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Lots of exciting new computers! And no matter what, we still get jazzed about processor speeds. But what’s this Turbo Boost business Apple mentioned? Why do CPUs have two different speeds? It’s actually pretty simple.
As the name implies, Turbo Boost is… turbo. Let’s say your new MacBook Pro has a 2.7GHz processor. It’ll run at that speed until you try to run something that requires extra power.
If you need more power, your Ivy Bridge processor will give it to you by cranking itself up. Think of a jet hitting the afterburner. The fastest chips Apple is using can push themselves all the way to 3.7 GHz — a a full gigahertz jump, on demand.
Great news! Overclocking isn’t a pain in the arse anymore. Your CPU will figure out how many extra cycles it needs, and then reconfigure itself. No need to restart, no need for trial and error — it’s all handled by an algorithm Intel cooked up. You’ll never even know it’s happening.
With a processor that makes itself faster (or slower) based on need, you get more from your battery. Overclocking a processor has usually been a permanent affair. You boost your CPU for more speed, and it stays that way, running hotter and electricity-greedier the entire time. Turbo Boost only stays hot as long as it needs to. Smart!
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Hah I havent seen a Turbo button since my old 80286SX!
Sweet!
This isn’t new, guys. I am using a year old Sony laptop with an Intel processor that does this turbo boost thing.
I’m a bit confused by the timing of this article too.
Yeah it’s been in MPBs for two or three years now.
It made over locking even more of a pain in the arse for me.
It throws up so many more questions.
If you overclock your machine does it turn the turboboost off?
If you clock it so it’s high but stable will turboboost blow the chip too molten schrapnel?
I couldn’t be arsed to find out.
1) No you need to turn it off in the bios.
2) If you decide to oc with turbo boost on then you need to take the turbo boost into consideration, either way you will need to test for stability beforehand.
Turbo boost gives extra performance without any effort. Most overclockers would probably disable it when actually overclocking though.