Windows 10: CPU 101 -- Frequency Vs. Boost

Greetings,

I own an Asus VivoMini PC that's over 3 years old. I'm in the mood to eBay it and get something similar that is faster with more RAM. CPU Monkey says I have this --





As I shop around these days in the lands of Intel and AMD I'm discovering 3Ghz frequency speeds are not common. That is to say the Boost speeds are growing but the 'base' speeds can be lower than that. Here's a Ryzen 7 example --





Does anyone know the deal with the base frequency? Is it as simple as the higher it is the faster the PC will do basic things? Or is there a notion that better motherboards can have a slower frequency but be more efficient these days?

I'm not a gamer and I sense that's where the turbo shines. Is that what turbo is or can it make normal things (opening apps, surfing) faster too?

I fear I could make a purchase and not increase speed in the slightest, which would then make such a purchase silly.

:)

 

INCORRECT CPU FREQUENCY READING

Hello Muhammad,

CPU usage depends on the applications that are open to your device. To isolate the problem, we suggest that you answer the following questions:

• Can you include a screenshot of the CPU reading?
• Have you tried performing a
  clean boot to eliminate software conflicts?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

Looking forward to your response.

 

Why the cpu frequency shows differently in Win10 task manager and system properties?

Your CPU is an 'Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300I CPU @ 1.90GHz' with '@ 1.90GHz' as a part of that name. Which means that the processor's base frequency1 of your CPU is 1.90 GHz. But here the CPU is telling the system that it's running at 2.63GHz.

For some other CPU's I would have said its overclocked, but your CPU model has a feature known as Turbo Boost2 which enables it to automatically overclock to a higher yet safe frequency based on certain conditions.

The Turbo Boost frequency for your CPU is 2.90 GHz, which means your CPU can attain that frequency under certain conditions but is currently running at 2.63GHz.

Also, Windows calculates the max frequency of your CPU to be 2.50GHz as different algorithms are used to measure processor speed. For example, the algorithm used by Intel in its branded maximum speed is different than the algorithm used by Task Manager to directly measure the speed of the CPU. You can use other processor utilities, such as the Intel Processor Identification Utility or CPU-Z, for additional processor speed measurements.

Also note that Hyper-V as well as VMware is reported to interfere with the clock speed calculation of Task Manager.

I'd stick with CPU-Z for measuring CPU frequency as it's calculation algorithm is much better.

Notes:

1. Processor Base Frequency describes the rate at which the processor's transistors open and close. The processor base frequency is the operating point where TDP is defined. Frequency is measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.
   
2. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology accelerates processor and graphics performance for peak loads, automatically allowing processor cores to run faster than the rated operating frequency if they’re operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits. Whether the processor enters into Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and the amount of time the processor spends in that state depends on the workload and operating environment.
   

Sources:

1. Task Manager shows CPU speed that is higher than its maximum
   
2. Why is my CPU running faster than it's maximum speed?
   
3. https://goo.gl/a9Ga3h
   
4. https://goo.gl/FotxKq
   

 

Is it safe to boost up CPU performance like that?

Referring to the video, I would like to know on whether his approach is safe to boost up the CPU performance or not. would it a scam?

Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you very much for any suggestions (^v^)