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Turbo Boost Limits
To further differentiate their Core i7 and Core i5 processors, Intel introduced different Turbo Boost limits for each processor. Not only are these limits determined by the processor model, they are also determined by the number of active processor cores. To make it simple for you to understand how it all works, we compiled this table for your reference.
Processor |
Turbo |
4 Active Cores |
3 Active Cores |
2 Active Cores |
1 Active Core |
Core i7-975 EE |
3.33 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.60 GHz |
Core i7-965 EE |
3.20 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
Core i7-960 |
3.20 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
Core i7-950 |
3.06 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
Core i7-940 |
2.93 GHz |
3.06 GHz |
3.06 GHz |
3.06 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
Core i7-870 |
2.93 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.60 GHz |
Core i7-860 |
2.80 GHz |
2.93 GHz |
2.93 GHz |
3.33 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
Core i7-920 |
2.66 GHz |
2.80 GHz |
2.80 GHz |
2.80 GHz |
2.93 GHz |
Core i5-750 |
2.66 GHz |
2.80 GHz |
2.80 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
Core i7-860S |
2.53 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
Core i5-750S |
2.40 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
3.20 GHz |
Core i5-670 |
3.46 GHz |
NA |
NA |
3.60 GHz |
3.73 GHz |
Core i5-661/660 |
3.33 GHz |
NA |
NA |
3.46 GHz |
3.60 GHz |
Core i5-650 |
3.20 GHz |
NA |
NA |
3.33 GHz |
3.46 GHz |
For more specifications, take a look at our Desktop CPU Comparison Guide. |
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Our Test Processors
To test the effect of Turbo Boost on real-world applications and games, we used the Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition and Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition processors. Here are their specifications.
Processor |
Cores |
Threads |
L1 Cache |
L2 Cache |
L3 Cache |
QPI |
BCLK |
Clock |
Core i7-975 EE |
4 |
8 |
32 KB x 4 |
256 KB x 4 |
8 MB |
6.4 GT/s |
25x |
3.33 GHz |
Core i7-965 EE |
4 |
8 |
32 KB x 4 |
256 KB x 4 |
8 MB |
6.4 GT/s |
24x |
3.20 GHz |
Although these Extreme Edition processors feature unlocked multipliers, changing the multiplier disables Turbo Boost, so we cannot use these processors to simulate their lesser brethren. We will add more processors to this comparison as they come in, but right now, we are limited to these two processors.
Please remember that these two processors deliver the smallest amount of Turbo Boost acceleration of just one speed bin (+133 MHz). Therefore, these results will only show you the smallest performance boost you can expect from the Intel Core i7/i5 processors.
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• Intel Turbo Boost Technology Revealed |
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