i7-4800MQ Questions: 2.7GHz "up to" 3.2GHz?

Keeno99

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May 24, 2014
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Imgur of Intel Processor Identification Utility: http://imgur.com/oBEPKAh

So when I bought this laptop it said in the specs "2.7GHz up to 3.2GHz". I didn't really know what then meant until I learned about Intel's Turbo Boost. I was reading up on it and how it worked with my processor and I read that,

"Each core offers a base speed of 2.4 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.2 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.3 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.4 GHz (for 1 active core)."

Source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-4700HQ-Notebook-Processor.93264.0.html

So if my CPU clock is 3.49GHz, as shown in the Imgur, does that mean that only one of my four cores is running at 3.49GHz, or all of them? I'm guessing that 4 cores at 3.2Hz is better that 1 core at 3.49GHz (for gaming).

Thanks in advance for the help 😀
 
Solution
It depends on the multitasking level and is related to the heat dissipated from the CPU (The thermal design temperature).

regardless on whether a workload runs on core 1 or core 2, if it only keeps one core busy, then the CPU will ramp up to the highest possible speed while still remaining within the thermal design (TDP). More cores would generate more heat, so the cores would run slower, but the throughput would be better than if you had fewer cores.

Hope that explains it. :)
It depends on the multitasking level and is related to the heat dissipated from the CPU (The thermal design temperature).

regardless on whether a workload runs on core 1 or core 2, if it only keeps one core busy, then the CPU will ramp up to the highest possible speed while still remaining within the thermal design (TDP). More cores would generate more heat, so the cores would run slower, but the throughput would be better than if you had fewer cores.

Hope that explains it. :)
 
Solution