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What is Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and how does it work?
Turbo Boost is a way to automatically run the processor core faster than the marked frequency if the part is operating under power, temperature, and current specifications limits of the Thermal Design Power (TDP). This results in increased performance of both single and multi-threaded applications.
What factors influence Intel® Turbo Boost Technology operation?
While Turbo Boost availability is independent of the number of active cores, the operation is dependent on having headroom (cores operating under TDP) available in one or more cores. The amount of time the system spends in Turbo Boost will ultimately depend on workload, operating environment, and platform design.
How is Intel® Turbo Boost Technology enabled or disabled?
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology is usually enabled by default by a switch in the bios where you can either enable or disable operation. Other than this, there are no user controllable settings to change Intel® Turbo Boost Technology operation either in the hardware settings or operating system. Once enabled, Intel® Turbo Boost Technology works automatically under operating system control.
Is turbo frequency the same for all active cores in the processor?
Yes
Can Intel® Turbo Boost be enabled or disabled by core?
No. You can sometimes disable cores in the bios but this is not recommended unless there is a specific reason you need to do this.
Is there a way to specify the maximum Intel® Turbo Boost frequency?
There is no way to specify the maximim frequency. Once the system is in Turbo Boost, the processor automatically determines the maximum frequency it can operate at based on operating conditions.
What modes of operation are available with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology for the Intel® Core™ i7-900 processor series?
- 1 bin (+133 MHz) across one active core
- 2 bins (+266 MHz) across one active core
- 1 bin (+133 MHz) across two active cores
- 1 bin (+133 MHz) across three active cores
- 1 bin (+ 133 MHz) across four active cores
What modes of operation are available with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology for the Intel® Core™ i7-800 processor series and the Intel® Core™ i5-700 processor series?
The following chart shows the different modes of operation. Note that bin refers to a +133 MHz increase in frequency.
|
Processor |
Intel Core i7-870
2.93 GHz |
Intel Core i7-860
2.80 GHz |
Intel Core i5-750
2.66 GHz |
|
Processor Cores |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
Active Cores |
1C |
2C |
3C |
4C |
1C |
2C |
3C |
4C |
1C |
2C |
3C |
4C |
|
Maximum Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Bin Upside |
5 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|
Maximum Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Frequency |
3.6 |
3.46 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.46 |
3.33 |
2.93 |
2.93 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
2.8 |
2.8 | |
How can I tell if Intel® Turbo Boost Technology is working?
Intel® Processor Identification Utility will be able to show you that it is working across at the highest Turbo Boost frequency if you disable the other cores in the bios. If you set the amount of cores to one in the bios and run Processor ID, it will show the highest Turbo Boost frequency. Make sure that you reset the switch in teh bios to reactivate all cores in the bios if you made that change.
How important is system integration and system design in regard to Intel® Turbo Boost Technology?
Since Intel® Turbo Boost Technology runs when the processor is operating under the power, temperature, and current specifications limits of Thermal Design Power (TDP), good system integration and thermal design becomes more important than ever to extract the benefits of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.
Where can I learn more about Intel® Turbo Boost Technology?
To learn more about Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, click here
This applies to:
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