Is it possible to simulate a singlecore CPU in a multicore CPU?

I have a multicore CPU with Windows 10 and I would like to test a Software running as if my PC was a singlecore CPU.

Is there any way to limit Windows 10 installed in a multicore CPU (Quad Core) to work as a singlecore?

RogerR

Posted 2017-06-22T15:17:11.437

Reputation: 63

1use msconfig and allow only 1 core. – magicandre1981 – 2017-06-23T15:04:12.407

Answers

Some PCs (motherboards) allow you to control how many cores are active. This method requires you to shut down the PC and boot into BIOS. If you set your machine to 1 core, then it will be slow overall until you are done with your testing, shut down, and boot into BIOS again to revert the setting.

Christopher Hostage

Posted 2017-06-22T15:17:11.437

Reputation: 4 751

I don't think that is a good idea as it will affect the whole system. – jitendragarg – 2017-06-22T15:25:22.823

Thanks for the answer regarding affinity; it's a more useful tool than my old-school answer. – Christopher Hostage – 2017-06-22T15:28:42.373

Always happy to help. Even I stumbled up on it doing random walkthrough of task manager. It is not really advertised feature, for good reason too. – jitendragarg – 2017-06-22T15:31:15.217

Thanks!!! This is what I was looking for! I just set this value in the BIOS and it worked!! – RogerR – 2017-06-23T07:05:14.827

In older version of Windows, you can run the application, then go to task manager, right click the process and set affinity. In the resulting popup, you can choose which and how many cores to use.

In case of Windows 10, you will have to right click on process, select "Go to details" and then again, select "Set affinity".

Edit: You can follow the steps for Windows 10 here. Do let me know if there is a better way to share a zip file.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-mEX4BFU62wZXJkLTIxaVcxdDA

jitendragarg

Posted 2017-06-22T15:17:11.437

Reputation: 344

This isn't quite the same as running really single-core. The software will detect multiple cores, but the OS will only run it on 1 of the cores. This may be all the poster wants, or isn't fit for purpose at all. It highly depends on what the software is trying to do. – Tonny – 2017-06-22T15:30:45.097

It does simulate single core for specific application. The application will detect one core, if I am correct. Although I guess I should write a quick program to test it. – jitendragarg – 2017-06-22T15:32:23.263

Whether or not it detects a single core or not will depend on which system-call(s) is used for the detection. – Tonny – 2017-06-22T16:34:38.090

Thanks for the response, it also worked! But I wanted the overall system to work as a single core CPU – RogerR – 2017-06-23T07:05:50.690

Oh good. In that case, Christopher's answer works perfectly. Although, do remember to change the settings after testing is completed. :) – jitendragarg – 2017-06-23T16:55:32.977

VirtualBox (both Free and free) is a great virtualization package, adn you can control how many cores/cpus each VM has available to it. You can also control how much RAM, disk space, etc. each VM has.

Note however that you'll need to install the OS from "bare metal", possibly deal with licensing of said OS, etc.

ivanivan

Posted 2017-06-22T15:17:11.437

Reputation: 2 634