Windows is not showing 10 cores on a 6950X

[PC_]

Hello,

I recently purchased two 6950X processors, one for gaming and the other for my work PC. I installed the first CPU about 5 weeks ago and is working without any problems. Just a few days ago, I installed the second processor and that one is working fine as well. Today, I noticed something out of the ordinary with the second installed CPU. I opened up Task Manager and under CPU, it tells me that there are only 8 cores (16 Threads). I rebooted and entered the BIOS to verify the core count and all 10 cores are accounted for, that is the good news. Going back to Windows, I installed CPUID and it is also telling me that I only have 8 cores, in addition both Task Manager and CPUID do confirm that I have the 6950X chip. My first CPU has all 10 cores recognized on the other PC. Would anyone please tell me what steps I can take to verify if all is OK with the CPU and if Windows is not at fault here? I would be able to swap the processors in between my machines, but it would be too much of a headache since they are both water-cooled and I cannot have my work PC down. By the way, I tried the Intel Processor Diagnostic tool, but will not load due to some .NET Framework issuers. I never had such a problem before.

• Windows 10 (Updated)
• Asus X99 Sabertooth (Latest BIOS flash 3301)

Thank you!

[idata]

Hello Zoomba:

Thank you very much for the pictures provided above, they will be very useful for us to further assist you. The fact that the BIOS shows 10 cores it means that the processor is properly recognize by the BIOS, and based on that, it seems to be working fine. So, this problem seems to be related to Windows itself. As troubleshoot steps to try, we can try a BIOS update to the latest version for the board, also after that, to restore the BIOS to defaults, and then re-install Windows® from scratch. According to ASUS's web site, the latest BIOS available is 3301, here you have the link for all the BIOS versions of your board: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_X99/HelpDesk_Download/ https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_X99/HelpDesk_Download/If you are using an ISO image to install Windows®, that might be the reason for this problem to happen, so, we recommend to use the installation disc to install it, and if you need to use a USB bootable device, then we recommend to create one from the disc itself. Here you have a link, for you to create a USB bootable device: https://rufus.akeo.ie/ https://rufus.akeo.ie/ Now, let me give you the link to install the Intel® processor diagnostics tool, just to make sure you are using the correct one: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool From the following link you will be able to install .NET framework: https://www.microsoft.com/net/download https://www.microsoft.com/net/download For us it is very important to get the report from the Intel® processor diagnostics tool, since that is the tool we rely on, in order to verify if there might be a problem with the processor itself. We understand that swapping parts will be too much of a headache for you, and we respect that, but after trying all the steps above, if the issue persists, that will be one of the best things to do, that will let us know for sure if the problem is the processor or not. Any questions, please let me know. Alberto

[PC_]

Great new! Windows now recognizes 10 cores and the problem was accidentally fixed, rather than fixing itself in a couple months.The problem was fixed due to the unintentional installation of Windows anniversary update to version 1607 that I was not aware of yet while attempting to reinstall the .NET Framework from Windows update.

The biggest problem that I have have with this is that the other PC still has Version 1511 and recognizes the CPU perfectly, all 10 cores. So the issue has been resolved on the other machine, but the question is why? If it wasn't for the update, this would not have been solved. In addition, I am sure that there are many people out the that have the 6950X while on version 1511 and have no issues or maybe some that are not really aware of that they do.

I am glad this has been resolved, no thanks to the modern Tablet Windows10.

[idata]

Hello Zoomba:

Excellent, it is great to hear that the PC is finally working properly, and it is recognizing the 10 cores. Sometimes Windows® has some problems or glitches at the moment when it gets installed, that some files does not get properly installed, or some files are missing, and that can translate in many different problems, that is why one of the troubleshoot steps recommended is to re-install it. As you can see, in this case, the problem got fixed with a Windows® update, which means that the problem all along was software not hardware, and sometimes an update is needed for the PC to properly work. The reason why it worked on the other PC without doing the update, it is very hard to tell, at the moment when a software or application gets installed many different things might happened that can cause different issues. Any questions, please let me know. Alberto