multicore native settings

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I'm just curious, does windows 8 natively have a multi-core processor enabled. Where as in windows 7 you have to enable the rest of your CPU cores.
 

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You'll need to rephrase that again... Even Win 2000, XP has multicore support, are you referring to the boot options?

In that case this is default in Win8 RP:
boot.png
Looks just like in Win7.
This doesn't mean it's single-core boot when you see that "1" because it's grayed out and that means it's system managed. That means it can be multi-core boot or maybe not, you'll never know. You can set it manually to more cores BUT that doesn't add any noticeable improvements which means that system managed settings are already optimal.

Cheers
Hopachi
 

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Yes...that's right....that's what I was asking. So it's the same in all windows version? Now I have a friend that has an AMD 6 core and dual booting and he say's that windows 7 and windows 8 both pick up all six cores...he doesn't have to go Boot Advanced options and reset it to 6 cores it all ready list's it as using all 6 cores.

Which is why I asked the question in the first place. I'm wondering if it's some sort of legacy thing with older 2, 3 and 4 cores with AMD as well with Intel CPU's.
 

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You can test it out.
In the task manager - performance, right click the cpu graph and select "change graph to logical processors" It will show you that you are using all, wether you selected them or not in MS config.
 

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Thanks for the tip Dave. Didn't found that by myself yet.

@bassfisher6522
It's possible that only newer cpu's are recognized by that mode. In my previous picture it's an older intel core2 duo and it's grayed out.
My first generation i5 is also grayed out. I don't have newer ones an also no AMD's to confirm the facts, but what you say seems possible.

If all cores are turned on by default you can leave it like that, it's better. The system probably uses some enhanced boot that requires more cpu power (is the system using UEFI and/or SSD drives? then the 6 cores turned on seems logic here) and you boot faster.

In my case, where the cores are grayed out, I'm on IDE HDD's on one machine and on sata hdd's on the other, no UEFI, no SSD's:
if I turn all cores on in that menu, there is no speed gain, so I leave that thing the default way.​
 
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Windows XP was actually the last version of Windows to actually contain a uniproc kernel - all kernels in Vista and higher are multiproc (even if you only have one CPU), and if you have to force your Vista or higher machine to "see" additional cores, you have a BIOS issue, not a Windows one ;).
 

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Windows XP was actually the last version of Windows to actually contain a uniproc kernel - all kernels in Vista and higher are multiproc (even if you only have one CPU), and if you have to force your Vista or higher machine to "see" additional cores, you have a BIOS issue, not a Windows one ;).

Where would that be in the BIOS? Under what subject tab?
 

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    Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4
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    G-Skill 8 GB PC 8500
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    AMD XFX HD Radeon 6790D
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    Realtek HD onboard
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    2l Samsung SyncMaster S20B300
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    1600 X 900
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    Seagate Barracuda 320 GB w/OS
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB data storage
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    Ultra X4 750 watt fully modular
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    Thermaltake OverSeer RX 1 fulltower
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    Cooler Master Hyper212 120mm
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    Logitech G510
    Mouse
    Razor DeathAdder 3.5
Windows XP was actually the last version of Windows to actually contain a uniproc kernel - all kernels in Vista and higher are multiproc (even if you only have one CPU), and if you have to force your Vista or higher machine to "see" additional cores, you have a BIOS issue, not a Windows one ;).

Where would that be in the BIOS? Under what subject tab?

That's a good question...

Some BIOS systems can disable hyper-threading for OSes like Win98 and Co.
That is found in the cpu / advanced / hardware menu depending on the machine and the manufacturer.

This is all you can think of the BIOS and the cores. (the next applies for dual core and above) An i7 cpu which is 6 core, for example, has 6 physical cores without hyper-threading and normally (for Win XP and above) it has 12 cores (there are 6 extra logical ones, thanks to HT).
For this cpu you will always have a minimum of 6 cores no matter what settings you BIOS has.

Forcing Vista or 7/8 to see "more" cores is not an issue: you can never exceed the max cores the CPU/BIOS reports.

So there is no big deal with the BIOS and there are usually no issues.
I also think that the automatic settings, as shown in my screenshot earlier, use the max number of cores even if that is not exactly reported back (it's a grayed out number of cores).

Cheers
Hopachi
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
    CPU
    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
    Sound Card
    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
    Screen Resolution
    multiple resolutions
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
    PSU
    120W adapter
    Case
    small
    Cooling
    laptop cooling pad
    Keyboard
    Backlit built-in + big one in USB
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
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