What are threads on a processor: What Is a CPU Thread? A Basic Definition

What Are Threads in a Processor?

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You know a thing or two about computers. You’re pretty much up to speed on what a CPU does and how it performs. And you know that more threads mean better performance.

But when it comes down to it, do you actually know what it means when people talk about threads? Do you know what they are? Do you know why they’re important?

Today we’re detailing everything you need to know about threads. We’ll be discussing why they are important. We’ll be talking about how they work in conjunction with your CPU.

And we’ll detail what exactly it is that they do. Keep reading to learn more about CPU threads and why they’re crucial to the performance of your system.

Read Article: How to Backup Your Computer


Table of Contents

A Brief Explanation of Threads

All central processing units have threads, but what exactly does that mean? In simple terms, the threads are what allow your CPU to perform multiple things at once. So if you want to run multiple processes that are very intensive, you will need a CPU with a lot of threads.

Threads refer to the highest level of code executed by a processor, so with many threads, your CPU can handle several tasks at the same time. All CPUs have active threads, and every process performed on your computer has at least a single thread.

The number of threads you have depends on the number of cores in your CPU. Each CPU core can have two threads. So a processor with two cores will have four threads. A processor with eight cores will have 16 threads.

A processor with 24 cores (yes, those exist), will have 48 threads.

Threads are important to the function of your computer because they determine how many tasks your computer can perform at any given time.

We’re diving into further detail on exactly what threads are, why you need to understand what they do, and why they’re so important.


What Are Central Processing Units?

Before you can understand threads, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of what a CPU is. You cannot understand the function of one without understanding the capabilities of the other.

The CPU (central processing unit) is the core of every smartphone, tablet, and computer. It is a critical component that dictates the way your computer will perform and determines how well it can do the job.

The CPU takes the basic instructions you command on your computer and allocates those jobs to other chips in your system. By diverting complicated tasks to the chips best equipped to handle them, it allows your computer to run at its peak level.

It is the core of your computer, and your computer cannot function without it.

The CPU is sometimes called the brain of the computer. It sits upon the motherboard (also called the main circuit board) and is a separate component from the memory component.

It acts upon the memory component, which stores all the data and information on your system. The memory component and the CPU are separate from your graphics card. The graphics card’s only function is to take the data and transform it into the images you see on your monitor.

As technology advances from year to year, we see CPUs getting smaller and smaller. And they are performing faster than ever before. You’ll understand this faster performance if you know a thing or two about Moore’s Law.

Moore’s Law takes its name from Intel co-founder Gordon Moore. It is Moore’s idea that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years.

It is not a law of physics or a law of natural science—it is due to the projected growth rate of the number of components per integrated circuit. For a full explanation of Moore’s Law, click here.


What Does the CPU Do?

As we said earlier, the CPU is the brain of your computer. It takes the data from a particular program or application, performs a series of calculations, and executes the command. It performs a three-part cycle otherwise referred to as the repetitive loop of fetch, decode, and execute.

In the first phase, the CPU fetches the instructions from your system’s memory. Once it has the instructions from the memory, it moves onto the second phase. It is within this second phase that it decodes those instructions.

Once the machine has decoded the instructions, it moves onto the third stage of execution.

The decoded info passes through the CPU to reach the units that need to actually perform the required function. In the decoding process, it performs mathematical equations to send the required signal to your system.

This cycle repeats over and over again for every action and command you perform. In cutting-edge CPU technology, the components of your CPU no longer do everything themselves.

But they are still crucial to feeding the specialized hardware numbers they need to perform the task at hand.

The CPU is a critical part of any system, and it works hand in hand with threads. Different CPUs have different amounts of thread to limit or expand the performance of your computer.


What Are Threads?

So what exactly are threads? How do they relate to your CPU? How do they affect the way your system performs? Let’s dig in a little bit deeper to explain exactly what threads are, what they do, and why they’re so important.

A thread is a small sequence of programmed instructions. Threads refer to the highest level of code your processor can execute.

They are usually managed by a scheduler, which is a standard part of any operating system.

To create a thread, you have to first create a process. Upon completion, the process creates a thread, which are then executed. This can be for a short or long period of time, depending on the process.

Regardless of how long it takes, this creates the appearance that your computer is doing many things at once.

Every process has at least one thread, but there is no maximum number of threads a process can use. For specialized tasks, the more threads you have, the better your computer’s performance will be. With multiple threads, a single process can handle a variety of tasks simultaneously.

You’ll also hear people use terms such as “multithreading” and “hyper-threading.” Hyper-threading technology allows a single CPU core to act as two cores, speeding up the execution of a particular program or application.

Even with one core, it can simulate the performance as if you actually have two. The more cores you have, the more threads you have. The more threads you have, the better the performance of your system will be.

If you have a dual-core CPU, hyper-threading will make it appear as though you have four. A quad-core CPU will simulate the results of eight cores. CPUs were originally built with one core.

But now, with more cores and processing units available, you can enjoy more threads than ever. More threads mean more performance and the ability to run many processes at once.


How Do Threads and CPUs work together?

To better understand what a thread is, it’s helpful to know how threads and CPUs work together. We say “thread” to simplify the idea, but in actuality, you should think of it as a “thread of execution.

You perform a command. Your CPU begins the fetch, decode, and execution process to achieve that command. The thread is the sequence of instructions that tell your computer what it has to do to perform that command.

CPUs execute the instruction stream that comes into the front end from the commands you perform. The CPUs and threads then work together to perform the functions you need.

They work in conjunction to open programs, use apps, play videos, and do whatever you ask your computer to do.

When it comes to CPUs and threads working side by side, it doesn’t matter where the instructions come from. Your processor will determine which process gets handled by the CPU and which gets handled by a thread.

Every time your processor loads a new thread, the original thread gets saved in the main memory. Once the original thread’s instructions get removed from the cycle, a new thread can begin. The new thread then embarks on the first step of the three-step fetch, decode, and execution process.


Which CPUs Have the Most Threads?

Now that you know a thing or two about threads, you’re most likely thinking “I want a faster CPU with more threads.” But how can you be sure you’re buying a CPU with enough threads to provide the power and performance you need?

We’ve compiled a list of several high-performing CPUs that are available on the market, plus a few that are set for release in 2018. To date, these CPUs offer some of the best performance and the most amount of threads.

Intel Core i9-7980XE Extreme

18 cores mean 36 threads, which makes the Intel Core i9-7980XE Extreme one of the fastest and most powerful processors on the market. It boasts a 24.74 MB cache, a 2.60 GHz clock speed, and 4.20 GHz max turbo frequency.

Intel Core i9-7960X

16 cores, 32 threads, and a max turbo frequency of 4.20 GHz make the Intel Core i9-7960X a favorite. With a 2.80 GHz clock speed and a 22 MB cache, it’s an excellent option if you’re looking for power and performance.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950x

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950x comes with 16 cores, this CPU boasts 32 threads, a boost clock of 4.0 GHz, and an L3 cache of 32 MB. Many users consider it to be more flexible than comparable CPUs with Intel Core i9.

Intel Core i9-7940X

With 14 cores and 28 threads, the Intel Core i9-7940X features a max turbo frequency of 4.30 GHz and a max clock speed of 3.10 GHz. It’s one of many powerful Intel Core i9 CPUs designed for excellent performance.

Intel Xeon Platinum Series

If you want the best processor and the most amount of threads, check out the Intel Xeon Platinum series. Intel CPUs are well-known as the best in the business, and for good reason.

The Platinum 8176, 8176F, and 8180 models boast 28 cores with 56 threads. The Platinum 8164 and 8170 feature 26 cores and 52 threads. If that’s more performance than you need, the Platinum 8160, 8168, 8160T, and 8160F boast a mere 24 cores with 48 threads.

The performance of the Intel Xeon promises to be impressive, but you’ll have to shell out some big bucks for these beasts. (The current listed price for the 8180 model is $8,999 on Amazon).


Average users usually don’t know much about threads, don’t care to know, and don’t spend the time to understand what they do or why they are important. And if you usually only run a single program on your computer, that’s completely fine. But if you want to know and understand exactly how your computer operates, understanding threads is key.

To understand threads, you have to first know what a CPU is and what a CPU does. You need some understanding of the fetch, decode, and execute cycle. But the most important thing to know is that threads affect how quickly and efficiently your computer can multiple instructions at the same time.

Within Windows, all threads are actively operated on for some period of time. Some CPUs have multiple threads with hyper-threading that mimic double the amount of CPU cores you actually have.

With many threads, even a single processor can perform a variety of tasks at the same time.

To have a functioning system, you need the right CPU and the right amount of threads. Together, they are crucial elements that allow your computer to function.

You need the CPU to power the other components and send instructions to the right elements of your computer. You need the threads to perform many functions at a time and allow your computer to run efficiently.

Without these two elements, you won’t see any performance at all.

If you want to make sure your CPU offers enough threads, do your research to know the difference and know what various CPUs are capable of. Compare costs, compare function, and compare performance.

Read reviews from actual users so you know what to expect from your CPU or any new CPU that you plan to buy.

Invest a bit of time doing research. Take the time to read reviews. Compare prices and function to know what you’re getting for your money.

If you do your homework, you’ll find a CPU with enough threads to provide the performance you need.

Read Article: The Best Gaming CPUs of 2018

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Explainer: What Are Processor Threads?

In the beginning, it was just one. Years went by before it became two, and then four. Now you can have 8, 12, 16, or more. Modern PCs have CPUs that can handle lots of threads, all at the same time, thanks to developments in chip design and manufacturing.

But what exactly are threads and why is it so important that CPUs can crunch through more than just one? In this article, we’ll answer these questions and more.

A stitch in time: What is a thread?

We can begin to delve into the world of processor threads by jumping straight in and answering the opening question: just what is a thread?

In the simplest of terms, a processor thread is the shortest sequence of instructions required to do a computing task. It might be a very short list, but it could also be enormous in length. What affects this is the process, what threads are part of (as illustrated below). ..

So now we have a new question to answer (i.e. what is a process?) but thankfully, that’s just as easy to tackle. If you’re running Windows on your computer, press the Windows key and X, and select Task Manager from the list that appears.

By default, it will open up on the Processes tab and you should see a long list of processes currently running on your machine. Some of these will be individual programs, running by themselves with no interaction from the user.

Others will be an application, that you can directly control, and some of those may generate additional background processes — tasks that work away behind the scenes, at the bidding of the main program.

If you switch over to the Performance tab, in the Task Manager, and then select the CPU section, you can see how many processes are currently on the go, along with the total number of active threads.

The Handles number refers to the number of File Handles flying about. Every time a process wants to access a file, be it in RAM or a storage drive, a file handle is created. Each one is unique to the process that created it, so one file can actually have lots of handles.

Returning to threads, Task Manager doesn’t tell you much about them — for example, the number of threads associated with each process isn’t shown. Fortunately, Microsoft has another program called Process Explorer to help us out.

Here we can see a far more detailed overview of the various processes and their threads.

Note how some programs generate relatively few instruction sequences (e.g. the Corsair iCUE plugin host just has one), whereas others run into the hundreds, such as the System process. There’s a little more to the information that explains matters in more detail, but we’ll return to looking at this later on.

Now, strictly speaking, it’s actually the operating system that generates the majority of these threads — the process itself usually just has the one, to start it all off. The OS then goes about the task of creating and managing them all by itself. But that software can’t actually process the instructions in the threads themselves; hardware is required for that job.

Enter the threaderizer, a.k.a. the CPU

The ultimate destination, for any thread, is the central processing unit (CPU). Well, not always, but we’ll come to that in a bit. This chip takes the list of instructions, translates them into a «language» it understands, and then carries out the prescribed tasks.

Deep in the bowels of the processor, dedicated hardware stores threads to analyze them, and then sort their instruction list in such a way to best suit what the processor is doing at the moment in time.

Credit: Fritzchens Fritz

Even the likes of Intel’s original Pentium, as shown above, thread instructions could be slightly reordered to maximize performance. Today’s CPUs contain extremely complex thread management tools, not just because of the sheer number that they have to juggle, but also to calculate the future.

Branch prediction has been around for a long time now, and it’s an essential part of a CPU’s armory. If a thread contains a sequence of ‘If…then…else‘ instructions, the prediction circuitry estimates what’s the most likely outcome.

The answer from this guesstimate then makes the CPU rummage about in its instruction store and then execute the ones that the logic decision requires.

If the prediction was correct, then a notable amount of time is saved from having to wait for the whole thread to be processed. If not, then that’s not so good — this is why CPU designers work hard on their branch predictors!

Even servers in the 90s only managed one thread per CPU. Credit: The CPU Shack

Central processors from the 1990s, whether in desktop or server form, just had one core, so could only work on one thread at a time, although they could do several instructions simultaneously (known as being superscalar).

Servers and top-end workstations have to deal with a huge number of threads, and machines of the Pentium era usually had two CPUs to help with the workload. However, the idea that a processor could handle several threads at the same time had been around for a good while.

For decades, various projects came and went, exploring the possibility of a processor working on multiple threads at once, but these implementations were still only executing the instructions from one thread at any one time.

The idea of a CPU crunching more than one thread instruction in its core, aka simultaneous multithreading (SMT), would have to wait until the capabilities of the hardware caught up.

Intel’s Northwood architecture brought SMT to the masses. Credit: Fritzchens Fritz

This was achieved by 2002, when Intel launched a new version of the Pentium 4 processor. It was the first desktop CPU to be fully SMT-capable, with the feature coming under the moniker of Intel Hyper-Threading technology.

One potato, two potatoes…

So how exactly does a single core in a CPU work on two threads at the same time?

Think of a CPU as being a complex factory, with multiple stages to it — fetching and then organizing its raw materials (i. e. data), then sorting out its orders (threads), by breaking them down into lots of smaller tasks.

Just like a high-volume car production line will work on various parts, one or two at a time, a CPU needs to do various tasks in a set sequence in order to complete a given set of instructions.

Better known as a pipeline, the different stages won’t always be busy; some have to wait for a while until the previous steps are completed.

This is where SMT comes into play. Hardware dedicated to keeping track of the status of every part in a pipeline is used to determine if a different thread could utilize idle stages, without stalling the thread currently being worked on.

The fact that desktop CPUs became multi-threaded long before they became multi-core shows that SMT is far easier to implement. In the case of Intel’s Northwood architecture, less than 5% of the total die was involved in managing the two threads.

CPU cores that are SMT-capable are organized in such a way that, to the operating system, they appear as separate logical cores. Physically, they’re sharing much of the same resources, but they act independently.

Desktop CPUs only ever handle two threads per CPU core at most, because their pipelines are relatively short and simple, and analysis by designers would have shown that two is the optimal limit.

IBM’s Power10 CPU — up to 15 cores, 8-way SMT

At the opposite end of the spectrum, huge server processors, such as Intel’s old Xeon Phi chips or IBM’s latest POWER processors handle 4 and 8 threads per core, respectively. That’s because their cores contain a lot of pipelines, with shared resources.

These different approaches to CPU design come about because of the very different workloads the chips have to deal with.

Central processors aren’t the only chips in a computer that have to deal with lots of threads. There’s one chip, with a very specific role, that deals with thousands of threads, all at the same time.

All your threads are belong to us

When it comes to boasting excessive numbers, GPUs have CPUs absolutely beaten. They’re physically bigger, have way more transistors, use more power, and process vastly more threads than any server CPU could aim for.

Let’s take AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 graphics card, sporting the Navi 21 chip, as an example. That processor comprises 60 Compute Units (CU), with each one being to crunch up 64 separate threads at any one time, simultaneously.

AMD’s thread-munching Navi 21 GPU

That’s 3,840 threads on the go!

So how does a GPU handle so many more than a central processor?

Each CU has two sets of SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) units and each one of those can work on 32 separate data elements at the same time. They can all be from different threads but the catch is, the unit has to be doing the exact same instruction in each thread.

This is the key difference to a CPU — where a desktop processor core will only be handling no more than two threads, the instructions can be totally different, from entirely unrelated processes.

GPUs are designed to carry out the same operations over and over, usually from similar processes (technically they’re known as kernels, but we’ll leave that aside), but all massively in parallel.

Just as with the IBM POWER10, a CPU that’s only for enterprise servers, graphics processing chip are built to do a very specialized task.

Today’s biggest games, with their complex 3D images, require an incredible amount of math to be processed, all in just a few milliseconds. And that requires threads — lots of them!

Threads! Lights! Action!

If you take a look at any of our CPU reviews, you’ll nearly always see two results from Cinebench, a benchmark that carries a challenging CPU-based rendering task.

One result is for the test using just one thread, whereas the other will use as many threads as the CPU can handle in total. The results from the latter are always far faster than the single-threaded test. Why is this the case?

Cinebench is rendering 3D graphics, just like in a game, albeit a single highly-detailed frame. And if you remember how GPUs do lots of threads in parallel to create 3D graphics, it becomes obvious why CPUs with lots of cores, especially with SMT, do the workload so quickly.

Unfortunately adding more cores just makes the processor larger and therefore more expensive, so it might seem like SMT is always going to be a good thing to have. However, it depends very much on the situation.

For example, when we tested AMD’s Ryzen 9 3950X (a 12-core, 24-thread CPU) across 36 different games, with and without SMT enabled, the results were very broad. Some titles gained as much as 16% more performance with SMT enabled, whereas others lost as much as 12%.

The mean difference, though, was only 1% so it’s certainly not the case that SMT should always be disabled when gaming, but it does raise a few more questions.

The first of which is, why would a game run 12% slower when the CPU cores are handling two threads simultaneously? The key phrase here is «resource contention. «

If a program is making a lot of demands on the CPU’s memory system (cache, bandwidth, and RAM), having two threads on a core requesting access to the memory can induce a thread to stall, while it has to wait.

The more threads a CPU can handle, the more important the cache system in the processor becomes. This becomes evident when examining CPUs that have a fixed L3 cache size, no matter how many cores are activated.

The more cores and threads a chip has, the greater the number of cache requests the system will have to deal with. And this brings us nicely to the next question: is this why games don’t use lots of threads?

Why games don’t use lots of threads?

Let’s go back to Process Explorer and check out a few titles, namely Cyberpunk 2077, Spider-Man Remastered, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. All three were developed for PC and console, so you’d expect them to be using somewhere between 4 and 8 threads.

At first glance, games certainly do use lots of threads!

It also seems like this can’t possibly be correct, as the CPU used in the computer running the games only supports 8 threads maximum.

But if we delve deeper into the process threads, we get a much clearer picture. Let’s look at Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Below we can see that the vast majority of these threads take up almost none of the CPU’s runtime (second column, displayed in seconds). Although the process and OS have generated over a hundred threads, most run too briefly to even register.

The Cycles Delta count is the total number of CPU cycles accrued by the thread in the process, and in the case of this game, it’s dominated by just two threads. That said, others are still making use of all the available CPU cores.

It might seem like the number of cycles is a ridiculous number, but if the processor has a clock rate of, say, 4.5 GHz, then one cycle takes just 0.22 nanoseconds. So 1.3 billion cycles only equate to a little under 300 milliseconds.

Not all games do it like this, of course, and the older the title, the fewer the number of threads. If we look at the original Call of Duty, from 2003, we see a very different picture.

Games from this era were all like this — just one primary thread for everything. This is because CPUs back then just had one core and relatively few of them supported SMT.

Where the Call of Duty process and operating generates one thread to do almost everything, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is properly simultaneously multi-threaded (as many as the CPU supports).

Initially, hardware outpaced software when it came to fully utilizing all of the cores (with or without SMT) on offer and we had to wait quite some years before games were thoroughly multi-threaded.

Now that the latest consoles have an 8-core CPU that is 2-way SMT capable, future titles will certainly get busier with threads.

The future will be very thready

Right now, funds and availability aside, you can get a desktop PC that has a CPU capable of handling 32 threads (AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X) and a GPU that can chomp through 4,096 (Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090).

This hardware is, of course, right at the cutting edge of technology, cost, and power and certainly isn’t representative of what most computers have to offer. But around 10 years ago, it was a very different picture.

The best CPUs were supporting 8 threads via SMT but the average PC typically had to get by with about 4 threads. Now, you can sub-$100 budget CPUs that handle the same as the best chips from a decade ago.

4 cores, 8 threads, below $100

We can thank AMD for this, as they were the first to offer lots of cores/threads at an affordable price, and today both CPU vendors routinely battle over who can offer the most cores/threads per dollar.

And we’re finally at a stage where recent and new games are taking full advantage of all the thread-crunching power that’s available to them, when they’re not being limited by the GPU.

So what’s next? If we could fast forward a decade into the future, will we see the average PC gamer using a 128-thread CPU? Possibly, but unlikely, simply because there are diminishing returns as the core count increases. However, professional content creators are already using such processors (e. g. Threadripper Pro 5995WX) so it’s anybody’s guess as to what they’ll be using circa 2032.

But whatever the future holds, one will remain true: threads are awesome little things!

Keep Reading. Explainers at TechSpot
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Masthead credit: Ryan

Processor: threads or cores

There are quite a few processors on the market for computer components that have more threads than the number of physical cores. In some tasks, these «virtual cores» can give a significant performance boost, in others they are practically useless.

Multi-core and hyper-threading

The core is a physically isolated computing unit of the processor capable of executing one sequence of instructions at a time. If there is only one core, but several sequences need to be executed, it quickly switches between them, executing tasks in turn. nine0003

Thread (applied to the processor), or virtual core — the result of the implementation of calculations, in which one physical core is able to programmatically share its performance and work on several instruction sequences simultaneously. In simple terms, the CPU pretends to the operating system and programs that it has more cores than it actually has. You can verify this by opening the device manager or another program for monitoring components. nine0003

Hyper-threading allows you to parallelize calculations more efficiently — if one virtual core has completed work on its task and is in standby mode, its resources can be used by another. In cases where hyperthreading is not supported, these resources are idle. Thus, support for virtual cores can speed up some tasks, although, of course, it is not as good as having additional physical cores, and do not expect a doubling of performance. nine0003

Illustration of the concept of threads/virtual cores:

Consider the following simplified example: if a dual-core processor with two threads is running four instruction sequences at the same time, and the performance of one core for one sequence is excessive, then the overall performance will be lower than if there was a two-core variant in place of such a processor, but with four threads, because switching between tasks takes extra time, and some resources are sometimes idle. But if the computing resources of one thread are not enough to execute one sequence, then virtual cores will hardly help — additional physical ones are needed. nine0003

Load Paralleling Technology Intel Hyper- Threading

A bit of history

Once upon a time, processors were single-core and single-threaded. If it was required to effectively parallelize calculations (in the server segment, workstations), motherboards with several processor sockets were used. Accordingly, the motherboard needed the ability to connect all processors with other components (for example, RAM). Compared to the current implementation, there were additional delays and increased energy costs. nine0003

The development of the architecture began with hyperthreading, and later manufacturers began to place several physical cores on one chip. Now, both major PC CPU manufacturers (Intel and AMD) are releasing models with two or more physical cores, both with and without virtual core support.

Threads or cores?

The central processing unit is one of the key components of the system that affects its performance in target tasks, as well as the ease of use of the computer. Often, users who want to assemble a system have a question: what to focus on when choosing a CPU? Is it worth paying extra for extra threads/virtual cores? nine0003

The answer depends on the intended use cases. In most games, the performance gain from hyperthreading will be minimal or even zero, but the addition of physical cores will have a clearly positive effect on frame rates. Of course, if the game engine is able to parallelize calculations on such a number of cores. Many games released in previous years are only able to work with 2-4 cores — the rest will be idle or occupied by background programs. nine0003

Virtual cores are most beneficial for workloads subject to efficient parallelization. These include, for example, file archiving, photo processing, video rendering, modeling. Thus, the usefulness of additional streams for a computer that will be used primarily for games or media is questionable. However, if other tasks are performed in parallel with games, such as streaming, recording / processing video, downloading / distributing files using a torrent client, anti-virus scanning, it increases. In situations like this, virtual cores help take the background load off physical cores. nine0003

However, it’s still not worth waiting for a multiple increase in computing power, and for typical home use cases, overpaying for virtual cores will often be unjustified. Another thing is that if a computer is used for professional activities, and programs that work well with hyperthreading are used, the performance gain with proper optimization can be tens of percent.

To summarize: if we are talking about a home gaming or multimedia computer, you should not expect miracles from virtual cores, and if you have to pay a tangible amount for them, it is better to consider the option with additional physical ones, or invest in other components. If the system will be used for work, the increase can be significant, so you should familiarize yourself with the tests of hyper-threaded CPUs for a specific type of task. nine0003

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Date: 01/26/2019
Author/Translator: Zio

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    How many cores and threads are in your processor — how to check

    The number of cores and threads in your processor depends on several different factors, including its make, model, and generation. Both numbers are constantly on the rise for both AMD and Intel chips, with new generation processors typically having more physical cores than their older counterparts. nine0003

    If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how many cores and threads your particular processor has and is it powerful enough for what you do every day .

    Before we dive into the whole of this topic, we first need to cover the basics!

    What are processor cores and threads

    There is a huge difference when it comes to cores and threads, and yet they are both incredibly important.

    • CPU core is physical component of a processor that is used to perform various computing tasks and workloads.
    • A CPU thread is a virtual component that helps CPUs handle workloads more efficiently.

    To put it as briefly as possible:

    CPU cores are physical cores; The CPU threads are logical cores that are approximately 50% more efficient than their physical counterparts. nine0003

    You can think of CPU cores as the human stomach that digests everything, and threads as the hands that orchestrate the workflow, cut big chunks, and create an efficient workflow for eating food.

    An explanation of multithreading and hyperthreading

    We all know that the processor is the brain of the entire system ; thus, CPUs with more cores and threads are faster because they can organize and execute multiple tasks at the same time and at a faster pace. nine0003

    You’ve probably also heard of hyperthreading and multithreading. Although they may sound similar to , they are actually two completely different things .

    Hyperthreading was originally developed by Intel, and it effectively tricks operating systems into thinking there are additional separate cores.

    So if you have a dual-core Intel processor with Hyper-Threading enabled, your OS will see it as a processor with two physical and by four logical cores. Without hyperthreading, the number of logical cores would be halved.

    Simultaneous multithreading (commonly referred to as SMT) is an AMD technology that works in a similar but not as efficient way.

    How to check how many cores and threads your processor has

    There are several ways to check how many cores and threads your particular processor has: it from the list, or by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc. nine0003

    Click the Details button in the lower left corner (if you haven’t clicked before) and select the Performance tab .

    Once there, click on the CPU tab on the left. You’ll be presented with a ton of information, including the number of (physical) cores and logical processors.

    Here we see performance statistics for the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X. This particular processor has 8 physical cores and 16 logical processors, which means that it supports SMT technology. nine0003

    However, not all CPUs will have 2 threads per core, and there are also things like P- and E-cores in the same CPU, which means some cores are hyper-threaded and some are not.

    Processor Specifications

    If you don’t have access to your PC right now and want to know how many cores and threads you have, you can always find the answer with a quick internet search, if you know your processor model. nine0003

    If you know your processor model, it will take about a minute to find its specification!

    For example, here is the official specification for the aforementioned AMD Ryzen 7 1800X. It includes all information available from Task Manager and some other data .

    System information in Windows

    If you are a Windows user, you can also find out how many cores and threads your CPU has by opening System Information. This nifty little app will give you everything you’re looking for! nine0003

    This will also give you a brief description of your system, including your motherboard model, amount of RAM, total virtual memory, BIOS version, and so on.

    Just type «sysinfo» or «system information» into the Windows search bar to run it.

    Third party software

    Last but not least, you can check the number of cores and threads using third party software .

    CPU-Z is a great example; it does the same thing as System Information but in a more visually appealing way (and it’s also free).

    CPU-Z also provides information about the processor’s maximum TDP (thermal design power), clock speed and cache information, core voltage, and more.

    Output — CPU cores and threads

    To summarize: CPU cores are the physical components of your processor. nine0009 CPU threads , on the other hand, is the number of logic processing cores, or in other words, the number of processes that can be processed by the CPU cores.

    As for how many processor cores and threads you should have, it all depends on your workload.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How can I check the number of cores and threads of a processor?

    There are four easy ways to check how many cores and threads your processor has:

    • Via system information
    • Via Windows Task Manager
    • With third party software such as CPU-Z
    • By checking the official specification of your
    • processor

    How many cores do you need to run a PC?

    It depends on your workload.