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If a dual core processor have 4 threads, then what will happen if i run an application which uses more than 4 threads?

And just to make sure i'm understanding what are threads in a cpu, when an application uses more than one "task" on its main process a single core will switch back and forth between the threads to give the illusion that it is running them in parallel, is that right?

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  • $\begingroup$ Processors/cores have power consumption more prominently than threads. They may support more than one thread, a fixed number more often than not. There may be operations from different threads in progress at the same time, grain&level of parallelism differing, marketing terms as well. $\endgroup$
    – greybeard
    May 1, 2021 at 6:35

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If there are $2$ cores and $4$ threads, two threads will be assigned to each core. Similarly, if there are $6$ threads, three threads will be assigned to each core. For example, suppose $6$ threads are $T_1,T_2,T_3,T_4,T_5,T_6$. Then, say $T_1,T_2,T_3$ are assigned to core $1$ and $T_4,T_5,T_6$ are assigned to core $2$.

As you are saying, $T_1,T_2,T_3$ will switch back and forth on core $1$ to give an illusion of parallel. However, note that $T_1$ and $T_4$ are indeed running in parallel on different cores.

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