displays 2 cores not 3?

[officedemon]

I don’t understand why my computer displays that I have 2 cores and not 3?

I have run a test that tells me that I have 2 cpus? (DirectX Diagnostic Tool both 32 and 64 bit tests)

i have a HP Pavilion a6530f Desktop PC (Vista) , Motherboard Specifications, M2N68-LA (Narra3)
 http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01357135&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=no&lang=en&product=3740336Socket: AM2+
Supports the following processors
 Phenom with Quad Core technology (AM2+)
Athlon 64 X2 with Dual Core technology
Athlon 64
Sempron I have A “2.1GHz AMD Phenom 3X 8450 Triple-Core processor” (Socket: AM2+)
http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=425&f1=&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=&f10=

So I’m guessing that I was sold a computer that the processor was not supported by its motherboard?

and it will only display 2 cores? when i realy have 3?

[DexterM]

You can run a free utility on your PC known as CPU-Z that will give you all the info about your processor, motherboard etc.. The last line in the first tab shows the number of cores you have.

Download it by CLICKING HERE. Just open/unzip the ZIP file, and run the exe file.

[officedemon]

also device manager shows 3 differnt processors but no info on them

cpu-z was vary helpful i will deffantly be uesing it to help others

core speed shows 1054.8 MHz at 0% use

still shows 2 cores 2 threads,but it has 3 stepping.

i dont know much about processors is the AMD phenom 3X a true tripple core?

 i might as well upgrade to a quad core. thank you for your time.

any feed back is welcome

[1badGuard]

If you get a quad expect more of the same issues. It's just a fact that it reports that way.

[officedemon]

oh and how do you tell it a core is burnt out?

 since my cpu is running at 1GHz and not 2.1

[DexterM]

If a core is burnt out, i dont even think your PC will boot up. you're more than likely to end up with a blue screen error or a boot up error if your Core is burnt out.

[1badGuard]

You'll surely get an error message. Run CPU-Z and look at what's up. http://www.download.com/CPU-Z/3000-2086_4-10050423.html

[officedemon]

so i was looking around download.com and found a gagit that shows cores (coreTEMP) runs at  29-34c

http://www.download.com/Core-Temp/3000-12565_4-10794077.html?tag=mncol

it shows i have 3 cores!  both core #0 and #1 are working fine and jumping with some load,  but core #2 is not jumping what-so-ever. its allways at 0%

[1badGuard]

The cores kick in when you load them. Your not running a video game,running video editing software and doing spreadsheet all at once,So it will not use all three cores. The cores react to stress being put on the CPU. When your just reading HP forums it probably is using just one maybe a little of the second but you also have programs running in the background.

Try running a game like Crysis, and burn some music and maybe do some photo editing.Both or all three at the same time then look to see if all 3 cores are running.

[officedemon]

that is a vary good idea

 i maxed out my computer with counter-strike source, WMP youtube and task manager put both cores at 100% and third stayed at 0% also max temp was 36c

also why dose cpu-z show 2 cores and core-temp show 3?

Message Edited by officedemon on 02-12-2009 09:47 PM