What is Hyper-Threading?

davidgg (50)in #technology • 8 years ago (edited)

Hello guys! Today I wanted to explain something that most of you probably know about but don't really know how it works. It is the Intel's HyperThreading technology; also known as Multi Thread technology.

To get you started, this technology allows you to simulate an extra core on your processor per each physical core it has. By example, if you have a dual core Intel Core i3; it will simulate two virtual cores which will give you a better processing performance. These virtual cores allow your processor to handle multiple task in a better and faster way. However, it doesn't mean that you will have the same performance as in a quad core processor, but it will give you (as Intel clarified) a 60% more efficiency while working on certain apps.

What it does is that when this feature is enabled, it will give two threads (tasks) to each core of your processor so the system will keep it working constantly. With that said, your processor will be able to handle 4 threads instead of 2 which will improve its performance while using just a little bit of extra power.

Ok David, now that I know that, How do I know if my processor is HyperThreading capable? Well, you will need to look under your system's specifications here:

Mine is actually in spanish but you will find your processor serial easily. Once you have it, you can go to intel's web site and check if it is capable by looking for the serial number here. Once you have your processor information, check for Intel HyperThreading, just scroll down until you see it, and it will tell you if it is or not as in the picture below:

All right! And that's how you know if you have a hyper-threading processor. Hope this article was interesting for you and helpful as well. Leave a comment if you think I missed something. I'll show you how to activate this feature in my next post.

Regards!

#computer #tutorial #features #processor