Users who have at least once tweaked the BIOS probably noticed that there is an obscure Intel Hyper Threading setting for many. And not everyone knows what this technology is and why it was created. Let's try to figure out what Hyper Threading is, how to enable the use of this support, and at the same time find out what advantages such a setup provides for a computer. In principle, there is nothing difficult to understand here.
What is Intel Hyper Threading Technology?
So what is it? If you do not get into the jungle of computer terminology, but speak in ordinary language, this technology was created to increase the flow of instructions simultaneously processed by the central processor.
As a rule, today, modern processor chips use their computing capabilities only somewhere around 70%. The rest remains, so to speak, in reserve, just in case. As for processing a data stream, in most cases only one stream is implemented , despite the fact that the processor can be multi-core.
Basic principles of work
To increase the capabilities of the CPU, Hyper Threading technology was developed. It allows you to either break one stream of commands into two, or add a second to an existing one. That's just such a stream is virtual, and does not work in the physical plane. This approach allowed to significantly increase processor performance, respectively, and the whole system began to work much faster. In general, the increase in CPU performance can fluctuate quite strongly (from 5 to 80%), which will be discussed separately.
However, according to the developers themselves, whose brainchild was the technology of Hyper Threading, it clearly does not reach a full-fledged processor core. However, in some cases, its use is justified, as they say, one hundred percent. And if you know the essence of Hyper Threading processes (how to enable them and apply them in practice), the result will not be long in coming.
A bit of history
Now a little dip into the history of this development. First support for Hyper Threading appeared only in Intel Pentium 4 processors, and then its implementation was continued in the Intel Core iX series (where X are the processor series: 3, 5, 7) and even in the processors for the Atom series mobile devices. It is noteworthy that for some reason it is absent in the line of processor chips Core 2.
Then, however, the performance gain was rather weak, somewhere around 15-20%, which indicated that the processor itself did not have the proper computing power, and the created technology seemed to overtake its time. However, today Hyper Threading is in almost all modern chips. In addition, to increase the power of the CPU, the process itself uses only 5% of the surface of the chip, thus leaving room for processing the main data stream and commands.
Performance and Conflict Issues
Of course, all this is good, but sometimes a slowdown can be observed in data processing. This is mainly due to the so-called branch prediction module or insufficient cache when it constantly reloads.
If we talk about the main module, the situation here is that in some cases the first stream may request data from the second, but they are not yet processed or are in the processing queue. No less common are situations where the core of the central processor has too much load, and the main module, in spite of this, still sends data to it. Finally, some programs and applications, in particular resource-intensive online games, can slow down quite a lot, if only because they lack optimization for the use of such technology.
What happens with games? For its part, the user computer system is trying to optimize data flows from the application on the server. But the trouble is, the game does not know how to distribute data streams of different types, so to speak, dumping everything into one heap. By and large, it does not happen at all.
By the way, often in 2-core processors the performance increase is much higher than, for example, in 4-core ones. The latter simply have enough of their computing power.
Hyper Threading: how to enable an option in BIOS?
With the technology itself and the history of its appearance, we figured out a bit. And now we come close to understanding what Hyper Threading is. How to enable the declared support for use in the processor? Easy peasy. This is done from the control subsystem (BIOS). You can log in using the Del, F1, F2, F3, F8, F12, F2 + Del keys, etc. For Sony Vaio laptops, a specific input is provided using the special ASSIST key.
In the BIOS settings (if this processor type supports this technology), there is always a settings line, which in most cases looks like Hyper Threading Technology (sometimes Function). But, depending on the version of the BIOS and the developer of the subsystem, the setting of this parameter can be located either in the main menu (Main) or in the advanced settings (Advanced BIOS Features). To enable the technology, you must enter the parameter menu and set the value to Enabled. Then, as usual, the changes are saved, followed by a reboot of the system.
What is useful in Hyper Threading Technology?
In the end, it remains to note some advantages of using Hyper Threading. Why is all this being done, why do we need to increase the processor power in terms of data processing?
Those who work with resource-intensive programs do not need to explain anything. Surely many people know that mathematical, design, graphic, video and audio editors require not only a lot, but a lot of system resources in their work, which is why the whole system is loaded to such an extent that it just starts to slow down. That's to prevent this from happening, and Hyper Threading support is activated.