Intel® Turbo Boost Technology with ESXi

[DCarv6]

Hi, how intel turbo boost works with ESXi?

This feature is requested just when we have CPU contention?

This feature works just when the processors have capacity of power and temperature?

If the processors work in limits of power and temperature, this feature (Intel® Turbo Boost Technology) work too?

[idata]

Hi dcarvalhal,

I understand you have questions in regard to Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, let me help on this matter.Since ESXi has been developed for server platforms, I assume your current configuration is based on server computers.1. The Intel® Turbo Boost Technology works depending on the workload of the processor, whenever the program requires speeding up the processor speed it will throttle to the maximum allowed.https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005641/processors.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005641/processors.html2. This is the same answer as the previous response.3. We think you have a server environment and this will required especial cooling equipment but the technology does not work just when the processor reaches maximum processor temperature. You can check maximum temperature at https://ark.intel.com/ https://ark.intel.com/4. It does not work of power limits or temperatures. This will work depending on the processor workload. Please see the information that was linked previously.Hope it works.Allan J

[idata]

Hi dcarvalhal,

I was wondering if you still need more information on this matter.Regards,Allan J.

[ВМано]

I do need more information on the matter, thank you.

So I have a Xeon W-2125, VMWare ESXi 6+ and a single-core task. How do I make sure my single VM works in Turbo mode? Because all it seemingly does (esxi POV) is borrow frequency from idle cores trying to parallelize what can only be done sequentially.

Thank you,

Basil M.

[idata]

Hi dcarvalhal,

-Intel® Turbo Boost with ESXi works as equal to any other operating system. This technology works depending on power, current, and temperature of processor specification limits.I am adding a helpful documentation of https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/turbo-boost/turbo-boost-technology.html?_ga=2.10267189.1446580655.1529445310-2089409131.1527189234 Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0- Turbo Boost will work if system conditions allow it. Regards,Miguel CIntel Customer Support

[idata]

Hi dcarvalhal,

I am wondering if I can provide you with further assistance. Regards,Miguel CIntel Customer Support

[ВМано]

Yeah, well... I followed the link, and it's marketing water down there. And Advanced Search is where "find more information" link sends me. And there's no answer (or at least it's nigh impossible to find) to the very question we kinda need answering: how do we check if TB2 is working?

[idata]

Hello/thread/122380 /thread/122380 Basil_Manokhin/thread/122380 ,

Good day,About monitoring Turbo boost 2.0 on your Intel® Xeon® W-2125 Processor I like to let you know that if you are using ESXi, the performance of the processor will be affected by the HOST and the Virtual Machines configuration, however we do not have a tool to monitor the performance or turbo boost on ESXi, but you may use the Vspere client for these type of monitoring, we do have a tool for the https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26103/Intel-Turbo-Boost-Max-Technology-3-0 Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 monitoring that will work on the next processors families:Intel® Core™ i7-69xx/68xx Processor FamilyIntel® Core™ i9-7900X/i9-7920X/i9-7940X/i9-7960X/i9-7980XE/i7-7820XIntel® Xeon® Processor E5-1600 v4 Product Family (single socket only)Also, it is important to know it is necessary to enable the following options:Turbo Boost in the BIOSMake sure hyperthreading is enabled in the BIOS.Make sure any hardware-assisted virtualization features (VT-x, AMD-V, EPT, RVI, and so on) are enabledin the BIOS.I would take a look in the BIOS just to know if you forgot to enable any feature. Sometimes it's just labeled as a "performance mode".Edward_C Intel

[idata]

Hello, Basil_Manokhin,

We are wondering if you were able to confirm the Turbo Boost technology is enable in the BIOS of your equipment.Regards,Miguel CIntel Customer Support

[ВМано]

Hello, Miguel C.

Yes, I was able to confirm that max performance and turbo-boost are enabled in the BIOS of my Supermicro MBD-X11SSH-LN4F-O with Intel Xeon E3-1225v6.

My problem is that it's a Supermicro and not, say, HP where I could connect to iLO and watch CPU load. Task Manager in the VM is showing maximum load, which is 100%, and esxi 6.5 performance monitor is showing maximum load on the only CPU I have in the VM, which is - lo and behold! - 100%. System info is showing "e3-1225 v6 @ 3.30 GHz 3.31 GHz.

Nothing is indicating we're getting what we paid for, sadly. Just, you know, it's nice to be sure.

[idata]

Hi Basil_Manokhin,

As we were talking before Intel® Turbo Boost works very closely with the operating system and the Core will increase only if power, current, and temperature of processor allow it and receive the authorization of the operating system. If operating system believes processor performance is good enough to handle the load, the processor speed will not increase.Regards,Miguel CIntel Customer Support

[ВМано]

Hi Miguel C

Yes... then. Well. I have a single-core task, I have a single core VM, sitting alone on the VMWare Hypervisor, I have Intel (r) with TurboBoost, and I don't see any boost to my task with TB on as compared to the task with TB off. So the question arises: what's the point? And another one: how to remedy it?

That single-core task worked best when processors were fixed at 3,8 GHz, so the more juice the better it runs. Isn't 100% vCPU a definite signal that it's time to boost?

PS I'm kinda sorry to bother you with all these questions, but yours was the most thorough answer on the topic in the whole vastness of the internet. So many questions asked, so little answered.

[idata]

Hi Basil_Manokhin,

For Intel Turbo Boost Technology to be active the processor needs to be below the power, current and temperature limits so that it can be stable, thus with this in mind you have to consider several things:You have an Intel® Xeon® W-2125 Processor with a TDP of 120W (Also note that Turbo Boost allows you to exceed TDP for shorts amounts of time) and Max Temperature of 64; as long as you keep it under those numbers Turbo Boost will be active. The amount of time the processor spends in that state depends on the workload and operating environment.As you already know, due to variable configurations, turbo boost may not achieve max frequencies when running heavy workloads using multiple cores, so all factors have to be taken into consideration to have an expectation of turbo boost's performance. Note: Processors with the same model number running under the same operating conditions may see some frequency or power variance. This is a natural characteristic of silicon driven by variances in voltages, power and leakage during the production process.So keep in mind the following key factors:

1. Type of workload.
2. Active cores.
3. Current power consumption.
4. Estimated power consumption.
5. Processor temperature.

Since this is a Supermicro board, you will have to check with them all the steps to enable turbo boost, but as far as I know you will have to keep in mind the following characteristics:

1. All cores enabled.
2. Make sure the power management options are set to what Supermicro tells you.

Note: These are just general recommendations, for an accurate recommendation get in contact with Supermicro.Make sure that you follow their recommendations so that we know that Turbo Boost is enabled. Now, I noticed that 1st mentioned the Xeon® W-2125 and later the Xeon® Processor E3-1225 v6, could you please specify which processor are we working with? Because the base for the E3-1225 is 3.30 GHz and the base for the W-2125 is 4.0 GHz.Also it would be a good idea if you can use a Load Generator so that you can compare results and notice if you see any performance difference with a single core application vs a multi-core task running. With this information we can have a better picture of the performance that could be expected with the Turbo boost. Hopefully this information will give you a better picture of the whole scenario.Eduardo_B.

[ВМано]

Hi Eduardo_B,

I assembled W-2125 for a client, it's supposed to be out of my reach now. So I recreated the configuration on my own e3-1225 v6. Base doesn't quite matter, it's the boost that does.

You mentioned some Load Generator. Now that is interesting. Do you mean a software going by the name or just any software containing LG? I'm using 7zip or WinRAR performance test option, and I'm not quite sure I'm doing it right. Which software is sure to use 100% of a core and request more?

Thank you.

[idata]

Hi Basil_Manokhin,

Thank you very much for clarifying that. I think it is important to determine the processor we are working with to have a better expectation of the Turbo boost's performance. Now, related to the load generator I cannot recommend you an specific one but what I have in mind for you is the following:Once you verified with Supermicro that Turboboost requirements are enabled within your BIOS, configure a Load Generator to work with a single core and compare it with a multi-core performance and see if you notice an increase with the single core one. If you see that both tasks performed at 3.30 GHz then we will know that odd behavior is taking place. Eduardo_B.

[idata]

Hi Basil_Manokhin,

I would like to know if you continue needing assistance with this or if there anything else that you may need. Eduardo_B.

[idata]

Hi Basil_Manokhin,

I would like to know if you continue needing assistance with this or if there anything else that you may need. Eduardo_B.