3 CPU cores and not 4?

[lostsoul62]

I have a AMD 955 Quad but now it's only showing 3 cores on my gadget. Is there a way to check this out so I'm wondering if there is something wrong with my CPU?

 

[Eccid]

Open your task manager and go to the Performance tab. At the top under cpu usage history, you should have a balck box with a green grid for each core you have. If it only shows 3 and you have a quad, your CPU may be defective.

 

[Zepher]

There is also a setting in BIOS to turn on and off individual cores. One of your cores may be turned off.
My brothers AMD 6 core had one turned off in the BIOS when it was first put together. Found the setting and enabled it.
Have no idea why 1 core was disabled on a new motherboard but it was.

 

[Britton30]

The gadget may be malfunctioning too. Download CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting and see what it tells you.