Turning on inactive CPU cores in Windows is an extra boost. Why is one core running? Turning off the number of Intel processor cores
One of the most interesting new technologies implemented in Intel and AMD processors is turbo mode. It allows you to increase the processor multiplier and thus increase the clock speed. And this will increase productivity. Processor with a large number cores require more energy. This is due to an increase in heat transfer. As a result, systems with a large number of cores often sync faster than dual-core or single-core systems, forcing Windows 10 owners to consider enabling all cores.
Increasing CPU power in Windows.
Overclocking is a good and most obvious way to increase the frequency of AMD and Intel processors. But the processing power of some AMD chips can be increased, and many other things will work in completely new ways. AMD is the only manufacturer whose systems are sold with some inactive cores. If you can unlock them, you will get extra power for free. This is especially true for single-core processors, as well as some dual-core processors (that is, three or two cores are active, one or two are inactive). Some simple calculations show that unlocking the fourth core in a tri-core processor increases its performance by a full third - so the game is definitely worth the candle.
The ability to unlock dormant cores was of interest to computer users several years ago, but back then it required a lot more effort and luck than it does today. First of all, the user had to buy one of the few specific boards with the SB750 southbridge, and then find a processor in the store that would be able to work after unlocking the kernel. Unlike tests and experiments, this could not be verified - if one was lucky, they would get one third of the power for free, but equally all the effort could be wasted.
Some motherboards offer a special switch or button to unlock inactive cores without having to visit the BIOS. Now it's much easier. Manufacturers took the liberty and began to use an unlocking function on their motherboards when not all cores are working. It is offered by most new ASUS boards(Core Unlocker), Gigabyte (Auto Unlock), MSI (Unlock CPU Core) and Foxconn (Core Release).
To unlock a dormant kernel, install the processor and then start your computer. After entering the BIOS, find the desired function and activate it. If possible, it's better to manually activate all cores rather than rely on automatic settings. After rebooting the computer, all cores should be active. In the case of some boards, the procedure is even simpler - they have buttons that allow you to launch inactive kernels without entering the BIOS.
Introduction to the topic
Initially, this function did not always work well (or not at all), but modern manufacturers have long ago eliminated all the problems. There is no negative effect, i.e. an increase in energy consumption under load and, therefore, an increase in heat transfer is conventional system cooling for the processor. The only thing that can happen is a slight decrease in the system's susceptibility to overclocking. You should not increase the load and power supply of the system cores.
Modern processors have enormous computing power. Such indicators are achieved not so much by the processor architecture, but by the number of cores and their frequency. Single-core systems will not perform more complex tasks. First, dual-core processors appeared, later - quad-core, and in lately The number of processor cores reaches up to 10. They are offered by both AMD and Intel, with the former company also selling very popular tri-core processors.
Initially, the creation of tri-core systems was a manifestation of AMD's amazing cunning. Often one of the cores of quad-core processors was damaged. Since the other three worked well, processors appeared on the market with one core locked and broken. Because of this Windows users 7 and started trying to start all the processor cores.
In theory this is not a problem. However, as in life, theory and practice do not necessarily follow the same path. The problem lies in the design of the software. Many applications simply cannot use multithreading. They have been adapted for optimal performance in one, and sometimes in two threads, and, therefore, all the “supernumerary” cores remain unused. What's worse is that in this situation, a much cheaper processor with faster cores can deliver better performance than a multi-core daemon while being somewhat clock-locked. This is not the end of defects. Cores that are not used consume as much power as is being used at any given time.
Thus, we have a similar situation as in the case of traffic jams. You might even have a Ferrari with a 500 horsepower engine, but you're not using that power and the fuel is disappearing from the tank at an alarming rate and you're driving slower than the Fiat in the next lane.
Switching methods
The solution to all these problems is turbo mode, which is associated with a system for turning off or limiting the speed of the remaining cores. The core clock frequency of a modern processor is the base value (in the case of Intel processors - 133.3 MHz, AMD - 200 MHz), multiplied by the corresponding number assigned to this model. For example, the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T runs at 2800 MHz (200 MHz x 14) and Intel Core i7 870 2933 MHz (133.3 MHz x 22). The number by which we multiply the output value is the multiplier. AMD has long recognized that when you don't need the processor's full power, the multiplier can be reduced, and therefore power consumption and heat dissipation are reduced. Turbo mode- this is the reverse procedure - if you need more power, the multiplier and operating frequency increase. However, this is not easy to do.
Simply increasing the multiplier will result in the processor exceeding its maximum thermal projection power value. Without going into detail (AMD and Intel define this parameter completely differently), it can be defined as the amount of heat emitted by the processor, so exceeding it can lead to overheating and damage the system. The simplest protection that manufacturers use disables turbo mode after exceeding the maximum multiplier value.
To avoid this, a procedure is used, the theoretical basis of which we explained at the beginning of the article: the multiplier is increased more strongly only in the cores that perform calculations, while the rest are disabled or greatly slowed down. As a result, an application that does not need to use all the cores can run much more efficiently, the processor will not use more power, the thermal dissipation value will not be exceeded, and the cooling system will work without problems. The first was Intel, which introduced Turbo Boost technology in its Core processors i7 900 on LGA 1366. Turbo mode worked quite simply in them, increasing the multiplier of all cores, limited to the maximum TDP value.
The Core i7 800 and Core i5 600 use turbo mode extremely smoothly, but the latest Intel laptop processors are even better in this regard. They used Turbo Boost technology in the master version. As you know they have an integrated graphics card and the Turbo Boost technology enables both the systems i.e. CPU and GPU. The sheer scale of clock processors in laptop versions, often up to several tens of percent, is impressive, but Intel has gone further. In case of intensive use graphics system its operating frequency can also be increased, as a result of which the operating frequency of the cores becomes limited so as not to exceed the maximum TDP value. The processor works perfectly and harmoniously, taking into account not only the need for computing power cores, but also an integrated graphics layout. The latest Intel processors perform better because when the core multiplier is increased, the inactive cores are completely disabled.
AMD Processors with Turbo Core
AMD has delayed its response to Intel's revolutionary idea. Turbo mode in the processors of this company was expected only with the release of the latest six-core Phenom II. The technology is called Turbo Core and is very different from what Intel proposed. While Intel processors turn turbo mode on and off depending on thermal conditions, AMD processors enter turbo mode when at least three of the six cores are not performing any tasks. The frequency of the others in this case can be increased by a maximum of 500 MHz. This guarantees effective work, and also does not exceed the maximum TDP value. AMD makes overclocking extremely easy with an unlocked multiplier and system-level control of all cores using the OverDrive app.
We looked at how much Turbo Boost performance can be realized in practice by testing an Intel Core i5-750 processor. The results show that overclocking is accelerated primarily by applications that load one or two cores, for example, Apple iTunes converts songs from CDs to MP3 16% faster and Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) movies to an iPod-compatible format (640 x 352 pixels) 14% faster. The speed of creating frames in 3D "Resident Evil 5" increased after applying Turbo technology Boost by 11%.
The performance test in the PC Mark Vantage benchmark simulates an office environment with multiple applications. Starts text editor, Internet Explorer opens several sites at the same time, and Windows Defender checks the system in background, looks for spyware. Turbo Boost speeded up this test by 6%.
The increase in power consumption after turning on Turbo Boost technology is shown in Cinebench using the 3D design application in Maxon Cinema 4D. When only one core is loaded, its performance increases by 20% and power consumption by 8%. The more cores are used, the less favorable the ratio of performance gains to power consumption. Once all cores are loaded, the efficiency and power consumption increases by 6% for each.
How to enable Turbo Boost
Turbo Boost technology is included in the BIOS setup menu, it is obvious that the manufacturer motherboard provided it with the appropriate function. Information about the menu where you should look for it (in some cases called Turbo Mode) is contained in the motherboard manual. These are mainly Advanced, Advanced CPU Features, Performance or special ones, such as AI Tweaker or MIT, which collect functions related to overclocking hardware. The combined performance boost of Turbo Boost technology comes standard software Mark Vantage and performance gains in 3D Mark Vantage. You can charge individual processor cores with Cinebench.
Risk of failure
Even today there is no complete confidence in the success of the operation. You can always find a processor where the locked cores will be damaged. This manifests itself in different ways, the most obvious being the lack of ability to unlock the kernel. It may also happen that the kernel starts working, but the system will be very unstable, or the instability may be detected only after long work at high load. Of course, it's always worth checking it out by running as many different tests as possible.
Buying a triple-core processor in combination with hard drive, video card and other components, taking into account the risk of unlocking, usually makes little or no sense. But the cheaper the board and processor, the more interested its owner will be in purchasing additional computing power for free. Thus, the core unlock feature can be a big advantage of cheap motherboards.
Some of the cores of a multi-core processor may be disabled by the processor manufacturer, not detected by the operating system during installation, or parked by it to save power. And also simply not to be used by the program. Modern multi-core processors have high power consumption. It can be reduced by temporarily disabling one or more cores by the computer's operating system when the load on the processor is very low and there is no need for their operation. This is called core parking, the settings of which are hidden by default from the Control Panel of Windows 7. You can determine that cores are parked using the Resource Monitor, which is launched from the Task Manager. Under each graph of a parked core on the “CPU” tab there is a “Stopped” inscription. If you see such an inscription, it means that the core parking settings are activated on your computer. If for some reason they bother you, you can disable them in the Processor Power Management section of the advanced settings of your current power plan. To do this, set the value of the “Minimum number of cores in idle state” parameter to 100%. Some multi-core processors have only one core running, or not all of them, because the rest are disabled by the processor manufacturer. Such processors may have a defect in one or more cores that prevents them from functioning properly. To avoid completely discarding the entire chip, the manufacturer disables the defective core and sells the chip as a processor with fewer cores. This approach was used, for example, for two-three-core AMD Phenom II X2-3 and three-core Athlon-II-X3 processors, in which the 3rd and 4th core can be unlocked using the Advanced Clock Calibration utility or with using BIOS some motherboards. But unlocked kernels must be thoroughly tested for stability and if errors occur, they will have to be disabled again. Otherwise, serious malfunctions will occur in the computer. Only one core can work if the operating system incorrectly identified the processor as single-core during installation. The number of cores in some cases was erroneously determined by the first versions of operating systems in which their support was enabled. These are operating systems such as Windows XP with Service Pack 2. Such versions of operating systems are considered outdated. The most in a simple way to make the second core work in this case is to install operating system more modern version. Multi-core processors appeared relatively recently. The first dual-core processors from Intel and AMD appeared in the spring of 2005. Programs that were released up to this point are not designed to work with multi-core processors. During operation, they use only one core. Likewise, some are very simple programs also do not use more than one core.
Sometimes there is a need to carry out certain actions on your computer, but a huge number of questions arise. One of them: how to disable the processor. The main thing to remember is that you need to be very attentive and careful. It is in solving such issues that the proverb is very appropriate: “Measure twice, cut once.”
Removing the processor
A person who wants to do some manipulations with a computer must have at least a basic understanding of the internal structure of a computer. Before you begin, you need to study the specifications of your particular car model from the documentation or pull it from the Internet.
After studying the documentation, you can move on to the next step. Turn off the computer from the power supply, disconnect all the wires and only then unscrew and remove the cover from the left side system unit. We find the motherboard - the largest in size, which is located on the opposite side from the cover we removed. Directly on it there will be a protruding part in the shape of a square, on which the brand of the processor should be written. In most cases, the processor itself goes along with the cooler, located under it on the motherboard. They film together.
The next step will require extreme caution on your part. First, remove the clamps and very carefully remove the entire square-shaped part. We take out the processor itself even more carefully, under no circumstances touching its legs, do not drop it, and take all possible measures to prevent dirt or any liquid from getting on the processor. This may permanently damage your processor and further work you'll have to buy a new one.
The processor is disabled. Then carry out the actions you need. If you decide to replace it with a new one, then do all the work in reverse order. Be careful and careful while doing everything step by step. Before installation, you can clean the cooler from dirt, but do not overdo it. Don't forget to secure it with clamps after installation.
How to disable processor cores
- V command line type msconfig;
- in the “System Configuration” window, go to the Boot/Advanced boot options/ tab and indicate the number of processors (working);
- save the changes and reboot the computer.
Loading of processor cores
- V multi-core processors the operating system itself distributes threads between cores, i.e. they load approximately evenly. The operation of such processors often leads to increased power consumption and decreased performance;
- to solve this problem, the “ideal kernel” feature was introduced in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, which allows you to leave the execution of the process on one core;
- You can view the load on processor cores by calling the “Task Manager” (Crtl+Shift+Del) on the “Performance” tab;
- To optimize the loading of processor cores, go to the “Control Panel” to Power Options/Setting the power plan/Change additional power settings/Processor power management and activate the functions: minimum number cores in idle state; resolve states of nutritional depletion; disabling processor idle; kernel redefinition; suspending the kernel.
How to disable an unnecessary kernel?
Master's answer:
Often, in order to work in any application, it is necessary to disable an extra processor core, since the application is simply not able to properly use several cores at the same time. This method is also used to check each core separately. However, if the Windows XP operating system was used when disconnecting, there is no guarantee that you will be able to connect it back.
What to do? Let's consider this issue in detail.
So, we need a disk with Windows 7 and a little experience as a personal computer user.
First you need to make sure that only one core is running. To do this, you need to launch the task manager by pressing the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Delete. So, in the window that opens, we go to the tab responsible for performance. Find the top graph and see if it is split into two or more parts. If yes, then the cores were not disabled.
If the cores were disabled using any special program, then try it and return the disabled kernels back. This may not work on Windows XP due to the specific features of the operating system itself.
If you still have not been able to enable the kernel, then reinstall your system to Windows 7. Before installing a new operating system, it is recommended to save all important data, such as passwords, logins, etc., to some media that is independent of the computer and system reinstallation . For example, on a flash drive or other available one. Next, you should boot your computer directly from installation disk, selecting the disk drive as the device from which your personal computer will boot.
Next, you should install the operating system itself. Various options available. You can install it as a replacement for the old one, or additionally as a second one. In this case, you will be able to work in both the old and the new one at the same time. installed system. Moreover, if you install Windows 7 as an additional system, then it will be unnecessary to format local disk, while saving all user files.
After new system installed, all settings should return to the original ones, that is, all disabled kernels should work. If this does not happen, then you can go into the BIOS when booting, find the CPU section there by moving the arrow keys. In this section, look at the status of all options related to the operation of kernels and if any of them are disabled, try to enable them. You can also check the operation of the kernels using the device manager.
In 2005, Intel released the first 2-core CPU for personal computers– Intel Pentium D laying the foundation for multi-core computing for home programs and applications. Modern CPUs have a larger number of cores and computational threads compared to back in 2005. For example, the Intel Core i7-8700 has 6 cores and 12 computing threads. In this article we will tell you how to enable all processor cores on Windows 10.
Run all Windows 10 processor cores
By default, Windows systems use all the CPU power to achieve the best performance. But if a computer malfunctions or is exposed to viruses, the number of working threads may differ from the maximum.
First, let's check the CPU for "multi-core".
Open Device Manager (Win+X) and expand the Processors list.
If you do not have a multiprocessor system (when the motherboard allows the use of more than one CPU, found in the server segment of computers), the number of all processing cores of the processor (both physical and logical threads) will be displayed.
You can also check the specifications of your CPU on the manufacturer's website - Intel or AMD.
You can also check the quantity through the editor Windows registry. Open the registry editor (regedit) and follow the path:
HKLM\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor
This thread will contain information about the version, model, revision, frequency and other parameters of the CPU.
You can configure the number of cores on Windows 10 in the System Configuration settings. To do this, open the Run window (Win+R) and enter the msconfig command.
A window for setting up memory and processor cores will appear in front of us.
By default, all checkboxes should be unchecked (the number of cores is indicated as 1) and these parameters are inactive. To activate all cores Windows processor 10, check the “Number of processors” checkbox and in the drop-down menu, select the maximum available number (in our case it is 8).
Click OK and reboot to make changes to the system.
You can enable the second Windows 10 processor core in the same way by setting the value to 2 or unchecking the “Number of processors” box, in which case the number will be determined based on UEFI (BIOS) data.
Connect all Windows 10 processor cores via UEFI
You can change the number of cores not only in the system parameters; the UEFI (BIOS) of the motherboard can also help with this.
Depending on the CPU parameters and motherboard manufacturer, the settings may vary significantly. Motherboards above the budget level allow you to fine-tune the operation of internal system processes, from the speed of coolers to overclocking the CPU and memory.
Using the Asrock Z68 motherboard as an example, Advanced settings(Advanced) – CPU Configuration will allow you to configure the number of active cores and enable/disable Hyper-Threading and set the desired settings for the CPU.
Hyper-Threading is Intel's multi-threading technology. Allows you to use 2 logical computation threads on one physical core. On four – 8 threads, etc.
Setting Active Processor Cores is responsible for the number of active CPU cores. In the image, the choice is between All, 1, 2 and 3, since the i7 -2600 is quad-core.
By selecting All, you can use all processor cores.
If you are wondering how to enable 2 or 4 cores on Windows 10 using UEFI, then additional settings The CPU can be configured not only the number of cores, but also the number of threads.
It is worth noting that the functionality depends on the manufacturer of the BIOS version.
Unlock kernels for applications
It is worth noting that applications are created based on tools provided by Microsoft. Therefore, the application is created with the necessary conditions for using multi-threading or a single core. If the application is created taking into account the use of one core, by unlocking them all, you will not notice a difference in performance.
But there are different cases, where unlocking them helped eliminate some performance and lag issues. To do this, open the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and go to the Details tab. Among a large number of applications, find the one you need and right-click. Then, select set similarity and in the next window select "All processors".
How to disable CPU core in Windows 10?
Using all the methods described above, you can disable CPU cores. This may help you in case of overheating, but only in extreme cases. We do not recommend disabling or enabling kernels unless necessary, otherwise you may encounter multiple errors and BSODs of the system.
How to unlock cores on AMD processors?
CPUs of the Phenom II, Athlon X2, Athlon II, Sempron families have hidden potential in the form of locked cores. The essence hidden cores consists in rejecting CPUs with a large number of them (indicators do not fit into the standard ones, errors, overheating, etc.). For example, you buy a 2-core CPU, which physically has 4 of them, but they are not active.
Unlocking and activation depends on several factors, such as the desired CPU model, chipset or northbridge of the motherboard. You will find the most detailed information on this topic on the overclockers forum forums.overclockers.ru. There is a lot of information provided there, and if you have questions or difficulties, you can clarify it immediately on the forum.
Have a great day!