case it may be slightly different, for example, 4 cores, 8 logical processors...
This means that the processor is dual-core (and not quad-core, as many believe). Simply, each core is “divided” into two virtual ones (they are called threads). This is a special technology from Intel – Hyper-Threading (by the way, not all lines of Intel processors support it).
AMD processors have the same number of physical and logical cores. Therefore, there is no such confusion with them.
By default, Hyper Threading technology is usually enabled (the parameter is set in the BIOS/UEFI, often abbreviated “HT”, see screenshot below).
Thanks to this technology, the processor should work slightly faster in streaming applications, for example, this is noticeable when encoding video (how can you increase your encoding speed to 15÷30%!?).
In general, the unit of gain from this technology depends on the application and its optimization. Some games do not receive an increase from it at all, while others - quite significantly! Many users simply run a test - turning this technology on/off and comparing the performance with and without it.
To help!
How to perform a stress test of the processor and the system as a whole, whether it maintains frequencies, whether there is overheating -
I’m ending my “educational education” with this...
All the best!
Hello.
Here is such a seemingly trivial question " how many cores are in the computer?” is asked quite often. Moreover, this question began to arise relatively recently. About 10 years ago, when buying a computer, users paid attention to the processor only in terms of the number of megahertz ( after all, the processors were single-core).
Now the situation has changed: manufacturers most often produce PCs and laptops with dual- and quad-core processors (they provide higher performance and are affordable for a wide range of buyers).
To find out how many cores are on your computer, you can use special utilities (more about them below), or you can use built-in Windows tools. Let's consider all the methods in order...
1. Method No. 1 - task manager
To open the task manager: hold down the " CNTRL+ALT+DEL" or " CNTRL+SHIFT+ESC"(works on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10).
For example, on my laptop with Windows 10 OS, the task manager looks like in Fig. 1 (a little lower in the article ( 2 cores on the computer)).
Rice. 1. Task Manager in Windows 10 (number of cores shown). By the way, pay attention to the fact that there are 4 logical processors (many people confuse them with cores, but this is not so). More about this at the bottom of this article.
By the way, in Windows 7, the number of cores is determined in a similar way. It might even be more clear, since each core displays its own “rectangle” with loading. Figure 2 below is from Windows 7 (English version).
Rice. 2. Windows 7: number of cores - 2 (by the way, this method is not always reliable, because the number of logical processors is shown here, which does not always coincide with the real number of cores. More on this at the end of the article).
2. Method No. 2 - through Device Manager
You need to open the device manager and go to the “ processes". Device Manager, by the way, can be opened through the Windows Control Panel by entering a query like “ dispatcher...". See fig. 3.
Rice. 3. Device Manager (processors tab). This computer has a dual-core processor.
3. Method No. 3 - HWiNFO utility
An excellent utility for determining the basic characteristics of a computer. Moreover, there is a portable version that does not require installation! All you have to do is run the program and give it 10 seconds to collect information about your PC.
Rice. 4. The figure shows how many cores are in the Acer Aspire 5552G laptop.
4th option - Aida utility
Official site: http://www.aida64.com/
An excellent utility in all respects (the only downside is that it’s paid...)! Allows you to find out as much information as possible from your computer (laptop). It is quite easy and quick to find out information about the processor (and the number of its cores). After launching the utility, go to the section: Motherboard/CPU/Multi CPU Tab.
By the way, one remark should be made here: despite the fact that 4 lines are shown (in Fig. 5), the number of cores is 2 (this can be reliably determined if you look at the “ summary information"). I specifically drew attention to this point, since many people confuse number of cores and logical processors(moreover, dishonest sellers sometimes take advantage of this, selling a dual-core processor as a quad-core one...).
The number of cores is 2, the number of logical processors is 4. How can this be?
In new processors from Intel, logical processors are 2 times larger than physical ones thanks to HyperThreading technology. One core runs 2 threads at once. There is no point in chasing the number of “such cores” (in my opinion...). The growth from this new technology depends on the applications launched and the politicization of them.
Some games may not receive a performance boost at all, while others will see a noticeable increase. A significant increase can be obtained, for example, when encoding video.
In general, the main thing here is this: the number of cores is the number of cores and should not be confused with the number of logical processors...
PS
What other utilities can be used to determine the number of computer cores:
- Everest;
- PC Wizard;
- Speccy;
- CPU-Z, etc.
And on this I digress, I hope the information will be useful. As always, many thanks to everyone for the additions.
All the best :)