"lock" num of cores used?

Hi all,

I was wondering if there is any such application, at this time, taht allows the user to lock the number of processor cores used. I guess it would be like configuring the processor affinity(ies) directly via software application.

I know it seems like a bit of a dumb idea, but please hear me out:

I'm very close to purchasing a Dell Studio XPS 1645 with the i7-720qm. (Yes, I know all about the heating issue, throttling, etc. but it does not bother me much). I'm going for 8GB memory + 1080p + BD-ROM. Configuring a Studio 15 only came out $150 cheaper than the SXPS16, and a configured SXPS16 with i7-620m is actually $100 MORE than the i7-720 with 8GB RAM. So I figured why not I'll splurge on it and take the quad core.

To kill any arguments that the 620 dual-core is better than the 720 quad, or vice versa, let me say up front that it does not really matter to me. I do not intend on playing many games (few hours a week max, as i have an xbox for that) and at this time development applications like Visual Studio don't fully utilise all the cores/threads modern processors can provide (I'm coming from a Intel T7200, and Visual Studio never had problems with it. my 1GB RAM on the other hand....)

I know there will be times that I simply do not need all 4 cores. Strictly speaking, most applications do not even use more than 2 cores, and watching a high-definition video should not require all 4 cores, even with heavy post-processing and after effects. So I was thinking that to prevent the CPU from heating up (and indirectly, the GPU from heating up), is there a way to enable/disable cores 2 and 3? Would that not reduce the power consumption and therefore reduce the overall heat produced by the laptop?

I'm not trying to futureproof my laptop much (just the RAM and BD-drive), if anybody's interested. I just want to try and get the most bang for my buck, and I thought "well why not" at the thought of a quad core in a laptop (this will effectively be a budget desktop replacement).

I'd appreciate any feedback (even if it means calling me an idiot)! It's totally fine if no solution exists.

Thanks for listening!

 

With the i7s, if a core is not being used, it will essentially shutoff (well, there will be some sort of low power flow so that the core can startup quickly if it's needed), so what you're looking for should already be basically built in. Try looking up Intel's Power Gate transistors if you want some more detail.

 

It would be nice if when you are running off battery , you could disable three of the four cores , to extend your battery runtime.

 

downclocking as low as 200mz is already supported in Windows OS power plans.

 

It already disables or powers down the other cores automatically.

 

so basically with the i7 (and maybe the i3 and i5), if you are just idling then the processor will automatically power down 3 out of the 4 cores?

but what about specifically forcing the processor to only ever use 2 cores?I know that you can do this in the Windows advanced boot options, but can you do it dynamically within Windows so that you don't need to reboot everytime?

thanks for the answers guys and gals

 

yes the cores get automatically shut down when idle.. also u can set core affinity so only 2 cores get used but u have to do it for each program each time.

 

through the task manager, yes i do that sometimes with the computer at the office. i was hoping there'd be a more "as the user wants" way of doing it. i guess it would be easier to just set the cores used via the Advanced Boot options.

in case people were wondering, if you select a Process (e.g. iexplore.exe) in the Task Manager list, you can select "Set affinity" and choose which core(s) the application process will run on.

thanks anyways!