2 CPU/ Multicore Support

[User]

hi

I have vista ultimate and a compute with 2 CPU - each CPU is
multicore - so a total of 4 cores. How can I confirm that Vista can
see all cores and is using all cores ?

hm

 

[Mike]

hi

I have vista ultimate and a compute with 2 CPU - each CPU is
multicore - so a total of 4 cores. How can I confirm that Vista can
see all cores and is using all cores ?

Right click the task bar and bring up Task Manager, Performance tab.

Mike

 

[User]

It only show 2 CPU monitors. which I presume are the 2 core on a
single CPU - Which means that one of the dual core CPU is not being
detected.. how can I enable that ?

hm

 

[f/fgeorge]

It only show 2 CPU monitors. which I presume are the 2 core on a
single CPU - Which means that one of the dual core CPU is not being
detected.. how can I enable that ?

hm

That would be done in the BIOS. And no you are not seeing one core and
it's HT partner, you are seeing 2 cpu's with no HT to make it 4 cpu's.

 

[Mike]

It only show 2 CPU monitors. which I presume are the 2 core on a
single CPU - Which means that one of the dual core CPU is not being
detected.. how can I enable that ?

What version are you running? Home Basic and Home Premium support one
physical CPU (one socket). Business and Ultimate support 2 physical
CPUs (2 sockets.)

For a Core 2 Duo you need Business or Ultimate.

Mike

 

[User]

Are you sure.. I use SIW (from http://www.gtopala.com/)

Property Value
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / 2 Cores / 2 Logical
Processors / 64 bits


also in the device manager it says 2 processors

And I downloaded a gadget that only show the CPU utlization for core 1
and core 2. If i go to the bios, it only show CPU 0. how can I get to
CPU 2/3/4 etc... How can run a program to ensure that all 4 cores are
contrinuting.

hm

It only show 2 CPU monitors. which I presume are the 2 core on a
single CPU - Which means that one of the dual core CPU is not being
detected.. how can I enable that ?

hm

That would be done in the BIOS. And no you are not seeing one core and
it's HT partner, you are seeing 2 cpu's with no HT to make it 4 cpu's.

 

[User]

I am running Vista Ultimate. - Windows Vista Ultimate x64

my comp has 2 sockets, each Intel CPU is dual core.

Hm..

Are you sure.. I use SIW (from http://www.gtopala.com/)

Property Value
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / 2 Cores / 2 Logical
Processors / 64 bits

also in the device manager it says 2 processors

And I downloaded a gadget that only show the CPU utlization for core 1
and core 2. If i go to the bios, it only show CPU 0. how can I get to
CPU 2/3/4 etc... How can run a program to ensure that all 4 cores are
contrinuting.

hm

That would be done in the BIOS. And no you are not seeing one core and
it's HT partner, you are seeing 2 cpu's with no HT to make it 4 cpu's.

 

[Mike]

What version are you running? Home Basic and Home Premium support one
physical CPU (one socket). Business and Ultimate support 2 physical
CPUs (2 sockets.)

For a Core 2 Duo you need Business or Ultimate.

I think. Are Core 2 Duo systems one or 2 CPU sockets? I don't have
one so I don't know.

Anyways, Vista CPU support is by the CPU socket.

Mike

 

[User]

core 2 duo etc is apple talk for some version of dual - core CPU.

I have 2 sockets.. each socket has a dual core CPU. I understand vista
ultimate supports more than one phy CPU which mean it should support 2
sockets.

how can I confirm that ? I am running ultimate

hm..

 

[Mike]

I am running Vista Ultimate. - Windows Vista Ultimate x64

my comp has 2 sockets, each Intel CPU is dual core.

Hm..

Hmmm indeed!

I'm no expert on Core 2 Duo systems, having never used one. My core
duo system at work (I'm VPNed into it right now) shows 2 Processors in
XPs System Information. Nothing about Cores. It shows 2 CPUs in task
manager.

It sounds to me like there is indeed only one CPU being used on your
system. I have no idea at this point how to enable the other one.

Mike

 

[Mike]

core 2 duo etc is apple talk for some version of dual - core CPU.

No, Core 2 Duo is Intel talk. They have (had) Core Duo and now Core 2
Duo.

Mike

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Are you sure.. I use SIW (from http://www.gtopala.com/)
Property Value
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / 2 Cores / 2 Logical
Processors / 64 bits

Right; so SIW is reporting ONE Physical processor, with 2 cores.

also in the device manager it says 2 processors

Device Manager is also reporting ONE Physical proccesor, with 2 cores.

And I downloaded a gadget that only show the CPU utlization for core 1
and core 2. If i go to the bios, it only show CPU 0.

And the BIOS is also reporting ONE Physical proccesor, with 2 cores.

Device Manager in Windows probes the hardware at a very low level. If Device
Manager can only see one CPU socket (with 2 cores), it's very unlikley any
other software could ever detect the second socket.

It sure sounds like the second socket has not been activated in the BIOS. I
can't 100% guarantee that's the problem, but it is the most likely (or
obvious) explanation for what you've described, so far.

So, lets get down to specifics -
What brand and model of machine is it?
What motherboard is it?
And what BIOS version?

core 2 duo etc is apple talk for some version of dual - core CPU.

On a point of terminological accuracy, "Core 2 Duo" is the name defined and
used by Intel themselves! See:
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/index.htm

By way of comment - Vista Ultimate is licenced for dual processor (ie, 2
physical sockets). Whereas XP and Windows 2003 could not distinguish between
cores and sockets, Vista takes advantage of Intel/AMD instructions to
differentiate between cores (contained in the same chip) and sockets
(physical chips in the mother board).

 

[ray]

Are you sure.. I use SIW (from http://www.gtopala.com/)

Property Value
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / 2 Cores / 2 Logical
Processors / 64 bits


also in the device manager it says 2 processors

And I downloaded a gadget that only show the CPU utlization for core 1
and core 2. If i go to the bios, it only show CPU 0. how can I get to
CPU 2/3/4 etc... How can run a program to ensure that all 4 cores are
contrinuting.

hm

One option would be to run Linux - several reports of two quad core
processors running with absolutely no difficulty - simply boot an SMP
kernel.

 

[User]

The system was initially running linux and showed 4 cpu-cores. so I am
not sure why vista is not updating the same. will try to muck around
with the bios again. The system does have 2 CPUs. I verified it.. the
previous OS was able to detect it as well.

Bios: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Motherboard: Model 0GU083 from Dell.

This is a dell 690N


HM-

 

[Andrew McLaren]

The system was initially running linux and showed 4 cpu-cores. so I am
not sure why vista is not updating the same. will try to muck around
with the bios again. The system does have 2 CPUs. I verified it.. the
previous OS was able to detect it as well.
Bios: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Motherboard: Model 0GU083 from Dell.
This is a dell 690N

Thanks for the extra detail. The Dell 690 should be able to run Vista
reliably - I had Vista installed on a couple of dual-proc Dell 590s, and it
ran beautifully. 690 is obviously newer and more up-to-date, so it should be
even more Vista-ready.

But I am perplexed. In your earlier post, you said:

"If i go to the bios, it only show CPU 0. how can I get to CPU 2/3/4"

Is this still correct? The CPUs are numbered from 0 (obvioulsy) so the first
CPU is 0, second CPU is CPU 1, third CPU is CPU 2. If the BIOS is only
reporting a single CPU, then that is all that will ever be active on the
machine. No operating system can override the BIOS. If CPU 0 is dual core
that would give you 2 processors - which is exactly what Windows is
repoting.

If you really believe it is a matter of Vista inaccurately reporting the
number of processors, try this quick experiment. Obtain a Linux "live boot"
DVD (one where you can boot int Linux direct from the DVD - Ubuntu, RedHat
and several other distros all have this facility). Boot from the Linux DVD -
this will save you from wiping your existing Vusta installation, on the hard
disk. Once in Linux, go to a command prompt and check the CPU info with this
command:

$cat /proc/cpuinfo|grep processor|wc -l

This will show every "virtual" CPU you have on your system. If you have a
single socket populated with a dual core, non-hyperthreaded CPU chip,
cpuinfo will report "2". If you have two sockets active with dual core,
non-hyperthreaded processors, it will show "4". If you even had two sockets
with dual core, hyperthreaded processors, it would show 8.

But based on what you're seeing in Windows, I expect cpuinfo in Linux will
report 2 (or 4, if hyperthreading is enabled).

Why did it change from before? Who knows. Maybe the hardware in the second
socket failed silently some time around when you replaced Linux, by
co-incidence. Or maye someone was re-configuring something in the BIOS
during the change-over, and accidently switched off the second CPU. Who
knows?

Anyway ... when the machine boots up, hit F2 when the F2 prompt appears on
the screen (duh, I guess you know that). This will take you into the BIOS.
Check under the Processor info heading, and under Performance (where you
configure support for Dual Core, Hyperthreading CPUID, etc).

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

[Mike Brannigan]

hi

I have vista ultimate and a compute with 2 CPU - each CPU is
multicore - so a total of 4 cores. How can I confirm that Vista can
see all cores and is using all cores ?

hm

Vista CPU usage is licensed on sockets.
So if you have Ultimate, Business or Enterprise Editions - it will use both
socketed CPU. The number of cores per CPU one two or four will be used for
any of the products (Home, Home Premium, Ultimate etc).
So if you are running Ultimate you will see both socketed CPUs and all the
cores will be active so in TASK MANAGER you will be able to see all four
cores.

Right click the task bar, select Task Manager, select the Performance tab,
select View ... CPU History ... One Graph per CPU
You will then see all four cores plotted on screen.[/QUOTE]

 

[David Hearn]

No, Core 2 Duo is Intel talk. They have (had) Core Duo and now Core 2
Duo.

Mike

Core Duo being the 32 bit dual core processor, Core 2 Duo being the 64
bit dual core processor. There's other differences as well, but that's
a high level version.

D

 

[Mike]

Core Duo being the 32 bit dual core processor, Core 2 Duo being the 64 bit
dual core processor. There's other differences as well, but that's a high
level version.

Right, but the OP thought that "Core 2 duo" was an Apple name.

Mike

 

[Not Me]

core 2 duo is a single socket, with a single cpu but 2 cores.
they are also offering a core quad with 4 cores as I understand it, but all
4 are on 1 CPU in 1 socket.
The 690 uses dual or quad core XEON CPUs
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_690?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04
If it's really not showing all 4 cores, I'd call Dell.