How many processors can a CPU have?

Answer 1

A CPU is a Processor. (central processing unit or microprocessor),

a CPU alias Processor can have multiple Cores which are basically processors

but they are referred to as Cores.

Answer 2

many

A processor can have many threads assigned to it.

But if your question is how many can it process at one time, the answer is "it depends."

An Intel CPU can execute up to two threads per core with multithreading (Hyperthreading or HT) enabled. AMD CPUs do not support multithreading. So the maximum number of threads an Intel CPU can be executing instructions for at any instant in time is twice the number of cores in the CPU. The max number of threads an AMD CPU can be executing at any given time is equal to the number of cores in the CPU.

Answer 3

This depends on the exact processor line and model.

Intel's Core i7, i5, and i3 series can handle 2 threads per core, so any quad-core model could handle 8 threads.

AMD's Athon, Phenom, Sempron, and Opteron chips, on the other hand, are designed around a 1-thread-per-core model.

At the other extreme end, are the SPARC Niagara series of server chips, which can handled anywhere from 8 to 16 threads per core.

All this isn't free. Thread count per core comes at a cost - the more threads per core, the lower performance each individual thread has. That is, using the same hardware, if I run one thread on a core, that thread will run faster than 2 similar threads, even if the threads are independent.

Answer 4

Each core can process one software thread at a time, which means up to four threads are being processed simultaneously for quad-core processors.

Certain processors have enhanced capabilities, allowing them to run 2 or more threads per core. Current examples are Intel's i7 series of CPU (at 2 threads/core), and the SPARC T3-series of CPUs (at 32 threads/core). You have to look at the manufacturer's website for complete specifications on a specific CPU.

Answer 5

If you have an Intel, multi-core CPU with HyperThreading and a motherboard that supports HyperThreading you have 8 vitual cores for multi-threaded processes.

If you have an AMD quad core, then you have 4 threads with the 4 cores.

Due to Intel's tendency to micro-segment its market, it's very, very hard to make blanket statements about all their CPUs. You should look up the specific CPU on Intel's website to see how many threads/core a specific CPU can run. For example, most i7 CPUs can run 2/core, but some i5 can do 2/core, while others only 1/core.

Answer 6

The number of threads a quad-core processor can handle simultaneously is different from the number that it can handle overall.

When looking at how many can be handled simultaneously, the answer depends on the exact model of processor. At the bare minimum, the processor can handle one thread per core so that would mean a minimum of 4 threads. However, many different processors have enhanced capability to run multiple threads per core. This can vary from 2 threads per core (in many new i7 and certain i5 Intel CPUS), to up to 32 threads per core in some SPARC chips.

The question of how many threads the processor can handle overall is more of a OS issue than a CPU issue. That is, the quesion is more like "how many different programs can I appear to be running at once?" Most modern OSes can manage at least several thousand threads running, and some of the more "industrial" server OSes (AIX, Solaris, etc.) can run hundreds of thousands simultaneously. In any case, the number of threads an OS can handle is independent of the actual CPU used.

Answer 7

There is no limit other than those imposed by the hardware.

Answer 8

48