Hyper-Threading is Intel’s term for simultaneous multithreading (SMT). This is a process where a CPU splits each of its physical cores into virtual cores, which are known as threads. For example, most of Intel's CPUs with two cores use hyper-threading to provide four threads, and Intel CPUs with four cores use hyper-threading to provide eight threads.
Hyper-threading is currently available on Intel Core, Core vPro, Core M and Xeon processors. To use Hyper-Threading, you’ll also need an operating system (OS) and BIOS that supports Intel’s hyper-threading technology.
This article is part of the Tom's Hardware Glossary.
Further reading:
