When you decide to buy a new PC (or upgrade the one you have) and start looking at processor specs, you’ll find that both Intel as AMD they stopped advertising their speed in single numbers and now introduce terms such as base speed, Turbo Boost or Turbo Core. how do you know now which processor is the fastest? In this article, we will get you out of doubt.
In the past when you looked at the specs of a CPU they would tell you it had X cores running at X speed, no more no less, and so it was much easier to get an idea of the speed or how slow it was and being able to buy it with different models. Today they don’t tell us specs that way anymore, but we can find up to three different speeds in a processor. Let’s break this information down to see what it means so we can determine the speed of a processor.
How to interpret processor speed
When we talk about the speed of a processor, it is usually expressed in MHz or GHz, which are the number of instruction cycles capable of executing in a single second. Obviously, the higher this number, the faster the processor will be, but the problem comes when manufacturers tell us that its speed “depends” on the circumstances.
If you look at the specs of a processor, you might find that, for example, its base speed is 3.2 GHz, its turbo frequency is 5.1 GHz, and its Turbo Boost Max frequency is 5.2 GHz. . We will see it.
- Minimum speed: This parameter is never specified, but you should know that all processors have a minimum operating speed. Normally, when the computer is idle and not under load, the processor slows down to save power and produce less heat. This does not affect performance, although it does affect consumption.
- basic speed: This is the maximum speed that the processor reaches under normal circumstances, regardless of other conditions such as power consumption, temperature or workload. It is a relatively reliable value to be able to interpret if a processor is fast or slow.
- turbo frequency: this is the maximum frequency that ALL the cores of the processor can reach at the same time, when the temperature and consumption conditions allow it. Just because the manufacturer tells you that a CPU reaches 5 GHz turbo speeds doesn’t mean your particular CPU will reach them, it will only do so when conditions permit and when the workload demands it. In other words, it’s the maximum potential speed your processor can achieve.
- Maximum boost frequency: in this case, only Intel announces this parameter in its processors. It is the maximum operating frequency that a single core (and not all of them, this is the difference with the previous one) can reach for short periods when the temperature conditions allow it, and when the workload requires it .
- Turbo-core: this is AMD’s variant of the above, which manages to dynamically increase the operating frequency of the processor when the workload is high for better performance, although it also depends on temperature and consumption .
So, what parameter to look for when buying a processor?
Once we’ve explained what each of the speeds that Intel and AMD say their processors have, you might already have a clearer idea of which one you should be looking at when choosing one or the other. model or to determine Which is faster (So keep in mind that its performance doesn’t just depend on speed, but other factors like architecture, build node, cores, threads, etc.).
To determine this, we will tell you that the parameter you must look at is the base frequency in the first place, since this is the speed at which the processor will normally operate. Second, watch the turbo speed (or boost speed in some cases), since it is the maximum speed that all the cores of the processor can reach, as long as the temperature and consumption allow it.
