Get full CPU name without WMI

Question

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the full processor name (as shown in Control Panel | System) without using WMI? I'm guessing there's some unmanaged call you can make.

WMI does the job, but I'm finding it intermittently crashes or locks up on some computers.

score 13 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 01 '12 at 22:00

13

You should just be able to check the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0\ProcessorNameString should give it to you

Here is some example code:

var key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0\");
var processorName = key.GetValue("ProcessorNameString");
Console.WriteLine(processorName);

edited Mar 01 '12 at 22:00

DaveShaw

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answered Mar 04 '10 at 00:47

Eric

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As far as I can see, this just returns some numbers. Can I get a the full CPU name? – Joe Albahari Mar 04 '10 at 00:57
This produces "AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+" for me. – John Knoeller Mar 04 '10 at 00:59
Sorry, I edited the answer - I originally suggested the GetSystemInfo win32 call, but that takes some work to parse - the registry way should be easier :) – Eric Mar 04 '10 at 01:00
This produces "AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual Core Mobile RM-70" for me. – Adam Mar 04 '10 at 01:04
@Eric Are You saying that GetSystemInfo win32 call also returns data that can be parsed to CPU name? – Roland Pihlakas Apr 17 '15 at 21:59

Get full CPU name without WMI

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