# Cores, threads and sockets: what does it mean the calculation $T = tcs$ and the number on windows task manager performance?

Well, suppose then we have an CPU system such as:

Thread(s) per core $$\equiv t$$ : 4

Core(s) per socket $$\equiv c$$: 4

Socket(s) $$\equiv s$$: 1

Then, we must to perform a simple calculation such as: $$4 \cdot 4 \cdot 1 = 16$$

Therefore, in general we have:

$$T = t\cdot c \cdot s \tag{1}$$

I guess that the equation $$(1)$$ gives you then the total number of threads which your system can handle simultaneously.

On the other hand, consider the figure, of windows task manager, in the following:

In the red box we clearly see the number of "Threads". So I would like to know:

What is the difference between the number given by formula $$(1)$$ and the number given by windows task manager?

• I am not an expert on the topic, but it's possible this question is a bit too specific to Windows Task Manager, rather than computer architecture in general. – 6005 Jul 10 '20 at 16:21