What are cores and what are threads?
What are cores and what are threads?
I believe you're confusing what a thread is. It's not a "virtual core." CPUs don't possess threads themselves. Threads represent the operations that cores handle. A core with SMT can manage two threads simultaneously, which is why it appears as two cores in software. However, determining which core is "the core" and which thread is "the thread" doesn't make sense—it's a confusing question. Neither one is more real than the other. Each thread on a core carries equal importance. Optimization using SMT isn't about directing threads to specific physical cores; it's about ensuring the OS understands which logical pairs belong together. This helps distribute the workload effectively, regardless of whether a thread is assigned to the first or second logical core. What truly matters is that the operating system recognizes which pairs of logical cores share resources, allowing it to balance the load without favoring one core over another.
Check the thread assignment rules for core 1 and core 2. Understand how windows maps threads to cores, especially when multiple threads are involved. Confirm the pattern you're seeing with core1 and core2 to ensure accuracy.