What's Turbo Boost?

[ninja0]

On the processor, when it tells you the clock speed, then the Turbo Boost speed, what does the turbo boost do, and how do you activate it?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Turbo is active by default, and it's boosts the speed depending on the number of cores in use (also takes temp limits into consideration). For example, a 2500K is 3.3Ghz base speed and 3.7 with one core Turbo, 3.6 with two, 3.5 with three and 3.4 with all 4 in use.

 

[ninja0]

Oh ok. So it activates by itself? And what if you OC it? Does it still Turbo Boost?

 

[$hawn]

On the processor, when it tells you the clock speed, then the Turbo Boost speed, what does the turbo boost do, and how do you activate it?

If the chip is not drawing it max rated power while doing something, then the chip can temporarily clock itself higher than its actual stock clock rating to get more performance....basically its like SpeedStep in reverse gear

Yes, it activates by itself if enabled in the BIOS

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Oh ok. So it activates by itself? And what if you OC it? Does it still Turbo Boost?

I suppose "activates by itself" is a good description. If you OC, especially with all cores at the same speed, it effectively disables Turbo's true function (even if Turbo itself isn't truly disabled). That's why I just OC with the main multi.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

If the chip is not drawing it max rated power while doing something, then the chip can temporarily clock itself higher than its actual stock clock rating to get more performance....basically its like SpeedStep in reverse gear

That's true, but you'll VERY rarely ever see the base speed. It'll either be lower than that with SpeedStep, or higher because of Turbo.

 

[ninja0]

Best answer selected by ninja0.

 

[ninja0]

Thanks guys for your help!

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

You're welcome.