Learn about clock speed: Base Clock and Boost Speed
Speaking of microprocessors, most people look at the clock speed. This is the number of clock cycles or calculations that a microprocessor performs in a second, usually measured in megahertz (million cycles) or gigahertz (billions of cycles). Although many people do not know exactly what it is, this is an easy comparison. Suppose you want to buy a computer, usually people will assume that the larger the number, the faster the machine will run (for example, the 2.5GHz processor will be faster than the 2.3GHz processor).
- 4 simple ways to check the configuration and hardware information of computers and laptops
But besides that basic number, in recent years there has been the term Boost Speed. Most microprocessors, whether graphic or computational, have both, in which the basic speed shares the same Base Clock terminology, and at the new speed, Intel calls Turbo Boost, AMD calls it Turbo Core. So what do they really mean and where do they differ?
The faster the processor runs, the more electricity it consumes and more heat. For example, Intel Core i7-5820K processor has 6 CPU cores with Base Clock which is 3.3GHz and Turbo Boost is 3.6GHz. Basic tasks won't need 3.6GHz, even if you don't need 3.3GHz. So what must be run faster and consume more electricity unnecessarily?
Overclocking is the only thing that people who have knowledge and high needs do. Overclocking is the change of the multiplier of the cycle, accelerating the processor. Each CPU has a low number of cycles, then multiplied by a factor. For example, a CPU with a 300MHz base factor and a 11x multiplier will have a clock speed of 3.3GHz. The Boost mode mentioned above is overclocking, but not by people but by the automated system.
When the computer realizes that it needs to run more rounds (such as render video for example), it checks the speed with the temperature. If it is cool enough, it will perform overclocking to accelerate. Overclocking depends on how long the system takes, how long the cooling capacity lasts.
It should be noted that the highest clock rate only applies to 1 processor. If you only use 1 processor, you will be overclocked completely, but if you use multiple cores (for example, in the case of the Intel chip mentioned above is 6 cores), not all will reach the maximum speed. This depends on the motherboard, the higher board will allow for higher life.
Computers can also overclock themselves when needed
The phone will be slightly different. Often the manufacturer does not say how much the mobile chip's Base Clock is due to the fact that the number does not say anything about the chip. Under normal conditions, the computer processor runs at the speed of Base Clock but on the phone it does not. The speed of many ARM chips is only a few hundred MHz, but it allows them to run idle mode, saving power and heat.
The Base Clock doesn't really mean much in reality. When you use the phone, the processor will immediately increase the speed needed to do the job. It keeps that speed as long as it depends on the manufacturer because if the processor is too hot, it will adjust itself. Therefore, although using 2 identical chip phones, the clock speed is completely different. You can look at the case of Apple's iPhone slowdown scandal to understand the manufacturer's impact with machine speed.
Boost Speed is actually more like a guideline than a mandatory rule. On your computer, you should never worry about running under the Base Clock speed (unless you force it to run at a low level), but on a mobile device is different. Today's laptops are quite similar to phones. For example, the MacBook Air has an Intel Core i5 1.6Ghz core with Boost Speed of 2.7GHz, which means there will be a big trade-off between speed and battery life. Like phones, laptops do not have a cooling system as strong as desktops, so they cannot maintain Boost speed for long.
Also note that the clock speed does not determine all about the chip, but also depends on the number of processors, bus speed, buffer memory size, RAM speed, HDD and SSD. This number can be used to compare different versions of the same chip but different brands (Intel and AMD chips) or different lines (new and old chips from Intel) are not really meaningful.
So people have to benchmark each chip to give it the right rating. Benchmark basically has 2 types that are theoretical and practical.
Benchmark according to the theory of scores, is based on a benchmark software running on the browser or installed on the machine, sometimes checking whether the machine runs this software fast or slow. Overall this number is quite vague and does not indicate how bad the chip is.
Practical Benchmark captures software that performs certain tasks such as video rendering or file compression. Anandtech, for example, uses WinRAR to check, compress 2,876 files (1.52GB equivalent) and count time. The 5820K chip took 46.17 seconds while the 5930K chip only needed 44.95 seconds to complete. The conversion of video files can be measured by the number of frames in the video . Although the difference may not be much, it also shows the difference.
In general, knowing the speed of Base Clock and Boost Speed is necessary, if they are higher then of course it will be good, but these are not the only factors for you to evaluate the CPU of the machine as well as make a buying decision. The table below shows the advantages and disadvantages of some factors when evaluating computer processors.
Quality of Benefits Score minus High speed clock Machine faster- It takes more electricity
- Hotter
- More effective
- Longer battery life (with mobile devices)
- More expensive
- Need better cooling system
- Usually run poorly
- Bigger processor
- Most software is not optimized
- More expensive
See more:
- Instructions for overclocking the CPU
- Overclock CPU, GPU and RAM easily and safely
- CPU: Speed is not all
You should read it
- Is core count or clock speed more important to the CPU?
- Answer: What are clock speed, frequency Hz, MHz, GHz?
- Learn about overclocking: Should or shouldn't overclock?
- Why do all cores in the CPU always have the same speed?
- List of 6 overclocking software to effectively increase CPU processing speed
- This is why the dashboard usually displays a maximum speed above the threshold that the car can run
- 12 best free clock widgets for Android
- How to enable/disable Turbo Boost on Mac
May be interested
- Sense Desktop: The best clock for Windows 10 desktopon windows 10, there is a default clock on the taskbar, but many people find it a bit small compared to their computer screens. therefore, this article will introduce you to a great desktop clock application for windows 10.
- Is it possible to move the clock position on the iPhone lock screen? Options to customize the lock screenwhen the iphone is equipped with many ways to customize the iphone's interface, you will surely want to find a way to change the clock position on the lock screen. although apple doesn't have an official feature that allows you to do this, you can still try the trick. check out the article below to learn how to customize the clock on the iphone lock screen, including how to get around apple's limits when you actually want to move the clock to another location.
- How to show the clock on the Taskbar in Windows 10did you know that you can display the second clock in the taskbar? if not, read this article to learn how to do it!
- Toshiba joins the 'village' of Intel Core i7 laptoptoshiba qosmio x500 only comes with 1.6 ghz core i7 cpu, but in turbo boost acceleration mode it can adjust the clock speed up to 2.8 ghz
- This is why the dashboard usually displays a maximum speed above the threshold that the car can runwe all understand that the maximum speed of the vehicle we are driving cannot reach the speed shown on the clock, except for the million-dollar cars with the horrible performance like the bugatti chiron. so, why do manufacturers let these watches not reflect the same performance?
- Is the death clock really able to accurately predict human lifespan?a free website called death clock uses ai to predict a user's lifespan based on their daily habits.
- Learn about how the CPU works (Part II)in the previous lesson, we learned the basic information about clock and external clock that works in the cpu, this article will continue with the diagram of a cpu and memory storage.
- Developing a nuclear clock so precise it could redefine timeresearchers at jila are pioneering the development of a nuclear clock using the element thorium-229, which offers unprecedented stability compared to conventional atomic clocks.
- How to adjust Casio electronic clock timer 3 buttons, 4 extremely easy buttonstipsmake.com's article will share with you how to adjust the casio clock timer 3 buttons and how simple the 4 button casio clock timer is.
- Why does the clock, minute hand of the watch run from right to left without the opposite direction?looking at the clock for years but surely many people do not understand why the clock hands run in the same direction. let's find out what's interesting behind this seemingly obvious thing.