Processors
Intel® Processors, Tools, and Utilities
14402 Discussions

Intel i7-5960x only shows 2 cores out of 8

JRose13
Beginner
3,243 Views

Hello!

I have an i7-5960x which says it should have 8 cores with 16 hyperthreads. However in my Task Manager it only shows there are 2 cores available with 4 hyperthreads. when I use a third party like CPU-Z it shows the same information of 2 C & 4 HT. In Device Manager it shows 16 processors.

I am worried that I am only using 2 of my 8 cores. Is there anyway I can make sure the others are working?

0 Kudos
5 Replies
idata
Employee
1,743 Views

Hello Frostyty1,

 

 

Thank you for joining this Intel Community.

 

 

I understand that 3rd party sofware is displaying two active cores in Windows in an 8-Core Intel® Core™ i7-5960X Processor. I would like to assist you with this issue.

 

 

Because you have an 8-core processor, my first recommendation is that you can get to BIOS and make sure that all cores are enabled. If you have changed any BIOS configuration recently, you can also set BIOS to default. Please follow the steps provided by your motherboard manufacturer to make sure that this step is performed correctly. Before setting your BIOS to default, remember to document the SATA mode.

 

 

Wanner G.
0 Kudos
JRose13
Beginner
1,743 Views

Thank you for you response Wanner G,

In my BIOS (attached) all cores are set to run as enabled.

Any other diagnostics I can run to see if all my cores are actually working or not?

.

0 Kudos
n_scott_pearson
Super User
1,743 Views

Have you verified whether of not Windows is disabling the use of these threads? Here's a tutorial that shows how you can check this: http://solidlystated.com/software/how-to-disable-a-cpu-core/ How to turn off a CPU core or limit cores on dual-core/multi-core computers.

Hope this helps,

...S

0 Kudos
JRose13
Beginner
1,743 Views

Sir,

I went and looked at that setting. It only shows 4 Cores.... Shouldn't it show 8 in this screen? Here is the screenshot!

Thank you for the idea!!!

0 Kudos
JRose13
Beginner
1,743 Views

After careful consideration, I decided to wipe the system and start fresh. Upon reinstall of Win 10 all 16 cores are shown. A fix? I am not sure I would call it a fix, but it was a successful workaround nonetheless.

Thanks for all your help.

Images attached to show differences from starting point and ending point.

-J.

0 Kudos
Reply