How to find out which CPU you have

Look inside your PC’s case and you won’t be able to see what CPU you have. That’s because there will be a CPU cooler of some description obscuring your view. Whether you’re rocking an All-in-One cooler, or a fan-based unit, like the CORSAIR A115, there’s no way to see the top of the chip’s heatspreader which holds the vital information you're after. Worry not though, there is another way to find out what CPU you have. In fact, there are plenty of ways.

Unlike some of the hardware inside your PC, finding out which processor you have is relatively straightforward. You won’t have to install any third-party software to do so, either, although that’s an option we’ll cover as well. You can find out this information without even booting Windows too, if that’s something you require.

There are numerous reasons why you’d want to discover what CPU you have. It may be to do with hardware compatibility or a virtualisation check. Maybe you want to see just how much RAM you can pair with it. Or simply to check whether you meet the minimum specifications for a game, application, or piece of hardware you’ve been eyeing up. But how do you actually find out what CPU you have?

Assuming you’re running Microsoft Windows 11, you can find out what processor you have by right-click the Start button and selecting System from the pop-up menu. You’ll find information about your Processor just below the Device name. All pretty straightforward stuff. You’ll also find the amount of RAM installed in your system here, which can be useful to know.

Another way to find out which processor you have within Windows is using the System Information tool. Hit the [Windows] + R keys to bring up the run command and type ‘msinfo32’ before hitting the OK key. This will reveal a wealth of core information about your computer setup, including what processor you’re running. You’ll find this a little way down the list, roughly at entry number 10.

In the above example you can see the CPU listed as the 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700K. It then goes on to list its official operating frequency as well as how many cores and logical processors it has.

Combine this with some cunning internet searching, potentially hitting Intel Ark or AMD’s website for more details, and you should have everything you need about your processor, including its capabilities and what features it supports.

If you’re looking for even more information about your system, including details about the CPU itself, then there’s a third-party tool that is worth spending a bit of time with. That tool is CPU-Z from CPUID and the good news is that it’s freeware, and therefor won’t cost you a penny to use.

Simply point your favourite browser at www.cpuid.com and download CPU-Z. Unpack it to wherever is most useful and then run it to find out more about your system. You’ll find all the pertinent information about your processor on the first default tab, including its official name as well as its Code Name, what it’s Max TDP is and what the current Core Speed is. It’s a very useful tool and one that is great for finding out even more about your machine and its capabilities.

Your UEFI BIOS is the glue that holds your system together. It holds the basic information for the various components in your machine and it’s here where you can make fundamental changes to how some elements of your system work and communicate with each other.

It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that this is also where you’ll find information about your processor. The trick bit is that there isn’t a universal way of getting into your UEFI BIOS. Some motherboards require that you hit the [DEL] key as it boots, others may need the [F2] or [F10]. Check your motherboard manufacturer’s website for more information.

Once you do make it into your UEFI BIOS, you should find the CPU information on the default page it boots into. You’ll also find more detailed information and feature options further inside the BIOS, but if you just want to find out what CPU you have, this is a great way of finding out even if you don’t have an operating system on the machine in

There you have it. Four different ways to find out what processor you have inside your PC. There are plenty of other tools and utilities that can give you this information as well, but these are the main ways, and apart from CPU-Z, which is useful for finding out other information as well, you have access to all of these already.