I am confused by the difference between "Cores" and "Processors". A lot of the computers are 2-cores, 4-cores. Does this mean that they have one processor with 2 or 4 cores on that single processor?
Also, for intel core i5, it seems that there are 4 CPUs in the task manager, are they referring to 4 core on a processors, or 4 processors with one core each, or 2 cores on 2 processors?
Best Answer
Yes, a multi-core processor is a single piece of hardware ("one processor") that provides several cores than can work concurrently.
The i5 is a single processor that provides either 2 or 4 physical cores depending on model (see here).
Note that some Intel processors (the i5 included) use hyperthreading, a system where a single processor has (for example) 2 physical cores, but will provide 4 logical cores - allowing the operating system to treat the processor as having more cores than it really does.