I have Intel(R) i7-4770K CPU: 4 of 8 Cores are parked: Why

[MHutc1]

I have a new computer... Could someone enlighten me... why would 4 of the available 8 cores be 'Parked'?

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

Mdhutch, this feature is managed by Microsoft. CPU parked only happens when some cores are not being used. This will help you to save energy.

You can find additional information on the following thread:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/76dac4e8-ce8f-4b83-b33d-bbef50ae5d9c/cpu-core-parking-in-windows-7-should-it-be-left-alone-or-should-users-disable-it?forum=w7itproperf http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/76dac4e8-ce8f-4b83-b33d-bbef50ae5d9c/cpu-core-parking-in-windows-7-should-it-be-left-alone-or-should-users-disable-it?forum=w7itproperf

[MHutc1]

Thanks for your timely answer...

The info at the link you provided seems to indicate the cores don't get parked unless a 'balanced' power plan is in effect. If a 'non-balanced' plan is in place... by default, do they still 'park' if they are not used? In my case Process power management is set as follows: Minimum processor state = 100%, System cooling policy = 'Active', Maximum processor state = 100%... 4 of the 8 cores are parked seemingly whether I am driving the processor hard or not.

Do you have a Processor Utility I might download that would be able to push / stress the cores such that the System would allow all of them to be used?

[Silvia_L_Intel1]

Yes, we do have a utility for that purpose. The name of it is Processor Diagnostics Tool . Please access the following site and download the version based on the Operating System you have installed. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&keyword=Processor%20Diagnostics%20Tool https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&keyword=Processor%20Diagnostics%20Tool