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I am trying to check the performance of a program. I refer this post get OS-level system information. When Runtime.availableProcessors() executes, I get an answer of 4. I read availableProcessors() but it tells that this method returns number of processors

  1. Can anyone explain what is mean by number of processors ?
  2. Why am getting 4 as result ?

I am using Windows 7 core i5 4gp.

Nathan
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Amith
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  • do you have quad core processor machine ? – Ved Aug 09 '12 at 06:38
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    or a dualcore with hyper-threading ? – Dahaka Aug 09 '12 at 06:40
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    Not all i3, i5 or i7 are the same. An i3 can have one or two cores with or without hyper threading. An i7 can have 4 or 6 cores. It might be useful to look up your exact model on the intel website. Here is an example. http://ark.intel.com/products/52210/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-%286M-Cache-3_30-GHz%29 Note how many options there are! – Peter Lawrey Aug 09 '12 at 07:08

5 Answers5

30

As you've read, availableProcessors() is a method that returns the number of processors available to the JVM. 4 means the number of processors currently available for JVM.

These lines return the number of logical cores on Windows and in other operating systems.

On a computer with a quad-core Core i7 supporting Hyper-Threading, it will return 8.

On a computer with a quad-core Q6700, this method will return 4.

AlphaMale
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21

The number of processors is basically the number of execution engines capable of running your code. One of the i5 variants is a 4-core CPU, the i5-7 series. These may be physically distinct processors (even though they exist inside the same chip) or they may be logical processors when you're using hyper-threading.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_i5 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading for more detail.

paxdiablo
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3

You have a multi-core processor (in your case, it looks like it's Lynnfield). Each core counts as a separate CPU (a separate processor) for the purpose of the information, since each core can execute instructions at the same time as the others.

mikołak
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3

It gives no of cores that are available to jvm process. it may larger that actual if hyper threading is enable.

Nirmal- thInk beYond
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0

In this context, a "processor" is "hardware capable of independent execution", ie a cpu core.

It is not the "processor package" - the single hardware unit you buy (that is actually 4 independent CPUs in one package)

Bohemian
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