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HyperThreading: Should I Disable It?


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I upgraded my machine from an i5 to an i7, specifically because it has hyperthreading.  I enabled hyperthreading, and now I see that I have, effectively, 8 cores.

 

The trouble is that most of my games and other software only utilize the four base cores.  The hyperthreaded core is not used.

 

So.  Am I effectively halving my CPU's potential because the hyper thread is not used?

 

If I disable hyperthreading, will each of the four base cores have an increase in potential, because the whole core is used?

 

What did I misunderstand about hyperthreading?

 

What are the pros and cons about enabling/disabling hyperthreading?

 

Thanks

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HT is only used if a program is coded to use it, most older games use only  2 cores but a lot of the newer games will use 4 cores. If you are not using the ht'ed cores disable it and your cpu will run a bit cooler. I leave mine enabled all the time because I use video editing programs that make use of it and when I game the temp difference is not really noticeable. To answer your question your cpu will not get any faster if you disable it, the extra cores only work if they are needed.

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Hyperthreading for Intel CPU's is the only thing differentiating an i7 from an i5 equivalent CPU, and it's usually an extra $100 to $140 to have this "benefit". I only suggest an i7 only if the user is going to need it for video editing, 3D rendering (depending on the software), and heavy multi-tasking. Otherwise, there's no reason to get it, or use it.

 

Performance depends on how well the application handles hyperthreading tasks. For example, applications that utilize CPU cache might perform worse with hyperthreading on because both logical (hyperthreaded) and physical threads share the cache, so they could be competing for access. This is why i7 CPU's tend to add more CPU cache compared to their i5 counterparts, so there's less chance of there being an issue.

 

Another example would be parallel applications where there can be communication or I/O bottlenecks. This occurs when programs utilize 3D FFT's, which is mainly in 3D modeling and rendering. However, most software programs now have algorithm's computed using the GPU, so there's less chance of this occurring unless you're using an older version of 3D modeling software.

 

In short, as long as you're using the latest versions of software applications, you can always leave Hyperthreading on, and you will experience performance benefits most of the time, while rarely experience worse performance.

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