# How is turbo-mode affected by overclocking the 2600k?



## dont-have-a-cow (Dec 24, 2010)

Hey guys, I'm going to get a Core i7 2600k for my new gaming build but I'm unsure about how the turbo-mode is affected by overclocking. The stock speed of this processor is 3.4GHz which goes up to 3.8GHz with turbo-mode.

If I overclock it to 4.4GHz does this mean that it will run at 3.4GHz with turbo-mode going up to 4.4GHz? Or will it run at 4.4GHz all the time?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## ElCampesino (Feb 5, 2011)

Okay, I am going to recommend you read the following guide to overclocking your i7-2600k to 4.5GHz no problem.

Official ASUS P8P67 Series Overclocking Guide and Information - [H]ard|Forum

Do you have 3rd party cooling on your cpu? because even 4.4GHz is gonna be too hot for the stock heat sink, atleast in my opinion. 

The guide I have linked will take you through step by step and the end result is what you described. The system does not always run at 4.5GHz (or whatever your final clock speed setting happens to be) but rather it ramps up to that frequency when it is under load and otherwise it is running at the normal 3.4GHz. This is done to provide greater power efficiency and, what I think is more important, to increase the longevity of both your mobo and your cpu. 

So, to finish, Im not sure if I can answer your question specifically, but the guide I have provided will allow you to properly configure your system for overclocking, I hope this helps. I used the same settings shown in the guide to overclock my i5-2500k to 4.5GHz.


----------



## dont-have-a-cow (Dec 24, 2010)

Ok, thanks a lot ElCampesino!


----------



## r00x (Feb 13, 2011)

dont-have-a-cow said:


> If I overclock it to 4.4GHz does this mean that it will run at 3.4GHz with turbo-mode going up to 4.4GHz? Or will it run at 4.4GHz all the time?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Definitely not! Turbo can be thought of as a jump in CPU multiplier - when Turbo decides to kick in, your cores hop up a few multipliers and run at the new frequency resulting from that and your base clock.

So if you set your base clock up for a 4.4GHz non-turbo speed, and Turbo decided to kick in.... your chip will be _well_ north of 5GHz. If it doesn't catch fire or crash first. :laugh:

You can overclock with Turbo - in fact it makes for a great compromise between speed, power savings and chip longevity. My system idles below 2GHz and runs cool, but Turbo will take it beyond 4GHz when necessary.

You just have to beware that your 'target' speed should be the maximum speed achieved with Turbo at full pelt. Similarly, your voltages must accomodate full Turbo speed - not whatever you get before Turbo.

Also please do not overclock while leaving your voltages for CPU/VTT on "Auto". *Your system will "pick" voltages that it thinks it needs to run stably at your ridiculously high clock settings, and they won't be conservative*. Set your CPU/VTT to 'normal' or equivalent and use a voltage offset (say, +0.0xxxV). Then your core voltage can ramp with frequency as it's supposed to, and you can set it just high enough to support full Turbo without causing fires. This also allows the voltage to drop when the chip's idle - one of the first things people recommend we disable when overclocking chips 'for stability', which I think is ridiculous unless I'm going for frequencies unrealistic for day-to-day operation. Most would _want_ their system to run comfortably as well as fast if they've got to use it every day!


----------

