The file /proc/cpuinfo displays what type of processor your system is running including the number of CPUs present. Here is an example output from cat /proc/cpuinfo of a system.
# cat /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 45 model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2660 0 @ 2.20GHz stepping : 6 microcode : 1561 cpu MHz : 600.000 cache size : 20480 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 16 core id : 0 cpu cores : 8 apicid : 0 initial apicid : 0 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid xsaveopt bogomips : 4399.93 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management:
Below is the various items you would see in the output and their respective explanations.
- processor – Provides each processor with an identifying number. If you have one processor it will display a 0. If you have more than one processor it will display all processor information separately counting the processors using zero notation.
- cpu family – Authoritatively tells you the type of processor you have in the system. If your computer is an Intel-based system, simply place the number in front of “86” to determine the value. This is helpful to determine the type of architecture of an older system and is helpful in determining which compiled RPM package would best suit that system.
- model name – Gives you the common name of the processor, including the project name.
- cpu MHz – Shows the processor’s precise speed, in megahertz, to the thousandth decimal point.
- cache size – Tells you the amount of level 2 memory cache available to the processor.
- flags – Defines a number of different processor attributes, such as the presence of a floating-point unit (FPU) and the ability to process MMX instructions.