So-called “threads” have been a frequent source of confusion for those comparing or buying CPUs, even among people using our main build chart. What they are is never really explained, and most explanations that do exist only give a rough idea or mix it up with other things.
In the end, the basic explanation is surprisingly simple, so let’s clear this up once and for all.
With the newly released 8th Generation CPUs from Intel, one feature has gone missing from the Core i3 models: Hyper-Threading (HT). For example, the new Intel i3-8100 features 4 physical cores and 4 threads, whereas the previous generation’s i3-7100 featured 2 physical cores and 4 threads.
What is Hyper-Threading, and is it any different from AMDs Simultaneous Multi-Threading?
What is the difference between having a 2-core Hyper-Threaded CPU or a 4-core CPU without Hyper-Threading?