It lets you save energy by cutting the clock signals used inside the CPU as well as by reducing the CPU voltage. To reduce power consumption, further functionalities found their way into modern CPUs. With Turbo Boost, overclocking was suddenly possible in the server area – where the consequences of hardware failure are even more grave. Thus, the risk of overheating the processor is mitigated. If the CPU gets too warm, overclocking stops automatically. It adjusts each core’s frequency dynamically according to load and thermal budget. A CPU with 400 MHz continually delivered 400 MHz.

I think two or more CPUs ended up as very expensive bricks because I did not manage the heat correctly. I played a lot with different cooling fans and thermal greases to get the most out of my old Intel Pentium workhorse. Several years ago, I was overclocking my computer’s CPU. As a good administrator, of course, you know at what speed your machines run because you have an eye on your CPU usage at any time – but do you? Modern CPUs do not make things easy.

Mac cpu speed monitor