x86info

x86info is a powerful CPU identification utility that provides users with an accurate summary of their CPU’s specifications. Developed to succeed the outdated CPU identification program known as cpuid, x86info is a comprehensive tool that is quick and easy to use.

One of the key features of this application is its SMP support, which enables users to recognize all Intel/AMD/IDT/Cyrix/VIA CPUs without any issues. Moreover, x86info can parse model specific registers more effectively and provide users with an approximation of the current CPU MHz.

To use the MSR/SMP functions, x86info requires the x86 cpuid driver, which is provided with the Linux kernel since 2.2.18/2.4.0, and the appropriate nodes in /dev. Users can set up these devices by typing the following commands in their terminal:

mkdir /dev/cpu
for i in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
do
mkdir /dev/cpu/$i ; cd /dev/cpu/$i
mknod cpuid c 203 $i
mknod msr c 202 $i
done

If users are using the cpuid/msr drivers built as modules rather than built into the kernel, they should ensure that the following alias is present in their /etc/modules.conf file:

alias char-major-202 msr
alias char-major-203 cpuid

To make the most of x86info, users can refer to the helpful command line switches listed in the man page. Overall, x86info is an excellent CPU identification utility that provides invaluable information to users looking to better understand their computer’s CPU.