Does Windows 7(any version) have a limit on the number of CPU's

[jfs123]

Does Windows 7(any version) have a limit on the number of CPU's you can have on one PC

I am thinking of getting 4 AMD cpus

 

[Hawkeye22]

Are there any motherboards that support 4 physical CPU's? AAnyhow, it only supports 2 physcial CPU's.

PCs with multi-core processors:
Windows 7 was designed to work with today's multi-core processors. All 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support up to 32 processor cores, while 64‑bit versions can support up to 256 processor cores.

PCs with multiple processors (CPUs):
Commercial servers, workstations, and other high-end PCs may have more than one physical processor. Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

 

[huron]

I'll agree...I'm trying to figure out where you'd get a 4CPU board (outside of a server).

If you do have a server board and 4CPUs, wouldn't you run something like VMware, KVM, or a server install?

 

[shanky887614]

the most you could probably run is 2.

hear me out before you start flaming

a normal pc tower case cant hold a board big enough to hold more

(im only guessing with the stuff below)

you could allways use hpc computing or make a linux cluster (linking a few pc's together)

then use a virtual machine software (cant think of a linux version of the top of my head) like vmware

then you have more than 2 doing a single task

 

[Zenthar]

I would lean for the same answer as shanky887614. From what I gathered, W7 Ultimate is limited to 2 sockets (but no mention on # of cores) so anything above that would require Windows Server license. There is also a limit on RAM based on the Windows edition (Starter = 2GB, HP = 16GB and the other are limited to 196GB).

 

[Branden]

starter, home basic, and home premium support 1 physical processor. professional, enterprise, and ultimate support 2 physical processors.

32 bit versions support up to 32 logical processors. 64 bit versions support up to 256 logical processors.

EDIT: the only boards you're going to find that support four physical AMD processors are going to be server boards (opteron) in the $800+ range, and you'd have to invest in a server operating system to utilize them.