RJCP.Diagnostics.CpuId 0.8.1

CPU ID

This is a small proof of concept library that obtains CPU information using native CPU instructions on x86 compatible processors, using the cpuid instruction.

It can also read a specific XML format instead of querying the local processor for offline parsing.

• 1. Features
• 2. Project Organization
  • 2.1. The Windows Tool
• 3. Programming Notes
  • 3.1. NuGet Package
  • 3.2. Supported Processors and Features
    • 3.2.1. Intel
    • 3.2.2. AMD
• 4. Further Help
• 5. References
• 6. Release History
  • 6.1. Version 0.8.1
  • 6.2. Version 0.8.0

1. Features

This program is limited to querying Intel and AMD processors, as of November 2020.

It performs a register dump, or can load a previously saved register dump, and interpret:

• the features for AMD/Intel (see Supported Processors and Features for more information)
• the brand string/description
• CPU and Cache and Topology

It is written for Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2003 and later, using .NET 4.0, to try and target as many CPUs as possible.

2. Project Organization

There are 4 projects:

• A C++ library compiled with Visual Studio 2022 IDE with Windows XP compatibility
• A .NET Assembly reusable in other projects
• CPUID for Windows
• CPUID Console to dump CPUID data to an XML file

2.1. The Windows Tool

Just run the Windows application and you'll be presented a very basic view. The first tab shows the basic CPU identification features. It shows a tree for each CPUID node found and a break down for some of the CPUID leaves.

3. Programming Notes

The library supports executing a dump and setting the affinity of the current thread to the current logical processor. You should generally however set the affinity of the current thread to the processor you wish to detect before executing to obtain consistent results.

3.1. NuGet Package

Include the NuGet package RJCP.Diagnostics.CpuId in all projects and dependent projects if not including the sources direct. The NuGet package must be included in all dependent projects in addition so that the native libraries are made available (this is a limitation of NuGet).

3.2. Supported Processors and Features

Features are not shared between processors, but are derived directly from the manufacturers documentation.

3.2.1. Intel

The Intel processor is identified as GenuineIntel. Functionality supported, based on [1] and [2].

• Register dumps as given in [2].
• Function 01h
  • Processor Signature
  • Family
  • Model
  • Stepping
  • Processor Type
• Function 80000002-4h
  • Brand String partial, defined from [1]
• Features from Function 01h, 07h, defined in [3], [4].
• Cache Topology in 04h, defined in [3].
• CPU Topology, defined in [3].

3.2.2. AMD

The AMD processor is identified as AuthenticAMD

Functionality supported, based on [6].

• Register dumps as given in [6]
• Function 01h
  • Processor Signature
  • Family
  • Model
  • Stepping
• Function 80000002-4h
  • Brand strings for Family Fh [11] [12], 10h [13], 11h [14], 12h [15], 14h [16]
• Features from function 01h, 07h, 80000001h, 80000008h, 8000001Fh, defined in [6], [6a], [7], [8], [9], [10].
• Cache Topology in function 80000005h, 80000006h, 80000019h, 8000001Dh, defined in [6].
• CPU Topology in function 8000001Eh, defined in [6].

4. Further Help

It is appreciated if CPUID dumps are provided. Most online resources no longer provide the raw CPUID data, which is essential to test this library. Many bugs could be found by the large amount of CPUID dumps found by http://users.atw.hu/instlatx64/ for example.

5. References

This section contains references to documentation used to collate CPUID information.

• [1] Intel, Intel(R) Processor Identification and the CPUID Instruction, Application Note 485, Order Number: 241618-039, May 2012
• [2] Intel, Intel(R) 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual, Combined Volumes: 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D and 4, Order Number: 325462-072US, May 2020
• [3] Intel, Intel(R) Architecture Instruction Set Extensions and Future Features Programming Reference, Document Number: 319433-038, March 2020
• [4] Wikipedia contributors. CPUID. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. November 19, 2020, 17:05 UTC. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CPUID&oldid=989549561. Accessed November 29, 2020.
• [5] AMD, CPUID Specification, Publication Number: 25481, Revision 2.34, September 2010
• [6] AMD, AMD64 Architecture Programmers Manual, Volume 3: General-Purpose and System Instructions, Publication Number: 24594, Revision 3.31, October 2020
• [6a] AMD, AMD64 Architecture Programmers Manual, Volume 3: General-Purpose and System Instructions, Publication Number: 24594, Revision 3.20, May 2013
• [7] Christian Ludloff, Sandpile.org. Available at: https://www.sandpile.org/x86/cpuid.htm. Accessed November 29, 2020, 16:54 UTC
• [8] AMD, Reference PPR for AMD Family 17h Model 18h, Rev B1 Processors, Publication Number: 55570-B1, Revision 3.15, July 9th, 2020
• [9] AMD, BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide (BKDG) for AMD Family 15h Models 10h-1Fh Processors, Publication Number: 42300, Revision 3.12, July 14th, 2015
• [10] AMD, Processor Programming Reference for AMD Family 17h Model 60h, Revision A1 Processors, Publication Number: 55922, Revision 3.06, September 28th, 2020
• [11] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD Athlon(tm) 64 and AMD Opteron(tm) Processors, Publication Number: 25759, Revision 3.79, July 2009
• [12] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD NPT Family 0Fh Processors, Publication Number: 33610, Revision 3.48, December 2011
• [13] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD Family 10h Processors, Publication Number: 41322, Revision 3.84, August 2011
• [14] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD Family 11h Processors, Publication Number: 41788, Revision 3.00, July 2008
• [15] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD Family 12h Processors, Publication Number: 44739, Revision 3.10, March 2012
• [16] AMD, Revision Guide for AMD Family 14h Model 00h-0Fh Processors, Publication Number: 47534, Revision 3.18, February 2013
• [17] AMD, AMD Processor Recognition Application Note, Publication Number: 20734, Revision P, December 1999
• [17a] AMD, AMD Processor Recognition Application Note, Publication Number: 20734, Revision 3.00, April 2003

6. Release History

6.1. Version 0.8.1

Features:

• Interpret the TLB structure for more modern Intel CPUs (DOTNET-302)
• Add the "Die" group to CpuTopoType (DOTNET-474)
• Update Intel Feature Flags to SDM 2023-11, upto 1Fh (DOTNET-882, DOTNET-890)
• Update AMD Feature Flags (DOTNET-882)
• CpuFeatures now have descriptive strings, as we add more more features (DOTNET-883, DOTNET-885, DOTNET-887)
• Added AMD features 8000001B, 8000001C, 80000020, 80000021, 80000022, 80000023 (DOTNET-884)
• Windows XP alternative to GetCurrentProcessorNumber() used (DOTNET-309)
• Add Intel Hybrid BIG.little (DOTNET-891)
• For Linux, calculate the AMD64 feature level (DOTNET-903)

Bufgixes:

• Properly set the number of partitions (DOTNET-878)
• AMD RDPID (8000001A) corrected (DOTNET-882)
• Bit feature flags checked for Intel and AMD and corrected (DOTNET-883)
• AMD CPUID check infinite loop in DLL fixed (DOTNET-884)

Quality:

• Update README.md for NuGet package (DOTNET-809)
• Minor performance warnings (DOTNET-886)
• CPUDLL upgraded to use VS2022 and compile for Windows XP (DOTNET-888, DOTNET-889)
• Documentation clean up (DOTNET-891, DOTNET-904)
• Update .NET 4.5 to 4.6.2 (DOTNET-936, DOTNET-937, DOTNET-938, DOTNET-942, DOTNET-945, DOTNET-959)
• Update to .NET 8.0 (DOTNET-982, DOTNET-985)

6.2. Version 0.8.0

• Initial release