How many cores can Windows 7 accomodate?

p3ndldqny2 · 19 Nov 2009 at 02:05

Say you have a quad core, does it show 8 cores (4 physical) ?

If you had 2x Xeons, would it shows 16 cores (8 physical) ?

I cant seem to find this out on google

Also how many does Windows XP (32 and 64) support?

V4NT0M · 19 Nov 2009 at 02:08

Pretty sure it goes up to at least 8 cores...

Not sure what you mean by 16 cores vs 8 physical though, maybe I'm behind.

asim18 · 19 Nov 2009 at 02:09

It would show logical cpus.

eg, 4 for a Q6600, 8 for an I7, 2 for an e7200

memyselfandi · 19 Nov 2009 at 05:59

Skyfall said:
Pretty sure it goes up to at least 8 cores...

Not sure what you mean by 16 cores vs 8 physical though, maybe I'm behind.

I'm pretty sure the OP is referring to Hyper Threading on top of the physical number of cores.

marc2003 · 19 Nov 2009 at 06:18

there are no limits on cores IIRC. the difference between home and pro is the physical cpus they support. 1 cpu for home and 2 for pro. this was the case with xp and i imagine it's pretty similar for vista/7.

Saundie · 19 Nov 2009 at 06:54

marc2003 said:
there are no limits on cores IIRC. the difference between home and pro is the physical cpus they support. 1 cpu for home and 2 for pro. this was the case with xp and i imagine it's pretty similar for vista/7.

This is the case. You could have a CPU with 1 core or 24 cores under Home Edition and Windows will allow you to use them all, but not two CPUs. If you want more than two CPUs then you have to use Windows Server.

p3ndldqny2 · 25 Nov 2009 at 00:35

Thanks guys, much appreciated

deshepherd · 25 Nov 2009 at 12:43

Saundie said:
This is the case. You could have a CPU with 1 core or 24 cores under Home Edition and Windows will allow you to use them all, but not two CPUs. If you want more than two CPUs then you have to use Windows Server.

Think with Win7 HP its 2 CPUs .... seem to recall when installing and deciding to have a quick scan of the EULA I spotted a limitation of 2 CPUs and had a short concern that my 720X3 was over the limit till I realized it was talking about CPU devices and not multi-cores within a single device.

Burnsy2023 · 25 Nov 2009 at 12:50

marc2003 said:
there are no limits on cores IIRC. the difference between home and pro is the physical cpus they support. 1 cpu for home and 2 for pro. this was the case with xp and i imagine it's pretty similar for vista/7.

This. Limitations to physical CPU sockets not cores.

memyselfandi said:
I'm pretty sure the OP is referring to Hyper Threading on top of the physical number of cores.

I may be a little out of date, but is Hyperthreading still used in the Core2 architecture or just Netburst?

deshepherd · 25 Nov 2009 at 15:14

Burnsy2023 said:
I may be a little out of date, but is Hyperthreading still used in the Core2 architecture or just Netburst?

went out with the first Core2's but has made a comeback in i7 (and Atom!)

theheyes · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:30

Home Premium only supports 1 socket but unlimited cores.