Disabling cores in Vista?

Firestrider · Nov 22, 2008

Is there a way to do this? Say if I wanted to disable 3 out of the 4 cores on an AMD Phenom X4 processor.

Is this totally dependent on my motherboard BIOS and CPU itself?

Dwarf · Nov 22, 2008

Hi Firestrider,

This is certainly possible on some motherboards, and is an option found in the BIOS of these boards. Basically, it gives you the option to disable all but core0 of a multi-core processor (obviously, if you install a single core processor into such a system then this option will not be available). Some also give the option of disabling the cores on an individual basis (core0 cannot be disabled), but that depends on the processor and board. This is an option that is generally recommended only for troubleshooting purposes and I therefore recommend that you leave all cores enabled. If you provide information on your motherboard (make/model number) and your processor we should be able to check this for you. In the mean time, you might find this Tutorial useful: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/146578-processor-affinity.html

Firestrider · Nov 22, 2008

My motherboard is a Biostar TA790GX A2+ and my processor is a Phenom X4 9550.

Dwarf · Nov 22, 2008

Hi Firestrider,

Here is a link to the main Biostar page for your motherboard: BIOSTAR. Sorry, but I don't see that option in your BIOS (according to the manual). Is there any particular reason why you want to do this? Perhaps a program or application that isn't working correctly? If this is the case, can you provide full details and we will have a look to see if we can come up with a workaround. In the meantime, does the Tutorial I suggested help in any way?

Footnote: This seems to be an option for boards that support Intel processors as opposed to AMD ones.

dmex · Nov 22, 2008

Firestrider said:
Is there a way to do this? Say if I wanted to disable 3 out of the 4 cores on an AMD Phenom X4 processor.

Is this totally dependent on my motherboard BIOS and CPU itself?

Hi Firestrider,

You can specify how many cores Windows should use via MSConfig, You cant choose specific cores however you can specify the number of cores

Just type msconfig into the start-menu searchbox, click the Boot tab then advanced options and you canspecify the number cores windows should use as shown in the screenshot

Just remember..you cant specify individual cores, only the amount of cores to use

Steven

Firestrider · Nov 22, 2008

Thanks it now shows 2 cores in Task Manager and CPU-Z after setting that option

pooch · Nov 22, 2008

Firestrider said:
Is there a way to do this? Say if I wanted to disable 3 out of the 4 cores on an AMD Phenom X4 processor.

Is this totally dependent on my motherboard BIOS and CPU itself?

A little background.

I use a phenom 9500 and have the option in my Bios to disable up to 3 cores, this was I believe originally included to solve problems with faulty processor cores the original Phenoms being somewhat buggy :confused:

This option is only available if you have the right processor.

After the x4 processors AMD bought out the X3 processors, these are basically an x4 with 1 core disabled. Probably a way of getting rid of faulty processors if this is what you want to believe

Here in Germany these x3 cores have been rated as being quite a bit faster than their x4 counterparts why this is I do not know, however you can now see where I am going. People disable 1 core to speed up their Phenoms.

I have never had a problem with my x4 I am one of the lucky ones all I use is a program that runs at logon to patch my core so that it runs at full speed
I have never tried disabling any cores ...... who knows maybe one day

Firestrider · Nov 22, 2008

Yeah, the main reason to disabling cores was to hopefully lower power consumption and temperatures so I can overclock the processor more with just two cores. I don't have faulty cores or an application acting up.

Since the games I play only take use of 1-2 cores I think I would see a bigger increase in performance with a 2-core processor with a faster clock speed than a 4-core processor with a lower clock speed.... maybe not.

Does setting the msconfig to two cores acually power down the other two or is Windows just "recognizing" two cores?

Adamd · Nov 22, 2008

Firestrider said:
Yeah, the main reason to disabling cores was to hopefully lower power consumption and temperatures so I can overclock the processor more with just two cores. I don't have faulty cores or an application acting up.

Since the games I play only take use of 1-2 cores I think I would see a bigger increase in performance with a 2-core processor with a faster clock speed than a 4-core processor with a lower clock speed.... maybe not.

Does setting the msconfig to two cores acually power down the other two or is Windows just "recognizing" two cores?

Interesting way to think about that.

I guess the best way to see because I have never seen anyone turn off cores because 90% of the time that would just be a dumb idea, but in your case maybe not.

You should test it. Run it on 2 cores at a high clock and then 4 and see what gives you the faster result. However just turning off 2 cores may or may not help the heat that much, but again I have never did this before lol.

Good luck

pooch · Nov 22, 2008

ok for the sake of science I have tried disabling up to three cores.
Not much of a test I know but I have measured at idle and I have used the computer performance rating here are the results
For 2 through 4 cores the CPR stayed the same 5.8
and the temperatures were similar at about 34°
The only surprise came with only one core running
For 1 core the CPR failed to finish
The temp was no longer measured on screen but came up in the notification area :confused:

The temp was well below that measured with more cores runningafter I had snipped it dropped down to31°
Take no notice of the temp marked CPU as this is wrong due to a Bios bug I only have it there for reference

pooch · Nov 22, 2008

The results with 1 core

Day24 · Nov 22, 2008

huh....I thought that boot option only specified how many cores you wanted to use during boot. I know that I had to manually put mine on 2 cores (it was on one core after install). Even right after install it still showed both cores in taskmanager though.

panais · Nov 25, 2008

dmex said:
Firestrider said:

Is there a way to do this? Say if I wanted to disable 3 out of the 4 cores on an AMD Phenom X4 processor.

Is this totally dependent on my motherboard BIOS and CPU itself?

Click to expand...

Hi Firestrider,

You can specify how many cores Windows should use via MSConfig, You cant choose specific cores however you can specify the number of cores

Just type msconfig into the start-menu searchbox, click the Boot tab then advanced options and you canspecify the number cores windows should use as shown in the screenshot

Just remember..you cant specify individual cores, only the amount of cores to use

Steven

Whats the benefit of disabling cores? (I have Q6600)

pooch · Nov 25, 2008

Hey Panais,
For you? there is probably no benefit at all, I am not even sure that it would do anything with a Phenom,

Disabling cores in Vista?

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