CPU Basics: Multiple CPUs, Cores, and Hyper-Threading Explained
CPU Basics: Multiple CPUs, Cores, and Hyper-Threading Explained By: Chris Hoffman Updated Oct 12, 2018 The central processing unit (CPU) in your computer does the computational work—running programs, basically. But modern CPUs offer features like multiple cores and hyper-threading. Some PCs even use multiple CPUs. We’re here to help sort it all out. The clock speed for a CPU used to be enough when comparing performance. Things aren’t so simple anymore. A CPU that offers multiple cores or hyper-threading may perform significantly better than a single-core CPU of the same speed that doesn’t feature hyper-threading. And PCs with multiple CPUs can have an even bigger advantage. All of these features are designed to allow PCs to more easily run multiple processes at the same time—increasing your performance when multitasking or under the demands of powerful apps like video encoders and modern games. So, let’s take a look at each of these features and what they might mean to you. Hyper-Thr
