Number of processors and maximum memory in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Question

Hi,

In System Configuration (msconfig), I have seen, Number of processors can be enabled up 8 and maximum memory can be enabled.

By default, it’s unchecked. If I enable Number of processors up to 8 and maximum memory. What can be its pros and cons?

With Regards
NndnG

Answer 1

By default, both Windows 11 and Windows 10 support multi-core processors and activate all cores by default.By default, Windows itself manages the available CPU cores. They are only used when required to speed up the tasks. However, you can manually enable some or all of them.

If you think that your computer is performing slow and can do better, you can manually enable all cores so the workload between them is divided, resulting in faster performance. This feature also needs to be enabled through System BIOS. Look for HyperThreading settings in BIOS, and then select the Enabled option.

Answer 2

Checking the box and inputting the number of cores you have will have no effect on your system's performance. I don't believe the accepted answer above this is actually correct. This is because, by default, Windows 10/11 Home edition will use up to 64 processor cores by default enabled out of the box, and Pro edition will use up to 128 cores. You don't have to enable this setting for all your cores to be enabled for use.

This setting is for actually limiting your available cores that can be used by your system, in diagnostic and troubleshooting scenarios.

If you want to prove it to yourself, then you can look at Task Manager to see all of your cores being used (when running a multi-core load obviously) or you could run a multi-core CPU benchmark and compare the results to another system with your same CPU.