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For an Xeon E3-1231(or 1241)v3, what motherboards will Turbo Boost ALL cores to 3.8GHz?

MMari25
Beginner
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Hello, after taking a look at Tech YES City's review of the Xeon E3-1231v3 CPU, I have decided to buy it (well, I will probably buy the 1241v3, not the 1231). However, in his review he mentions that the motherboard he used had a BIOS version that could Turbo Boost ALL of the 4 cores to 3.8 GHz, not just 1 or 2 cores, but all cores were boosted to 3.8 GHz... I need help with learning what Intel motherboards have this specific BIOS version that lets it boost all 4 cores to 3.8GHz, as some motherboards are not able to boost all 4 cores, but just 1 or 2, of 4. Here is the video, and at the 1 minute mark he explains how with that motherboard, he was able to boost all cores to 3.8GHz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBIfDEcozqM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBIfDEcozqM. And another thing, if you could also include the 1241v3 in your answer, that would be helpful... so w/e Intel motherboards are the right ones, let me know if it will also boost all cores of the 1241v3, too. After looking at PCPartPicker, I can see that the only Intel motherboards that are compatible with the E3s are the: B85, H81, H87, H97, Q87, Z87, Z97s... that will help narrow it down for all of you. Thank you for your time.

Message was edited by: Michael Marin

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MMari25
Beginner
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I am deciding that I will probably get an http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D3IKM1S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1PM1B2PXXAQUZ ASRock LGA1150/Intel B85/DDR3/Quad CrossFireX/SATA3 and USB 3.0/A&GbE/MicroATX Motherboard B85M PRO4, so, for a possibly quick answer, could someone ask around and find out if this motherboard will Turbo Boost ALL 4 cores of the Xeon E3-1241v3 to 3.9GHz? I have heard from the comments of that YouTube video that the B85 Pro3 does not do it, but that the B85 Pro4 does... can anyone confirm this please?

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MMari25
Beginner
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Anyone got anything? All I really need to know if the B85-Pro4 motherboard will let the Xeon E3-1241v3 CPU boost ALL of its cores to 3.9GHz... I would appreciate any input!

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Anonymous
Not applicable
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Hi Zeo,

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it and increased energy efficiency when you don't.

This technology belongs to Intel® processors; motherboards only have the option to enable or disable it. Now, many motherboards have the option to overclock the processor, this is not related to Intel® Turbo Boost Technology.

With the overclock feature, it is possible to set the Cores speed manually but the lifespan of the processor will decrease and system performance might not be the best.

Additional information for Intel® Turbo Boost available in the link below:

"Where can I find a Turbo Boost frequency table for Intel® Core™ i5, Intel® Core™ i7 and Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Edition desktop processors?"

 

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-029908.htm Processors — Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Frequently Asked Questions

Xeon™ processors are intended for business purposes, perform tasks in a reliable way, speed is not the main advantage on them.

I recommend you our i7 processors with socket type LGA1150 (i7-4770 or i7-4790) with embedded graphics or jump to our high end processors with socket type LGA 2011 v2 or v3. They support more RAM memory, more Cores per processor and more cache memory.

http://ark.intel.com/products/family/79318/Intel-High-End-Desktop-Processors# @Desktop Intel® High End Desktop Processors

The latest v3 options such as i7-5820K has 15MB of cache, 6 Cores, support up to 64GB DDR4 memories at 2133MHz. CPU fan is not included.

 

http://ark.intel.com/products/82932/Intel-Core-i7-5820K-Processor-15M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz Intel® Core™ i7-5820K Processor (15M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz) Specifications

Regards,

 

Mike C
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MMari25
Beginner
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You did not understand my question. Everything that you said I already know, and the Xeon E3 CPUs give the same performance compared to the i7s, for much less cost, so no thanks, it is not worth getting an i7 if it costs more.

I am talking about different motherboards with certain BIOS versions that will not be capable of letting the CPU use its Turbo Boosting technology on all 4 cores for the advertised maximum GHz. For example, the Xeon E3-1241v3 CPU that I will buy, has an advertised Turbo Boost clock speed of 3.9GHz... the issue is that depending on the motherboard, you might only be able to Turbo Boost 1 core, or 2 cores to the maximum 3.9GHz, while the rest of the cores either do not get Turbo Boosted at all, or they get boosted to a lower clock speed, say, 3.5 GHz. Do you understand what I am asking now? I am sorry if I was not clear the first time, but thank you for your response, anyway.

So yeah, my updated question is asking about the Intel B85-Pro4 motherboard, and whether it lets the Xeon E3-1241v3 CPU Turbo Boost all of its 4 cores to the advertised 3.9GHz. If it happens that this motherboard will only allow the CPU to Turbo Boost only 1 or 2 of its cores to 3.9GHz, then it would be a huge help knowing what motherboards will not limit the CPU's Turbo Boosting technology, a good example being the Intel B85-Pro Gamer. The B85-Pro Gamer, as I showed in the YouTube video above, was able to let the reviewer's E3-1231v3 CPU Turbo Boost ALL of its cores to their advertised boost of 3.8GHz. Let me know what other motherboards will behave the same as the B85-Pro Gamer, and I can then decide which one I will buy.

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MMari25
Beginner
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I am just going to buy the Intel B85-Pro4 motherboard and hope it will work as I have described the B85-Pro Gamer to work. Thank you for your attempt at helping out!

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WRata
Beginner
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So does it turbo all the four cores? I have Core i5-4590, it will turbo boost up to 3.7GHz(highest) when I am using only 1 or 2 active cores, 3.6GHz when I am using 3 active cores(meaning: 3.6GHz, 3.6GHz and 3.6GHz not 3.7GHz, 3.7GHz, 3.6GHz), and 3.5GHz when I am using 4 active cores. I'm planning to upgrade to Xeon E3-1231v3 or 1241v3 because I leave my PC simulating games all weeks. If you have figured it out would be great. I used Gigabyte Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to test that.

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MMari25
Beginner
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The ASRock B85M-Pro4 motherboard works perfectly when it comes to boosting all cores. In ASRock's BIOS, they have an option that one can turn on that is specifically there to force the clock speed on all cores to be the highest. When you enable this option, and you have Turbo Boost enabled on the E3-1241v3 for example, you can see that all 4 cores are stable at 3.9GHz, meaning that the lowering of clock speed does not occur as it does with your i5. But keep in mind this is a motherboard issue, not a CPU issue, I believe. So I believe if you had this ASRock motherboard and you pair it with your i5, all 4 cores of your i5 would boost to 3.7GHz and stay stable. It all depends on whether the BIOS has that option to force all 4 cores to the highest clock speed. So if you are short on money, I recommend sticking with your i5 and getting the motherboard, as the i5 is more than sufficient, but if you have the money to spend, I recommend the E3-1241v3, which is the one that I got. It is 20 dollars more than the 1231v3, but still is worth it in my opinion. It is stronger enough (stronger enough... is that grammatically correct? haha) to be ranked 8 on Passmark's Single Thread Performance. And on top of that, the 1241v3 breaks 10,000 on the multi-core performance, yet the 1231v3 is below 10,000 and is ranked 37 in Single Thread Performance. Here is the website for reference: https://cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html PassMark CPU Benchmarks - Single Thread Performance | https://cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2246&cmp[]=2341 PassMark - CPU Performance Comparison

Anyway, I just want to put a disclaimer that this is what I believe is the way it works. The video that I linked does seem to confirm this, but hey, I might be wrong that getting the B85M-Pro4 motherboard will force all 4 cores on your i5 to be a stable 3.7GHz. It has only been confirmed with the Xeon E3 CPUs, like mine, and the one from that video. So even though I think it should work the same with any other CPU like the i7s and i5s, maybe you just want something that is sure to work, so feel free to get the mentioned motherboard with the 1241v3, if you want.

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Anonymous
Not applicable
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Hi Wutikorn,

Intel® Turbo Boost increases the speed of the Cores; however, only 1 or 2 Cores will reach the maximum speed the rest of the processors will run slower. Some motherboard manufacturers provide with the option to over clock the processor. They set all the Cores at maximum speed (this is not related to Intel® Turbo Boost)

I suggest you to read the following link.

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/turbo-boost/turbo-boost-technology.html?wapkw=turbo+boost+technology http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/turbo-boost/turbo-boost-technology.html?wapkw=turbo+boost+technology

Regards,

 

Mike C
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MMari25
Beginner
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Yep, it sucks that it depends the motherboard if one wants all 4 cores boosted to the maximum clock speed. Luckily, the motherboard that I told him about has this feature in its BIOS.

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KTran10
New Contributor I
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You might not force 4 cores up to 3.9GHz, however overall performance will be better than i7

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MMari25
Beginner
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With the motherboard that I mentioned, I have bought it and I can confirm that all 4 cores are able to get Turbo Boosted to 3.9GHz. I am glad that I decided to follow Tech YES City's advice and bought this ASRock B85M-Pro4 motherboard. Besides that advantage, it is a solid motherboard in of itself. And I am also happy with my purchase of the Xeon E3-1241v3 CPU... it is an amazing deal for the money! I like how it is ranked 9 in single-thread performance! https://cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html PassMark CPU Benchmarks - Single Thread Performance

Edit:

It is ranked 8, actually.

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NIgna
Beginner
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I have a Xeon E3-1231 v3 3.4 ghz and a cheap motherboard MSI H81-P33 and the turbo boost for all 4 cores is 3.6ghz instead of 3.8ghz.

I disabled the turbo boost from BIOS and manually adjusted the frequency to 3.8ghz. Now all 4 cores run at 3.8ghz instead of 3.6ghz.This is how I solved the problem.

Actually locked CPUs can be "overclocked" to max turbo boost frequency but the turbo boost doesn't run at max frequency on all motherboards.

O course, I keep the SpeedStep technology enabled and the CPU runs at 3.8ghz only in full load. In iddle it runs around 1ghz and 2ghz while watching movies.

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