Turbo Boost / Precision Boost
A CPU feature that opportunistically raises clock speed above the base clock when thermal and power budgets allow. Intel calls it Turbo Boost; AMD calls it Precision Boost.
Modern CPUs ship with two headline clocks. The base clock is the guaranteed all-core sustained frequency at TDP. The boost clock is the maximum single-core opportunistic frequency.
When boost engages
- Lightly threaded workloads (one or two active cores).
- Cool silicon — boost backs off as the chip heats.
- Within the power limit (PL1/PL2 on Intel, PPT on AMD).
All-core vs single-core boost
A spec sheet often hides the all-core boost figure. A 5.7 GHz single-core boost may mean only 4.9 GHz when all 16 cores load up. For rendering and compilation, the all-core figure predicts real performance.
In comparisons
Two chips with similar boost clocks but very different base clocks will diverge under sustained load — the higher base clock wins long renders, the higher boost wins short bursts and game responsiveness.