While most applications and games were lightly-threaded a few years ago, recently, almost every heavy app (including modern games) is becoming heavily multi-threaded, taking advantage of more threads alongside cores to boost performance.
Threads also contribute to making your computer a multitasking powerhouse – multiple apps can be run at the same time without resulting in terrible performance.
While it’s easy to check most features and specifications of your computer, threads are not so straightforward. In this guide, we’ve simplified the question that troubles many people; how many threads does my Windows & MAC computer have?
Let’s dive deeper.
Different Methods to Try
There are some ways you can see the number of threads on Windows; each is explained below.
Use Task Manager
Open Task manager by either
- Right-clicking the Task Bar > Task Manager
- Pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE
Then go to performance> CPU. At the bottom of the graph, you’ll see info such as Base Speed, Sockets, Cores, etc. Logical Processors are the number of threads your computer supports.
Example of summary:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz
Base speed: 2.80 GHz
Sockets: 1
Cores: 4
Logical processors: 8
Virtualisation: Enabled
L1 cache: 256 KB
L2 cache: 1.0 MB
L3 cache: 6.0 MB
Utilisation 3%
Speed 1.46 GHz
Up time 5:05:18:33
Processes 272
Threads 4075
Handles 303822
Check Through Device Manager
Open Device Manager by searching “Device Manager”, then clicking to open
- Click on “>” to expand the Processors section
- The number of entries is the number of threads of your processor
Use External Tools
Some of the apps that can be installed to show more information about the hardware in your computer are
- CPU-Z
- HwInfo
- HWMonitor
- Speccy
- AIDA64
In this guide, we will stick with CPU-Z; it’s the easiest to use and most popular.
- Download and Install CPU-Z (2MB) from the official website
- Install & Run
- Under the first tab “CPU”, you’ll see almost every information on your CPU.
A number of Cores and Threads is on the bottom right.
Try a Quick Google Lookup
For this method, you must know the exact name of the CPU in your computer, which is information that can simply be found in your computer.
- Open File Explorer and right-click on “My PC”
- Go to Properties
- Under “Device Specification”, the Processors name is listed e.g., Intel(R) Core (TM) i5-5300U CPU @ 2.30GHz 2.29 GHz
- Paste it into your browser and search the processor’s name on Google
The CPU’s manufacturer website will be the 1st result, i.e.,
- https://ark.intel.com/ for Intel
- https://www.amd.com/ for AMD
The number of threads of the specific chip is listed under each processor’s specification.
On Apple Devices
If you want to find out the number of threads your MacBook has, the best method is using the Terminal.
We will use the “sysctl” command in this example
- Launch the “Terminal” application on your computer
- Type command “sysctl hw.physicalcpu hw.logicalcpu” (without parenthesis) and press ENTER
- Two results get displayed: hw. Physicalcpu & hw.logicalcpu
- The number of threads is written after “hw.logicalcpu” e.g. hw.logicalcpu 8.
What It Means
Also known as Hyper-Threading Technology, this is the term Intel uses to refer to the simultaneous multithreading (SMT) capability of their processors.
If an Intel Core i5 chip has 4 Cores 8 Threads, it uses Hyper-Threading to present each of the physical cores on their CPU as two virtual cores (threads). On the other hand, an Intel Core i5 with 4 Cores 4 Threads won’t be capable of Hyper-Threading.
Being an Intel-specific marketing term, an AMD CPU or Arm-based CPU like the new M1 chip (used in recent MacBooks) cannot be said to have Hyper-Threading Technology even if they support simultaneous multithreading (SMT). However, MACs that use Intel processors can support Hyper-Threading.
How to Know If It’s Active
If you would like to check whether or not Hyper-Threading is enabled on your computer, you need to access the BIOS Menu. You can look up how to do so for your Windows or MAC computer (it requires 1st turning off your system).
The Hyper-Threading setting is mostly under “Advanced”, “Processors” or “Performance” related settings for computers with a CPU that supports the feature.
Options to Improve Performance
Most computer processors are hyper-threaded by default, but for others, this has to be done manually. You can’t increase the threads of your CPU if it does support SMT, but if it does, this can be done by enabling it in the BIOS.
Access your BIOS menu, and follow these steps:
- Select Processor, then go to Properties
- Click on “Enable” Hyper-Threading
- Select Exit & Save Changes from the Exit menu
- Check the number of threads if they’ve doubled using methods explained earlier
Best Configuration Tips
If you are a:
- Heavy multitasker
- Content creator (editing high-res videos)
- Do complex, time-consuming CPU-heavy tasks
You should go for a Windows or MAC computer with at least a modern quad-core CPU with 1 thread/core. This will enable you to get good performance, and do your work faster with the system remaining responsive.
In short, 4 threads are enough, but more is always better.
Final Thoughts
Having known how to check the number of threads will always come in handy. For your current Windows and MAC computer, you’ll be able to ascertain if it is good enough for your current needs or you need an upgrade.
Beyond that, before you purchase your next computer, you’ll also be able to check the same to guide your buying decision.
