How to disable turbo boost on msi laptop. Speeding up Mac: interface, Turbo Boost, cooling. Below are the test results

Intel Core I5 ​​and I7 processors, in addition to the established nominal frequency, can operate at higher speeds. This speed is achieved thanks to special Turbo Boost technology. When all drivers are installed, this technology is enabled and works by default. However, if you have installed all the software and there is no acceleration observed, it is worth monitoring Turbo Boost.

What is Turbo Boost and how does it work?

Turbo Boost is a technology that is designed specifically for Intel Core I5 ​​and I7 processors of the first three generations. It allows you to temporarily overclock the core frequency above the established nominal. Moreover, such overclocking is performed taking into account the current, voltage, temperature of the device and the state of the operating system itself, that is, it is safe. However, this increase in processor speed is temporary. It depends on the operating conditions, load type, number of cores and platform design. In addition, overclocking using Turbo Boost is only possible for Intel Core I5 ​​and I7 processors of the first three generations. The full list of devices that support this technology is as follows:

It is also worth noting that Turbo Boost technology only works on Windows 7 and 8 operating systems. Windows Vista, XP and 10 do not support this technology.

Modern central processors are able to regulate their own power depending on the load. They don't have to operate at maximum frequency when idle or when performing undemanding tasks. For all other cases, most CPUs have Turbo Boost technology. Let's talk about how to enable Turbo Boost and whether it can be done.

Turbo Boost is the official name of the technology for increasing the processor clock speed from Intel. AMD products also have a similar option, but it is called slightly differently. In both cases, technology is used for the same purpose.

You've probably paid attention to the CPU specifications, which indicate a frequency range rather than a single value. At the nominal frequency, the processor operates in standard mode. If the user increases the load, then Turbo Boost automatically increases the performance. The maximum limit is the upper value of the range.

Turbo Boost is designed to not exceed the heat dissipation and power consumption specifications. You can overcome these values ​​only with independent overclocking.

So, you have completed a number of demanding tasks (editing or rendering, heavy gaming, etc.), and then returned to the desktop, office applications, browsers. As a result, the processor disables overclocking and returns to nominal values. If necessary, the procedure is repeated. Turbo Boost can increase performance both on a single core and the processor as a whole. You will not be able to manage this mode yourself. It is up to the user to either activate Turbo Boost or turn it off completely. In the latter case, the processor will run at its base frequency, and you will experience reduced performance.

You can enable or disable automatic overclocking only using the BIOS system menu. If under any circumstances this function has been deactivated, then you need to do the following:

1. Restart your computer and press the BIOS entry key at the initial startup stage.
2. In the main settings section, find the Intel Turbo Boost item and set the Enabled value next to it.
3. Restart your computer using the F10 key.

If you do not find this item, you can simply reset the BIOS settings. Turbo Boost is always running by default, so factory settings will restore this feature. Go to the Exit tab and select Load Setup Defaults.

Automatic processor overclocking under load may be limited by operating system settings. The parameter we need is in the control panel:

1. Go to the “Power Options” section and open additional settings for the current mode.
2. Find "CPU Power Management" in the list.
3. In the minimum and maximum status items, enter 100%.
4. Save your changes and restart your computer.

You can find information about your processor on the manufacturer's official website or in one of the online stores. You can also check for automatic overclocking yourself. To do this, install the application and launch it. Information about the processor will appear in the main window. The Specification line indicates the base frequency of this CPU. Now launch any demanding application and look at the Core Speed ​​item. When Turbo Boost is active, the indicator should exceed the nominal frequency.

Video instructions

With the help of the video, you can get even more useful information regarding automatic overclocking of processors. Be sure to watch the video if you are interested in this topic!

Conclusion

So, by default, Turbo Boost runs constantly and is activated when the load increases. You can prevent it from working through the BIOS or Windows power settings. Therefore, the inclusion of technology is carried out using the same methods.

Write in the comments about your experience using Turbo Boost. If necessary, we will answer all additional questions!

Remembering that iOS 7 rendered my iPad 4 a useless photo frame, I was pleasantly surprised at how stable macOS ran on older Macs. Let's take the Macbook Pro 13 Mid 2012 as an example, which on macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (I know, a new version has already been released) copes well with everyday tasks: watching movies, browsing, creating text documents.

But a tablet will do just fine for this. We're talking about a Mac - a well-thought-out work machine, the capabilities of which also include: photo and video processing and working with graphics. And to the surprise of some, even a not-so-new Mac can become such a workstation.

Let me make a reservation right away that we will not focus on the need to upgrade hardware (replacing the HDD with an SSD, upgrading the RAM). The methods described below are based on the use of OS settings, terminal commands and special utilities. The instructions will also be useful to owners of newer Mac models, as they will talk about Turbo Boost and cooling management.

But before we begin, let's learn how to separate the two user groups: consumer and poweruser. The first are people who do not go into aspects of the OS at all. They never delete unnecessary bulky files and systematically leave resource-intensive applications “for later”.

A related group are powerusers. These people actively use their devices, while not forgetting about the banal methods of taking care of their performance: removing garbage and closing unnecessary programs. Why am I saying this? Don't be "consumers"!

Disclaimer

I am not responsible for any adverse effects caused by this instruction. Perform all actions at your own peril and risk.
The methods given below are advisory in nature. If turning on/off an option does not suit you, skip the corresponding step.

Easy

First of all, let's increase system performance by changing macOS settings. To do this, go to "System Settings".

Dock:
1. Turn off "Zoom".
2. In the item “Remove to Dock with effect” -> “simple reduction”.
3. Disable "Animate opening programs".

Users and groups:
1. Go to Login Objects.
2. Select an application that should not start with the system and click on the minus sign.

Universal Access:
1. Go to the “Monitor” tab, check the “Reduce motion” and “Reduce transparency” checkboxes.

CleanMyMac

We use the CleanMyMac utility to prevent hard drive contamination and clean RAM. Firstly, this application will help you clean your Mac from junk and uninstall applications correctly. Secondly, it has a convenient widget for the top panel, which contains information about the status of the drive, RAM, battery and recycle bin.

To clean your Mac of junk, just use Smart Cleanup:
1. Open CleanMyMac -> Smart Clean -> Start.

To clear RAM, you need to activate the widget in the top panel:
1. Open CleanMyMac and hover your mouse over the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click "CleanMyMac" -> Settings.
3. Select “CleanMyMac Menu” -> green toggle switch to “On” position.

To clear RAM:
1. Click on the CleanMyMac icon in the top bar.
2. In the widget menu that opens, move the cursor over the “Memory” cell.
3. Click on the “Release” button that appears.

To remove an application:
1. Open CleanMyMac -> Uninstaller.

2. Check the box next to the desired application -> “Delete”.

Like a Pro

The jokes are over. Let's figure out how to disable the Dashboard and notification center as unnecessary, which will save some resources, and also bend Turbo Boost and the cooling system to our will.

The following commands should be entered in the terminal:
1. Open the Terminal app (already installed on macOS).
2. Copy the desired command there and press Return (Enter).

Dashboard

Disable:
1. defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
2.killall Dock

Power on:
1. defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO
2.killall Dock

Notification Center

Disable:
1. launchctl unload -w
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist
2. Restart your Mac

Power on:
1. launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist
2. Restart your Mac

Turbo Boost

Let me remind you that the Macbook Pro 13 Mid 2012, which has an Intel Core i5 with a clock frequency of 2.5 GHz, was chosen as a guinea pig. Turbo Boost technology will allow the processor to operate above its rated frequency. In our case, overclocking will go to 3.1 GHz.

It's worth noting that Turbo Boost is always enabled by default in macOS. That is, the frequency of your processor (subject to compatibility with this technology) constantly fluctuates, jumping above the nominal value. The Turbo Boost Switcher utility will allow you to take this process into your own hands. The project has a page on GitHub. You can also find the latest version of the program there.

The program is a small executable file, the launch of which will add a lightning icon to the top panel. By clicking on it, you will see a small menu. We are interested in the “Activate Turbo Boost” key. When overclocking the processor, “Disable Tubo Boost” will take its place. You can find out about the current status by paying attention to the inscription “on” or “off” next to the program icon.

For the performance test, I used Geekbench 4, while simultaneously monitoring the processor frequency through the Intel Power Gadget. In the “off” mode, the processor frequency did not rise above 2.5 GHz. After activating Turbo Boost, the maximum frequency during the test reached 2.9 GHz. Batman: Arkham City almost reached 3 GHz.

Thus, Turbo Boost Switcher is useful in two scenarios: when you want to ensure maximum performance, when overclocking the processor is of no use. The latter is incredibly useful for Macbook owners. The standard processor frequency is more than enough for everyday tasks, and turning off Turbo Boost will help save battery power.

smcFanControl

Operating the processor at high frequencies leads to increased heat generation. As with Turbo Boost, the user has no control over the cooling system. At first glance. For this we need the smcFanControl utility. You can download it (compiled version at the very bottom). By analogy with Turbo Boost Switcher, activating the application will add it to the top panel, where all the “kitchen” will happen.

smcFanControl in the top panel can look like an icon, but can also display useful information, such as the current temperature and cooler speed. By clicking on the corresponding icon/inscription, select “Preferences” in the menu that appears.

In the dialog box that opens, you need to click on “+” to add a preset, give it a name and set the appropriate cooler speed. Subsequently, the presets are selected in the “Active Setting” tab.

In addition to interfering with the operation of the cooling system, it won’t hurt to clean it from dust and change the thermal paste from time to time. In the case of a Macbook, this is much easier. It would also be a good idea to get a cooling pad if you perform resource-intensive tasks for a long time.

Introduction

I remember the computer I purchased back in 1998. He used a Pentium II 233 processor based on the Intel Deschutes core with an Asus P2B motherboard. The system was fast, but I wanted to do something more interesting with it. And I started by installing a third-party cooler. Now I don’t remember exactly how much performance potential I was able to squeeze out, but I remember that it seemed insufficient to me. At some point, I opened the plastic cartridge of the slot processor and began experimenting with Peltier coolers to get even better cooling. In the end, I got a stable processor running at 400 MHz - at the same level as the most expensive models at the time, but significantly cheaper.

Of course, today overclocking gives a much more significant increase than 166 MHz. But the principles remain the same: take a processor running at stock clock speeds, and then squeeze the maximum out of it, trying to achieve the performance of high-end and more expensive models. With a little effort, you can very easily get a sub-$300 Core i7-920 to perform at the same level of performance as a $1,000 Core i7-975 Extreme without losing reliability.

What about automatic overclocking?

Overclocking in general has always been a tricky subject for AMD and Intel, who have not officially supported the practice and will also void warranties if the CPU shows signs of tampering. However, in public, both manufacturers are trying to gain the trust of enthusiasts by offering overclocking utilities, supporting aggressive BIOS settings, and even selling processors with an unlocked multiplier. However, experienced users have always known that there is only free cheese in a mousetrap, so killing the CPU with too much voltage is an acceptable risk.

But with the advent of Turbo Boost technology in Intel Core i7 processors for LGA 1366 and the subsequent release of a more aggressive implementation with Core i5 and Core i7 processors for LGA 1156, Intel implemented its own intelligent overclocking technology that takes into account several different factors: voltage, current, temperature and P-states of the operating system associated with CPU load.

By monitoring all of these parameters, Intel's embedded management system can improve performance by increasing clock speed in situations where the processor's maximum thermal package (TDP) has not been reached. By turning off unused cores and thus reducing power consumption, the processor frees up more capacity for single-threaded workloads, a little less for two active threads, even less for three loaded cores, and so on. As a result, Intel's "auto overclocking" provides an elegant and consistent way to increase performance without exceeding the TDP of any processor in question (130 W in the case of the Intel Bloomfield processor and 95 W in the case of the Lynnfield processor).

Can you do better?

When we discovered that the Core i7-860 and -870 processors accelerated by an impressive 667 MHz in single-threaded applications, we began to ask ourselves the question: should an advanced user overclock the processor themselves and risk ruining a good CPU, or should they just rely on Intel's dynamic overclocking? ? No, we don't want to seem lazy. Let's hope there are actually tangible benefits for enthusiasts that provide better performance. But we still don't want to throw into oblivion the efforts Intel engineers have made in trying to optimize Nehalem for balanced performance in single and multi-threaded applications.

We decided to do a small experiment: we took the Core i5-750 and Core i7-860 processors, overclocked each of them, and then compared the results of the two processors at standard frequencies with Turbo Boost technology active and with Turbo Boost technology disabled. Of course, we have Intel samples in our laboratory, but we cannot reliably consider them to be representative of retail models. So we bought both processors from Newegg, just to make sure they matched. We considered using a "boxed" Intel cooler, but in the end we figured that we would never get 4 GHz or higher unless we purchased a third-party cooler. Therefore, for testing we took the Thermalright MUX-120 model.

Getting ready for comparison

Processors

As already mentioned, in our experiment we used retail versions of the Core i5-750 and Core i7-860 processors - the two models that we think are of most interest to enthusiasts. The i5-750 is in the $200 price tier and can reliably run at 4GHz or higher, while the i7-860 is a $300 alternative with Hyper-Threading support, a base clock speed of 2.8GHz and an additional Turbo Boost stage with one active thread. .

Why didn't we take the Core i7-920 processor? This is also a very interesting option, especially if you plan to build a high-end gaming system and need the additional PCI Express 2.0 lanes that the Intel X58 chipset has. But for about the same price as the Core i7-860, the i7-920 adds a third memory channel, loses 133 MHz of base clock speed, and provides a less aggressive Turbo Boost mode. In addition, purchasing a processor for LGA 1366 means purchasing an expensive Intel X58 motherboard. Lynnfield and P55 are more suitable for those enthusiasts who are interested in the optimal price/performance ratio of a new build.

Motherboard

Our choice of motherboard will puzzle some people, but we went with the Intel DP55KG for several reasons.

Let's start with the technical ones: we initially planned to use our Asus Maximus III Formula motherboard. But after updating the board to the latest BIOS version published on the company's website, it stopped working stably with our retail CPU and Corsair Dominator memory kit. We were probably just unlucky, so we took the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 motherboard, which worked great with Turbo Boost active, but did not behave so well with Turbo Boost disabled. The tests were successful, but when launching applications and navigating Windows, it felt like we were looking at a Pentium II from ten years ago rather than a powerful machine.

Therefore, in search of a simple solution, we switched to the Intel DP55KG motherboard, which performed well in latest testing of models on Intel P55. If any motherboard should perform as expected, it would be Intel's own enthusiast-oriented model. As expected, the Kingsburg motherboard coped with our task, so we continued testing.

Then we tried to eliminate bottlenecks. The ATI Radeon HD 5850 graphics card is perfect for budget-conscious enthusiasts, and the 160 GB second-generation Intel SSD minimizes storage problems. Two 2GB Corsair DDR3-1600 Dominator GT DDR3-2200 8-8-8 modules allowed us to run at DDR3-1600 frequencies without any stability issues.

Test configuration

Tests and settings

Our first test results have already turned out to be very interesting. We observe that Turbo Boost technology provides minimal performance gains in the overall PCMark Vantage score. Meanwhile, overclocking leads to a significant gap between both processors. Turbo Boost was much more effective in the TV and Movies and Productivity tests, although overclocking provides even greater gains in both cases, as you'd expect.

Interestingly, Hyper-Threading technology provides a minimal advantage - this is what we see in all test runs of this package. Of course, this package relies on features built into Windows 7, so it's likely that the operating system's components aren't as optimized for Hyper-Threading as Microsoft would have us believe.

Turbo Boost technology has very little effect on the overall 3DMark Vantage results, but at least provides a noticeable advantage in the CPU test. In GPU tests, we do not see a noticeable impact. However, manual overclocking also has little effect in GPU tests. But this is not surprising. Both CPUs are fast enough that they won't bottleneck our single Radeon HD 5850, so we expect very little improvement in gaming performance after increasing the CPU clock speed.

This synthetic test gave a significant increase due to Hyper-Threading technology in the CPU run, which corresponds to the increase after manual overclocking, namely the quad-core i5-750 at 4 GHz is equal in performance to the i7-860 at standard clock frequencies with Turbo Boost. Well, it remains to be seen how well these results translate to real-world applications.

The most significant increase after overclocking is observed in the Dhrystone iSSE4.2 test, where Hyper-Threading has a weak effect. In the Whetstone iSSE3 test, we see that the 4-GHz Intel Core i5-750 cannot reach the Core i7-860, which runs at the standard 2.8 GHz.

Multimedia tests also show that Turbo Boost technology does not provide a significant increase, but we get an increase in performance after overclocking both CPUs to 4 GHz. Hyper-Threading plays a significant role in both test runs, which is also interesting since we expected Turbo Boost to have a more significant impact in real-world tests.

At stock clock speeds, memory bandwidth remains almost unchanged when Turbo Boost is enabled or disabled. This is because Turbo Boost only affects the processor multiplier, leaving the base clock speed BCLK unchanged (and therefore the memory divider does not change).

But when we overclock the processors by increasing the base BCLK frequency (since our CPUs have a locked multiplier), the memory bandwidth also increases, as we can see from the results of the SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Bandwidth test.

We updated our test package to the latest version of Apple iTunes (9.0.2.25), but the program's behavior did not change. It is still poorly optimized for multithreading, so Hyper-Threading technology only does harm in this case.

On the other hand, the load on just one core means that Turbo Boost significantly improves performance in iTunes. The same can be said about manual overclocking of both chips to 4 GHz. It's nice to see that theory is confirmed by practice.

Unfortunately, iTunes is an exception in our test suite, which is dominated by applications with good multithreading support. Let's see how they behave.

MainConcept can use as many threads as it has available. Even with Turbo Boost technology disabled, the Core i5-750 processor operates at a clock frequency of 2.66 GHz, and the i7-860 at 2.8 GHz. Although this test stresses all four cores, operating within thermal envelope and temperature limits means we get one step (133 MHz) when Turbo Boost is enabled, which is why both processors perform better with this feature.

More than Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading gives the Core i7-860 a significant advantage over the i5-750 - good evidence that for multi-threaded applications, it really makes sense to pay extra for Hyper-Threading.

However, overclocking minimizes the difference between the two CPUs. At a frequency of 4 GHz, both processors cope with work significantly faster than at standard frequencies. Of course, with the Core i5 we see a more significant increase in percentage, since this processor does not receive multi-threaded acceleration at standard frequencies due to the lack of Hyper-Threading.

Let's move on to the results of the DivX codec, which is well optimized for multithreading, as well as the Xvid codec, which is not so well optimized.

As you might expect, the Xvid codec does not provide an advantage (in fact, it even loses) due to the active Hyper-Threading technology on the Core i7-860 compared to the Intel i5-750. However, Turbo Boost speeds up the execution of the task on both CPUs.

Interestingly, DivX doesn't benefit much from Hyper-Threading either, suggesting a four-thread limit. In our case, the Core i7-860 is only slightly faster. And both processors get significant boosts from overclocking - enough to say that manual overclocking is the best way to speed up performance in multi-threaded applications, and you won't get as much of a boost from Turbo Boost.

HandBrake is a new program in our test package. This is a free utility that can benefit from multithreading support. In our test, we converted the first .vob file of the movie "The Last Samurai" to .mp4 format.

Since the utility supports multithreading, the Turbo Boost function has little effect. But, again, it is interesting to see that Hyper-Threading does not have the same serious effect as, for example, we saw in the SiSoftware Sandra or 3DMark Vantage packages. The real way to improve performance is through manual overclocking - we get significant performance improvements by boosting our test CPUs to 4GHz.

Our Adobe Photoshop CS4 test consists of several multi-threaded filters applied to a .TIF image. Therefore, it is not surprising that Turbo Boost technology has minimal effect. Hyper-Threading also does not have a very noticeable effect.

But what really helps increase the performance of Photoshop CS4 is the clock speed. The Core i7-860 at 2.8 GHz performs slightly better than the Core i5-750 at 2.66 GHz, and Turbo Boost gives both processors 133 MHz. At 4 GHz, both processors demonstrate comparable results, which are much higher than those without overclocking.

We were puzzled by the behavior of AVG 9 antivirus, which no longer scales as well after upgrading from AVG 8.5. However, launching the task manager during the test clarifies the situation. When the scanner is running, it consumes, at best, 10% of the processor resources. We tested the antivirus on dual-processor chips and on Atom platforms - performance really slows down if you reduce the number of processing cores and lower the clock speed. However, the Core i5-750 and Core i7-860 perform at very similar levels, so we can say that their performance in AVG 9 is identical.

3ds Max 2010 benefits from both Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technologies. Overclocking remains the best way to get maximum performance in this program. The Core i5-750 shows an advantage at 4GHz due to its 200MHz base BCLK clock, which is 10MHz higher than the i7-860's 190MHz at 4GHz.

This archiver is well optimized for multithreading (which cannot be said about the support for Hyper-Threading). WinRAR provides a minimal speed increase from Turbo Boost technology, since all four cores are active. Turning off Turbo Boost completely reduces the frequency of each CPU by 133 MHz under full load, so this technology still helps a little.

However, when both processors operate at 4 GHz, the performance is comparable (and significantly faster than at standard frequencies).

As you can see, the compression speed (in KB/s) scales proportionally not only to the clock speed, but also to the number of available cores. In fact, the 4GHz Core i5-750 can't even keep up with the 2.8GHz Core i7-860 with Turbo Boost disabled.

Since this archiver is well optimized for multithreading, Turbo Boost has little effect. Hyper-Threading adds a bit of performance, and overclocking again makes a big difference.

3D games

Crysis at all three tested resolutions shows negligible gains from Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading, or overclocking.

This game recently appeared in our test package. Unlike Crysis, which primarily loads the graphics subsystem, Left 4 Dead 2 scales more efficiently with processor performance (assuming you have a graphics card as powerful as our Radeon HD 5850, of course).

We see that the automatic 133 MHz boost due to Turbo Boost technology helps a little at low resolutions, but Hyper-Threading has no effect at all. Overclocking gives a noticeable increase in resolutions of 1680x1050 and 1920x1200. However, all these gains are no longer observed; it is worth turning on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. As with Crysis, performance starts to level out whether your system is running a 2.66GHz Core i5-750 or a 4GHz Core i7-860.

We will not conduct a full set of gaming tests, since there is no point. In our third and final Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 gaming test, we see that CPU performance doesn't always match in-game performance. This popular game isn't the best choice for testing, but a 60-second run of Act II: The Gulag shows us that Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading, and even overclocking to 4GHz don't improve frame rates.

Now comes an interesting moment too. If it were possible to configure all processors to run up to 4 GHz without changing all other variables, then our recommendations based on performance tests would already be obvious. Alas, this is not true.

The good news is that you can increase the voltage on each processor, increase their frequency to 4 GHz, and then get very modest power consumption in idle mode. Enhanced SpeedStep technology was implemented properly on the Intel DP55KG motherboard even when the base BCLK clock was set to 200 or 190 MHz, meaning both of our test processors dropped their clock speeds under no load. Of course, we see a slight increase in power consumption in both cases, but it is two or three watts, which can be ignored.

The PCMark Vantage run graph on an Intel Core i5-750 shows a completely different picture when the processor is running under load. You'll find three lines on the graph: the green one represents our run of the i5-750 with Turbo Boost completely disabled, the red one represents the power consumption with Turbo Boost active, and the blue one represents the platform power consumption when overclocking the processor to 4 GHz using the 200 MHz BCLK base frequency and voltage 1.45 V.

It is quite clear that turning on Turbo Boost leads to increased power consumption. But it is much lower than the overclocking and voltage increase required to keep our 2.66 GHz processor stable at 4 GHz.

Average power consumption without Turbo Boost was 115 W for the entire run. After enabling Turbo Boost, average power consumption increased to 120 W. After overclocking to 4 GHz, this increased to 156 W, and we still finished the test just 28 seconds faster.

Conclusion

In the end, our research into the benefits of Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading, and good old-fashioned overclocking gave us something to think about.

The first thing we learned is that Turbo Boost is most effective at improving the performance of applications that are poorly optimized for multithreading. Today there are fewer and fewer such applications, but we still have a couple of programs that get a serious performance boost after turning on Turbo Boost. We also noticed a consistent small increase after enabling Turbo Boost, even in multi-threaded applications, which is associated with one step of acceleration when using four cores. Overall, the intelligent overclocking built into processors based on the Nehalem design gives Intel a competitive advantage over AMD and its own Core 2 line in applications such as iTunes, WinZip and Lame. Turbo Boost no longer impacts the performance of MainConcept, HandBrake, WinRAR and 7zip as much - efficiently written applications that can fully load quad-core processors due to their parallelism.

Hyper-Threading is even less useful, but, again, we can give a couple of examples where this technology shows itself well in real conditions. Video transcoding applications, for example, can use Hyper-Threading and can reduce task completion time. However, there are all reasons why we would recommend the Core i5-750. This processor costs almost $100 less than the Core i7-860, but still delivers virtually the same level of performance with minimal hit-off in properly optimized programs. Before us is, in a way, a modern version of the famous Celeron 300A, which worked reliably at 450 MHz.

The biggest victory still came from manual overclocking. Of course, we appreciate the new Turbo Boost feature in Core i5 and Core i7 processors, but it's important to emphasize that the benefit of this technology is most obvious in single-threaded applications (and this benefit gradually fades away as developers begin to fully least use modern multi-core architectures). If the load on the processors is full, then the advantage from Turbo Boost is no longer so significant. Meanwhile, the gain that overclocking provides manifests itself constantly, regardless of whether you launch iTunes or HandBrake. It's also a great time to be an overclocking enthusiast, with affordable 45nm processors easily overclocking to 4GHz and recently released 32nm processors reaching 4.5GHz and beyond.

Of course, there are some subtleties associated with changing the standard parameters. First, risk must be considered. Running a processor at 4 GHz at 1.45 V is not so dangerous (even with air cooling), but if the processor burns out, you will not be able to replace it under warranty. Moreover, power consumption under load increases significantly if you increase the clock speed and voltage. Luckily, the motherboard we were using correctly reduced power consumption and clock speed when idle.

Finally, we should remind our readers that it doesn't make much sense for a gamer to invest in an expensive processor. Whether it's a $200 Core i5-750 or a $300 Core i7-860, you'll get the same frame rates at most resolutions unless you invest in a more expensive graphics card configuration.

Good afternoon, dear audience. Today we will try to explain to you what turbo boost is in a processor and for what purposes it is used. We are sure that many of you have heard about this technology, but have no idea how it works.

Turbo Boost was developed by Intel for its own chips to optimize the functionality of the chips and add performance to them without the need for overclocking.

Many people think that the technology is also applicable to CPUs made by AMD, but they are mistaken: the red ones have a mode called Turbo Core.

How does it work?

In simple terms, turbo boost mode is an automatic increase in the frequency of active cores due to those that are idle at the time of operation. Unlike manual overclocking by changing the system bus in the BIOS, the technology under review is intelligent in nature.

The increase is determined by the task being performed and the current PC load. In single-threaded computing mode, the main core is accelerated to the maximum permissible values ​​by borrowing the potential of the others (others are still idle). If the entire processor is turned on, the frequencies are distributed evenly.

The process also affects cache memory, RAM, and disk space.

Turbo Boost mode also “remembers” the following system limitations:

• temperatures at peak load;
• limiting the heat dissipation of a specific motherboard;
• increasing productivity without increasing voltage.

In other words, if your PC is built on a motherboard with a TDP of 95W, and the CPU operates with a current value of 1.4V, and the cooling system is boxed (standard), then the turbo boost function will increase the power of the CPU in such a way as to fit into the existing limitations and not go beyond the temperature limits.

The principle of increasing frequencies

We figured out what the function does. Now let's describe HOW she does this. The procedure is always performed according to the same scenario: the system sees how the processor cores (1 or more) are actively working and cannot cope with the load, i.e. need to increase frequency. The boost increases the value of each of them strictly by 133 MHz (step) and checks the following parameters:

• voltage;
• heat package;
• temperature.

If the indicators do not go beyond the limits, then the system adds another 133 MHz (another step) and re-checks the indicators. When the permissible TDP is exceeded, the stone begins to reduce the frequency separately on each core by a standard step until it reaches the maximum permissible values.

Differences between Turbo Boost 2.0 and 3.0

If version 2.0 supports a systematic increase in the operating values ​​of all processor cores, depending on the tasks being performed, then the newer version 3.0 determines the most efficient cores in order to maximize their operating frequencies in single-threaded calculations.

The second point is CPU support. The second version works on all Core i5 and i7 family chips, regardless of generation. The third is supported only by the following chips:

• Core i7 68xx/69xx;
• Core i9 78xx/79xx;
• Xeon E5-1600 V4 (single socket only).

Results

If you don't feel the need to overclock your processor on a regular basis, but have an Intel i5 or i7 chip, then you can safely count on intelligent overclocking in work applications and games if the system deems this step necessary.

At the same time, you don’t have to worry about buying a motherboard with overclocking support, or know all the intricacies of heat dissipation, as well as issues related to overclocking.

Well, if you are considering a purchase in the near future, then I recommend this one to you online store, because it is proven and popular).

In the following articles we will try to cover this point in processors and the impact of solder on the system's overclocking capabilities. So, create your dream PC.