Number of processors slide bar incorrect when using hyperthreaded processors

[ToddAndMargo]

This bug has caused absolute havoc at two different customer sites on two mission critical servers.

When setting up a new VM, the console gives a slide bar for the number of processors. On the x5650 and on the i7-920, this bar goes red, meaning you have exceeded your maximum processors, at the number of hyperthreaded processors not the number of actual physical processors.

Bug: this slide bar should go red at the actual number of *physical* processors, not the hyperthreaded processors.

And, if you take the slide bar at face value and give the VM more processors than it actually has (staying in the black portion of the bar), your VM will randomly go into a race condition (CPU storm), freezing up your VM (two mission critical servers in my case).

​http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=30907&p=137375#p137375

The attachment is of a CPU storm on an i7-920 configured for seven processors (4 physical, 8 hyperthread). Notice that all seven processors are showing the exact activity, which is not ever suppose to happen.

Many thanks, -T

[ToddAndMargo]

CPU Storm when processors are exceeded

[Frank Mehnert]

Right, we should take hyperthreads into account and we will probably do this in a future release. However, this isn't high-priority.

[Ramshankar Venkataraman]

VirtualBox 4.3 takes into account physical cores and not hyperthreads.

Closing as fixed. Please reopen if the problem still persists.