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 2950X sustains its maximum boost state of 4.40 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 the boost speed drops from 4.40 GHz to 4.27 GHz, which then gradually scales down in decrements of 10–20 MHz until the 12th thread (6-core). This is in sharp contrast to the first generation Ryzen family, which would see a sharp drop in boost clocks after the 4th thread with no boost state elevation for the other cores. Interestingly, the boost state plateaus at 4.20 GHz from the 13th thread to 18th thread (9-core) before continuing to slide down from the 19th thread to the 28th thread (14-core) in decrements of 10-20 MHz, reaching 4.15 GHz. The final four threads (cores 15 and 16) settle down at 4.10 GHz, which is still an impressive 600 MHz boost from the nominal clock of 3.50 GHz.

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