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I bought an Alienwaremx14 with the following specifications , it is clearly stated here that my CPU is dual core

enter image description here

However when i open Window task manager , I was shocked to find out I had four CPU processors running , it now is a quad core CPU

enter image description here

I am confused over whether my computer is quad core or dual core or both , what is happening ???

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    The first screenshot clearly indicate it's a dual core with HT
    – Ramhound
    Apr 8, 2014 at 18:41
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    @Ramhound: Are you getting that from the model number (which doesn't necessarily equate to the active configuration)? Or am I missing something in the first screenshot? Pretty sure the repeated 2.5GHz means nothing, one is part of the model number text and the other is detected clock speed.
    – Ben Voigt
    Apr 9, 2014 at 0:30
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    Yes; I looked up the CPU on the Intel website, just like everyone else did
    – Ramhound
    Apr 9, 2014 at 11:10
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    @Ramhound If you need to consult the Intel website to look up the processor capabilities, then the screenshot does not, in fact, clearly indicate the answer.
    – coneslayer
    Apr 9, 2014 at 19:11
  • Well, your computer has at least 2 cores, so it's dual-core, and it has exactly 4 cores, so it's quad-core. (I know this isn't the answer, but I just couldn't resist)
    – trysis
    Apr 10, 2014 at 3:30

3 Answers 3

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What you are seeing is a feature of your CPU called Hyper-Threading, which appears as additional logical processors to the OS.

From Intel's Ark page about that CPU:

Cores - 2
Threads - 4
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology - Yes

From there as well:

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

A related SU question worth checking out on the subject: Hyper-Threading and Dual-Core, What's the Difference?

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It's because your CPU supports hyperthreading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

http://ark.intel.com/products/67355/Intel-Core-i5-3210M-Processor-(3M-Cache-up-to-3_10-GHz-rPGA

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your Chip has Hyperthreading, which allows it to run two threads on each core semi-synchronously. This capability presents itself to the OS as additional cores.

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  • It must be a CPU with 2 cores, and 2 threads/core.
    – rinfinity
    Nov 9, 2015 at 19:36
  • thats an oversimplification, but more or less correct. Nov 9, 2015 at 20:03

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