XP home no hyper threading?

I just read the sticky at the top of this forum and it says that if you have XP home proccsor's with HT will not take advangate of there hyper threading ability, is this true? If so must I upgrade to XP Pro to have it work?

Compaq R3000T (CTO)
P4 Desktop 3.0GHz w/HT
1 X 512MB RAM
Radeon 9600 128MB
15.4 wide screen
WXGA (1280 X 800)
CD-RW,DVD+RW
60GB 5,400 RPM HD
Wireless b/g
Windows XP Home
12 Cell Battery

 

Yes, you must have Pro or an equivalent (Media Center, Tablet) to run hyperthreading. XP Home does not support multiple processors. Hyperthreading simulates two processors, and so, Pro is your choice.

 

Thats a good question. Did you check in your computer's bios.

Access bios by pressing F2 (I think) when the "compaq" screen (or something similar) appears during system startup.

Be careful with that bios.

***************************************************
Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
***************************************************

 

Even if the bios is set properly, XP Home will not allow HT to act as two separate processors. This is a function that has been turned off, just like remote access.

Check the following link for more information:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

 

Ok, so when I bought this system, I called on the phone hoping they may provide some help in choosing parts and software! When I said I wanted a proccsor with hyper threading they should have mentioned I needed XP pro, sense I've had it less then a week do you think they will let me still get it for the 50$ price? If they say no, I could say "would you rather me return this one, then reorder the exact same machine with xp pro" i mean they would lose money. Im not sure what it cost for pro though I'll have to look later.

Compaq R3000T (CTO)
P4 Desktop 3.0GHz w/HT
1 X 512MB RAM
Radeon 9600 128MB
15.4 wide screen
WXGA (1280 X 800)
CD-RW,DVD+RW
60GB 5,400 RPM HD
Wireless b/g
Windows XP Home
12 Cell Battery

 

XP Home edition does support hyperthreading, just does not support multiprocessors.
I have a neighbor who has XP home w/hyperthreading.
here are some links that say so as well.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,601826,00.asp
http://www.intel.com/support/platform/ht/os.htm

Hopefully the sticky can be edited to reflect this fact.

Jack

The color of justice in america is green.
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

I do not see how it is possible that XP Home can support simulated multiple processors, but not actual multiple processors...that does not make sense. I have also read the articles (the one from PC Mag is from 2002), but any additional information would be appreciated. Not just "if," but how.

Intel and Microsoft just make things too confusing sometimes (go AMD).

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by ReverendDC
Intel and Microsoft just make things too confusing sometimes (go AMD).
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Amen to that!

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x256 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Andrew

 

It actually does make perfect sense. Hyperthreading's purpose is acually to ensure that 100% of the CPU is available for use. Previously, when two strings were waiting to be executed, the % of the cpu they could use was only equal to the amount of load they could supply, leaving the rest of the CPU idle. Hyperthreading lets two strings be used at once. This is an instruction in the CPU, as opposed to a hardware difference. Both versions of XP send information to one CPU core, whether it is virtually 1 or 2.

GPU cooling (100°C->75°C)* Inspiron 8600 * 1.8ghz Pentium M * 128 MB Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo (337/242 -> 400/300) * 2x256 MB DDR2700 SDRAM * Aquamark 3: 24058 * 3DMark'03: 3404 * 3DMark'01 SE: 13120

 

I think XP home does support HT. It just doesn't support an actual physical multiprocessors. I have P4 2.6GHz with HT and XP home. The second processor is detected properly in Device manager. Also in Task Manager, there are two graphs for the processor usage.

What interesting is in the other sticky, win2k is not recommended for HT, even though win2k pro does support multiprocessor.

 

I knew i should have read the fine print at the bottom of the dell catalog!

Inspiron 9100- 3.2ghz P4 HT - 1gb RAM - 100GB HD - 4x dvd/cd burner -128mb ATI 9700. RoX0r mY coX0r!

 

So I basicly i need Xp Pro for my gateway to use HT

 

my gateway is xp homme yet when i do ctrl-alt-delete then how come theres 2 processors running??

 

YOU DO NOT NEED PRO TO USE HT, BUT YOU DO NEED IT FOR 2 PHYSICAL PROCESSORS

 

Can you tell me how this applies to the AMD 3200+ 64 bit in my zv6000us

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by robcope

 

Thanks for the info. I've been out of the computer world for awhile, I see I need to catch up on my reading.

Rob

 

it doesnt apply to it

 

um, HT does apply to AMD processors. AMD processors do have HT, but its not hyperthreading...its hyper Transport (same thing different name due to copyrights etc.) Now i wnat to know how to get it working

 

i dont thing AMD currently has a technology such as intels HT, i wish they did, i really like AMD's CPUs. The Hyper Transport technology is the speed of the system bus i think, its to due with boosting speed between the memory and the cpu

 

You guys scared the crap out of me when I began reading this thread. I was like "wth, why did I just get this setup." They you cleared it up. I can also vouche for that too. When you open Windows Task Manager it shows two CPU Usage History Graphs and a single Page File Usage History graph.

You can watch the CPU usage and notice at times how they can be the exact graph and obviously the processor is working as though it is just one. Most of the time though the two graphs are similiar sharing the same high points but not being exact. This is obvious to how the two "virtual" processors are working together to accomplish the same tasks. Then occasionally the graphs don't match at all and have completely different high points. This is when the two "virtual" processors are working independently on seperate tasks.

For a moment there, you guys really had me going...

 

You don't need to worry about AMD having a HT equivalent, because dual cores have already accomplished that. As many review sites have found out, the AMD dual cores beat the Intel single and dual cores on just about every test.

 

Here's something that has me stumped. have a Dell 5160 with 3.06Ghz processor. With XP Home, it shows it as a 3.06 running at 1.85Ghz in the system general info page. Put XP Pro on system and it shows as 3.06 running at 3.06.

Is this happening as XP Pro supports hyperthreading and Home does not or is there something else I should be looking at.

The system was checked both times with the system setup for Max battery life.

Thanks

After posting this, I updated my XP Pro with Service Pack 2 and now the info page shows the same as the Home install. My XP Home cd came with SP2. I guess it is just the way SP2 shows info and perhaps how fast the processor is running at the time.

 

HyperThreading SIMULATES two processors, but there is just one cpu in there. therefore, XP Home will use the hyperthreading since its just one physical processor.

 

Yea, and hyper-treading is a failed technology... why would you get hypertreading when single core AMDs and beat it? least say the AMD's dual cores.

 

To make a long story short, Windows XP Home only supports 1 CPU socket.

 

ithink has no sense please read this http://www.insidelaptops.com/portal.php?sid=23af62440108c210f2c8a6ec1574303b

 

I think a number of you have taken hearsay at face value without checking your facts directly. XP Home does recognize hyperthreading, AND dual cores, including AMD dual cores.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Weblets/0,,...~95364,00.html

Notice the XP Home support in the chart.

Also read Microsoft's explanation.

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/h...icore.mspx#E1B

To paste the relevant part:
Q. A customer wants to upgrade their single-core processor system by replacing the single-core processor with a multicore processor. If they do so, will there be an increase in cost for their current software license?

A. No. The customer will incur the cost for one software license per processor, not per core. So if a customer replaces the single-core processor on their system with a multicore processor, they will need to have only one license per processor.

Q. How does this licensing policy affect products such as Microsoft Windows XP Professional?

A. Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows XP Home are not affected by this policy as they are licensed per installation and not per processor. Windows XP Professional can support up to two processors regardless of the number of cores on the processor. Microsoft Windows XP Home supports one processor.

Note that Pro supports two processors and Home supports one. Note that the AMD X2 is only a single processor, but has two cores. This is perhaps where this myth got started.

Incidentally, the only time I'm aware of that you might need to get XP Pro (besides in a server) is in the case of the Pentium D Extreme Edition, which is both dual-core AND hyper-threaded, leading to more than XP Home can handle.

 

So, the new era of dual cpu laptops makes sense only with Windows XP Pro, right?!

 

If you're talking about actual dual "CPU" notebooks, then yes you would need XP Pro.

If you're talking about dual "core" notebooks (like the Intel Core Duo) then no, XP Home should work fine.

[Can I get a confirmation on that? It seems like I've read it both ways a half-dozen times over the thread, but I think what I've written above is correct.]

 

do i need to go into the bios and turn on HT even if i have XP pro???

I mean, is it always automatically disabled regardless of your operating system?

 

Yeah, of course u have to enable HT in the bios, It isn't something that windows contols. My Ht shows as 1 physical prossesor and 1 logical prossesor. I am using xp home and it does make a difference especially when switching between applications

 

i'm glad some people here know the facts. And of course dual core processors are supported. I dunno where you people here about these strange ideas... kinda crazy!

Good job to all those pointing these very confused people in the right direction!