Clock Frequencies and Boost Clock Analysis

Most modern processors feature a capability called "Boost" or "Turbo" that automatically overclocks the CPU beyond the nominal clock frequency provided certain conditions related to thread count, power draw, and temperatures are met. Our testing on this page investigates what actual real-life frequencies can be achieved in such scenarios. The data below presents the minimum, maximum, and average clock frequency of a given core/thread-count combination for a typical heavy workload. We start with one thread and go all the way up to the CPU's maximum thread count while at the same time measuring the average clock frequency for these timed testing runs.


The Ryzen Threadripper 2920X sustains its maximum boost state of 4.30 GHz across 4 threads (2 cores). AMD made big changes to the multi-core Precision Boost algorithm with its Zen+ processors, which contributes significantly to the generational performance uplift. Precision Boost 2.0 ensures each core is elevated to some boost clock, and the degree of boost gradually scales down from the most loaded core to the least loaded one.

There is a somewhat sharp drop in boost clocks as you move from the 4th thread (2-core) to the 6th thread (3-core), where boost speed drops from 4.30 GHz to 4.20 GHz, which then gradually scales down in decrements of 10–20 MHz all the way until the CPU is fully loaded, where clocks end up at 4150 MHz.

When not loaded at all, the processor's idle clock is 2200 MHz.