would a core failure on a multicore computer cause system instability?











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Say for example, one of the cores in a quad core computer overheated and died, would the system compensate by routing all operations to the remaining 3 cores, or would the computer be inoperable? If the system compensates, could it compensate for 3 of 4 cores failing?










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  • If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
    – Hennes
    Jan 17 '13 at 19:43






  • 2




    @Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
    – grawity
    Jan 17 '13 at 20:57












  • ... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
    – Scott
    Nov 23 at 11:05

















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












Say for example, one of the cores in a quad core computer overheated and died, would the system compensate by routing all operations to the remaining 3 cores, or would the computer be inoperable? If the system compensates, could it compensate for 3 of 4 cores failing?










share|improve this question






















  • If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
    – Hennes
    Jan 17 '13 at 19:43






  • 2




    @Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
    – grawity
    Jan 17 '13 at 20:57












  • ... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
    – Scott
    Nov 23 at 11:05















up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











Say for example, one of the cores in a quad core computer overheated and died, would the system compensate by routing all operations to the remaining 3 cores, or would the computer be inoperable? If the system compensates, could it compensate for 3 of 4 cores failing?










share|improve this question













Say for example, one of the cores in a quad core computer overheated and died, would the system compensate by routing all operations to the remaining 3 cores, or would the computer be inoperable? If the system compensates, could it compensate for 3 of 4 cores failing?







cpu operating-systems core






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asked Jan 17 '13 at 19:14









wonton

275213




275213












  • If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
    – Hennes
    Jan 17 '13 at 19:43






  • 2




    @Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
    – grawity
    Jan 17 '13 at 20:57












  • ... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
    – Scott
    Nov 23 at 11:05




















  • If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
    – Hennes
    Jan 17 '13 at 19:43






  • 2




    @Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
    – grawity
    Jan 17 '13 at 20:57












  • ... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
    – Scott
    Nov 23 at 11:05


















If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
– Hennes
Jan 17 '13 at 19:43




If you have a 4 cylinder car and one of the cylinders breaks, do you expect it to run fine on the remaining 3?
– Hennes
Jan 17 '13 at 19:43




2




2




@Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
– grawity
Jan 17 '13 at 20:57






@Hennes: Cylinders cannot be compared to CPU cores, given that it's possible to turn off any given core manually. It's more similar to four engines in a single car.
– grawity
Jan 17 '13 at 20:57














... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
– Scott
Nov 23 at 11:05






... or trying to develop a software product with a staff of three programmers  when you had expected to have four.
– Scott
Nov 23 at 11:05












4 Answers
4






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3
down vote



accepted










It largely depends on the exact failure (and the system architecture, but I'll assume you're talking about a standard x86 based system).



In short, the system will not function properly - with exact symptoms ranging from appearing to be okay "most of the time" to a complete failure to boot.
There is no mechanism to ignore the bad core at run time, and as such anything that attempts to execute there risks failing/corruption/crashing.






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  • I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
    – FreeSoftwareServers
    Apr 8 at 9:25


















up vote
2
down vote













No. Your computer is not supposed to start-up at all if any core has failed.



If any core failure is detected at testing and packaging stage, it can be disabled like those AMD 3-core processors.






share|improve this answer




























    up vote
    1
    down vote













    A CPU core cannot be compared to a car engine. Depending on the system BIOS, it may or may not detect a core failure. Most probably it will still route operations to the core and fail. The BIOS may allow for discrete core disabling (trial and error on each core), in which case you will be able to operate normally. At the end of the day, time to replace the CPU






    share|improve this answer




























      up vote
      0
      down vote













      I can say that I have a i7 6700k with 3 out of 4 cores working. If I have all 4 cores active, it will just blue screen when I start my computer. However, when I go into BIOS and change to only 3 active cores, it will perform normally. I have no idea how the core was damaged as I bought this computer broken for a cheap price and fixed it.






      share|improve this answer








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      Scott Jones is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.


















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        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

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        4 Answers
        4






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes








        up vote
        3
        down vote



        accepted










        It largely depends on the exact failure (and the system architecture, but I'll assume you're talking about a standard x86 based system).



        In short, the system will not function properly - with exact symptoms ranging from appearing to be okay "most of the time" to a complete failure to boot.
        There is no mechanism to ignore the bad core at run time, and as such anything that attempts to execute there risks failing/corruption/crashing.






        share|improve this answer





















        • I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
          – FreeSoftwareServers
          Apr 8 at 9:25















        up vote
        3
        down vote



        accepted










        It largely depends on the exact failure (and the system architecture, but I'll assume you're talking about a standard x86 based system).



        In short, the system will not function properly - with exact symptoms ranging from appearing to be okay "most of the time" to a complete failure to boot.
        There is no mechanism to ignore the bad core at run time, and as such anything that attempts to execute there risks failing/corruption/crashing.






        share|improve this answer





















        • I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
          – FreeSoftwareServers
          Apr 8 at 9:25













        up vote
        3
        down vote



        accepted







        up vote
        3
        down vote



        accepted






        It largely depends on the exact failure (and the system architecture, but I'll assume you're talking about a standard x86 based system).



        In short, the system will not function properly - with exact symptoms ranging from appearing to be okay "most of the time" to a complete failure to boot.
        There is no mechanism to ignore the bad core at run time, and as such anything that attempts to execute there risks failing/corruption/crashing.






        share|improve this answer












        It largely depends on the exact failure (and the system architecture, but I'll assume you're talking about a standard x86 based system).



        In short, the system will not function properly - with exact symptoms ranging from appearing to be okay "most of the time" to a complete failure to boot.
        There is no mechanism to ignore the bad core at run time, and as such anything that attempts to execute there risks failing/corruption/crashing.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Jan 17 '13 at 19:48









        BowlesCR

        2,527718




        2,527718












        • I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
          – FreeSoftwareServers
          Apr 8 at 9:25


















        • I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
          – FreeSoftwareServers
          Apr 8 at 9:25
















        I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
        – FreeSoftwareServers
        Apr 8 at 9:25




        I have a broken core and my computer works, i disabled it via BIOS
        – FreeSoftwareServers
        Apr 8 at 9:25












        up vote
        2
        down vote













        No. Your computer is not supposed to start-up at all if any core has failed.



        If any core failure is detected at testing and packaging stage, it can be disabled like those AMD 3-core processors.






        share|improve this answer

























          up vote
          2
          down vote













          No. Your computer is not supposed to start-up at all if any core has failed.



          If any core failure is detected at testing and packaging stage, it can be disabled like those AMD 3-core processors.






          share|improve this answer























            up vote
            2
            down vote










            up vote
            2
            down vote









            No. Your computer is not supposed to start-up at all if any core has failed.



            If any core failure is detected at testing and packaging stage, it can be disabled like those AMD 3-core processors.






            share|improve this answer












            No. Your computer is not supposed to start-up at all if any core has failed.



            If any core failure is detected at testing and packaging stage, it can be disabled like those AMD 3-core processors.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Jan 17 '13 at 19:26









            segfault

            1,09021526




            1,09021526






















                up vote
                1
                down vote













                A CPU core cannot be compared to a car engine. Depending on the system BIOS, it may or may not detect a core failure. Most probably it will still route operations to the core and fail. The BIOS may allow for discrete core disabling (trial and error on each core), in which case you will be able to operate normally. At the end of the day, time to replace the CPU






                share|improve this answer

























                  up vote
                  1
                  down vote













                  A CPU core cannot be compared to a car engine. Depending on the system BIOS, it may or may not detect a core failure. Most probably it will still route operations to the core and fail. The BIOS may allow for discrete core disabling (trial and error on each core), in which case you will be able to operate normally. At the end of the day, time to replace the CPU






                  share|improve this answer























                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote









                    A CPU core cannot be compared to a car engine. Depending on the system BIOS, it may or may not detect a core failure. Most probably it will still route operations to the core and fail. The BIOS may allow for discrete core disabling (trial and error on each core), in which case you will be able to operate normally. At the end of the day, time to replace the CPU






                    share|improve this answer












                    A CPU core cannot be compared to a car engine. Depending on the system BIOS, it may or may not detect a core failure. Most probably it will still route operations to the core and fail. The BIOS may allow for discrete core disabling (trial and error on each core), in which case you will be able to operate normally. At the end of the day, time to replace the CPU







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Jan 11 '14 at 0:17









                    Paul

                    111




                    111






















                        up vote
                        0
                        down vote













                        I can say that I have a i7 6700k with 3 out of 4 cores working. If I have all 4 cores active, it will just blue screen when I start my computer. However, when I go into BIOS and change to only 3 active cores, it will perform normally. I have no idea how the core was damaged as I bought this computer broken for a cheap price and fixed it.






                        share|improve this answer








                        New contributor




                        Scott Jones is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                        Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                          up vote
                          0
                          down vote













                          I can say that I have a i7 6700k with 3 out of 4 cores working. If I have all 4 cores active, it will just blue screen when I start my computer. However, when I go into BIOS and change to only 3 active cores, it will perform normally. I have no idea how the core was damaged as I bought this computer broken for a cheap price and fixed it.






                          share|improve this answer








                          New contributor




                          Scott Jones is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                          Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                            up vote
                            0
                            down vote










                            up vote
                            0
                            down vote









                            I can say that I have a i7 6700k with 3 out of 4 cores working. If I have all 4 cores active, it will just blue screen when I start my computer. However, when I go into BIOS and change to only 3 active cores, it will perform normally. I have no idea how the core was damaged as I bought this computer broken for a cheap price and fixed it.






                            share|improve this answer








                            New contributor




                            Scott Jones is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                            Check out our Code of Conduct.









                            I can say that I have a i7 6700k with 3 out of 4 cores working. If I have all 4 cores active, it will just blue screen when I start my computer. However, when I go into BIOS and change to only 3 active cores, it will perform normally. I have no idea how the core was damaged as I bought this computer broken for a cheap price and fixed it.







                            share|improve this answer








                            New contributor




                            Scott Jones is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                            Check out our Code of Conduct.









                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer






                            New contributor




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                            answered Nov 23 at 10:20









                            Scott Jones

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