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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 ???

Computernerd
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    The first screenshot clearly indicate it's a dual core with HT – Ramhound Apr 08 '14 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 09 '14 at 00:30
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    Yes; I looked up the CPU on the Intel website, just like everyone else did – Ramhound Apr 09 '14 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 09 '14 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 '14 at 03:30

3 Answers3

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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?

Community
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Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
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11

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

jjlin
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8

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.

Frank Thomas
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