Quad Core CPU only using 2 Cores

[Matt8445]

So odd thing I have here and hoping someone can give me some insight.  I have a laptop, Dell Precision 7510, computer with a Intel Core i7-6820HQ CPU.  This is a quad core cpu at 2.7GHz.

 

My issue is that I use a program that is super CPU heavy on thing and I was noticing it running a little slower.  I look at my task manager in the performance tab to check out its cpu usage.  I notice in there it is only showing that windows is only seeing it as having 2 cores, not 4.  Same with the logical processors.  This does not seem at all right to me. Attached is a screenshot of what I am seeing

 

I also have HWinFO installed to view my system setting.  On there it shows that there are 4 cores, and 4 logical cpu's. Another screen shot attached.  If you look at the usage on the monitors there you can see it is only using 2 of the available 4 cores.

 

I guess my question is what is going on with that and does anyone know why this is happening or how to fix this so I can use all 4 cores?

 

I had a very strange thing that basically knocked out my machine around Christmas.  It is a Dell machine that booted with an error and launched in a weird recovery thing that summary of it all caused me to have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall windows.  I am not sure if my problem is in some way related to this because I do not ever remember seeing this issue prior to that.  Just a random thought with that. 

[WkdPaul]

The thread was moved to the Troubelshooting section.

 

 

Try to check if the core are disabled in the BIOS, that might be the case?

[roylapoutre]

It seems like HT + some cores are disabled from the BIOS. However, your HWinfo shows 4 logical cores while your CPU should have 8 if I'm not mistaken... And I think no matter the BIOS settings, hardware monitoring software are showing the default layout of the cores, so it should show 8 threads even though some are deactivated in the BIOS

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

You don't have Hyper-Threading enabled as well by the looks of it.

[oskarha]

Check the setting in msconfig -> startup -> windows 10 -> advanced settings -> amount of cpus.

It should be unticked.

[mrzoltowski]

run msconfig

 

go to boot tab

 

go to Advanced Properties

 

Make sure nothing is selected under number of processors

[Matt8445]

Attached is what was checked in the msconfig - boot - advanced boot options tab.  I have now unchecked.  Going to restart and peek around in the bios and see what happens.  

 

Thanks for the guidance.

 

Matt

[Matt8445]

Now look at this, thanks for the suggestions.  Unchecked the box in MSCONFIG.

 

Looked through bios and there was a setting for enabling cores. It had radio buttons and it was checked at 2. I checked the all option.

 

Also noticed I did not have hyperthreading enabled.  Not sure why or how all of this got adjusted.  There was a bios update on my machine a few weeks about maybe it happened then.  Not sure but either way thanks for the help everyone.

 

Matt

[mrzoltowski]

42 minutes ago, Matt8445 said:

Now look at this, thanks for the suggestions.  Unchecked the box in MSCONFIG.

 

Looked through bios and there was a setting for enabling cores. It had radio buttons and it was checked at 2. I checked the all option.

 

Also noticed I did not have hyperthreading enabled.  Not sure why or how all of this got adjusted.  There was a bios update on my machine a few weeks about maybe it happened then.  Not sure but either way thanks for the help everyone.

 

Matt

Woohoo! Problem solved

[DnFx91]

i blame the flaky BIOS for the 2015 precisions, it's still not stable, does your 7510 by any chance boot up sometimes to a black screen once windows loads ?

[Matt8445]

Yes I get that maybe once or twice a week. Overall I like the machine, but boy it is a bit buggy with certain things.  Dell support on it is hit or miss too.

[Matt8445]

Okay so this may not actually be resolved.  The cause of the problem is resolved. I go into the bios and adjust some settings.  Main two options are in photos attached.  However I am noticing that the bios don't seem to be holding.  Sometimes it is every reboot, some time it is every two or three reboots, but it is a bit sporadic.

 

Since people were right on with what to look for last time I am hoping someone might have some great idea as to why this is happening too.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[Connor2001]

I see this is a old thread but I'm hoping to get a reply to my worry. My pc is about 6-7 years old by this point and I have just seen this on my pc now. If I change it from within windows and for some reason it starts to crash my PC as the cpu is old by this point. Can I revert to my 2 cores from my BIOS or? Because I can't afford a new CPU or computer at the moment haha. My motherboard is a gigabyte board my bios is American Megatrends from 2015 damn Thats old ayy