Q & A: How Many Processors Can SQL Server 2014 Express Really Use?

Q: I was considering putting a database application on SQL Server 2014 Express but I’m concerned that SQL Server Express won’t be able to handle it. I’ve understood that SQL Server 2014 Express is limited to a single CPU even if its running on a multi-core system and it can’t take advantage of additional cores. Is that right?

A: There are a lot of misperceptions about SQL Server Express one of them is about the number of cores it can use and the other is about the maximum database size that is supported. The SQL Server 2014 Express database engine is limited to the lesser of 1 Socket or 4 cores. Which means if you install it on a system with a quad-core CPU it can take advantage of all four cores. Perhaps more importantly, the SQL Server 2014 Express edition's Buffer Cache is limited to 1 GB of RAM. In addition, databases are limited to 10 GB per database data file but you can have multiple 10 GB databases per SQL Server 2014 Express instance. For more information about the SQL Server 2014 Express feature set you can check out Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2014.