Three Ways to Retrieve Processor Information

If you are looking for processor information, there are several ways to get them. In this article, I'll show how to use assembly, Registry information, or Platform SDK functions to retrieve information about CPU. You can also get processor information using WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) or Active Directory. The methods I present work for systems with one processor from Intel or AMD.

CPU Models

Each processor model is identified by a series of numbers returned by CPUID (see below) function 1. The bits returned in EAX are:

Bits	Description
0 - 3	Stepping
4 - 7	Model
8 - 11	Family
12 - 13	Processor Type
16 - 19	Extended Model
20 - 27	Exdented Family

If you know the family and model and the processor vendor, you can determine what processor you do have. The vendor name, a 12-byte string, is "GenuineIntel" for Intel's processors and "AuthenticAMD" for AMD's processor. Both family and model are 4-bit integers. The tables below show the family and model for AMD's and Intel's processors.

AMD

Family	Model	Name
4	3	486 DX2
	7	486 DX2-WB
	8	486 DX4
	9	486 DX4-WB
	14	Am5x86-WT
	15	Am5x86-WB
5	0	K5 SSA5
	1 - 3	K5
	6 - 7	K6
	8	K6-2
	9	K6-3
	13	K6-3+
6	0-1	Athlon (0.25um)
	2	Athlon (0.18um)
	3	Duron
	4	Athlon Thunderbird
	6	Athlon Palamino
	7	Duron Morgan
	8	Athlon Thoroughbred
	10	Athlon Barton
15		Extended family table must be used

Extended Family	Model	Name
0	4	Athlon 64
	5	Athlon 64FX Operon

INTEL

Family	Model	Name
4	0	486DX-25/33
	1	486DX-50
	2	486SX
	3	486DX2
	4	486SL
	5	486SX2
	7	486DX2-WB
	8	486DX4
	9	486DX4-WB
5	0	Pentium 60/66 A-step
	1	Pentium 60/66
	2	Pentium 75-200
	3	OverDrive PODP5V83
	4	Pentium MMX
	7	Mobile Pentium 75-200
	8	Mobile Pentium MMX
6	1	Pentium Pro A-Step
	2	Pentium Pro
	3	Pentium II Klamath
	5	Pentium II Deschutes
	6	Celeron Mendocino
	7	Pentium III Katmai
	8	Pentium III Coppermine
	9	Mobile Pentium III
	10	Pentium III (0.18um)
	11	Pentium III (0.13um)
7		Itanium
15		Extended family table must be used

Extended Family	Model	Name
0	0-1	Pentium IV (0.18um)
	2	Pentium IV (0.13um)
	3	Pentium IV (0.09um)
1		Itanium 2

To see the table with family and model numbers for other companies, see:

• The CPUID Guide

To learn more about AMD processor recognition, see:

• AMD Processor Recognition

Marius Bancila is a Microsoft MVP for VC++. He works as a software developer for a Norwegian-based company. He is mainly focused on building desktop applications with MFC and VC#. He keeps a blog at www.mariusbancila.ro/blog, focused on Windows programming. He is the co-founder of codexpert.ro, a community for Romanian C++/VC++ programmers.