Not getting max turbo on i7

Hello everyone I have an i7 2630 QM. Intel ARK states that max turbo for it is 2.9 GHZ, but HP specs says 2.6 GHZ and the Intel turbo widget claims 2.6 GHZ as well. Is there a way to unlock the max turbo that Intel says this processor is capable? Interestingly when I run some benchmarks and watch system resources it sometimes says that the max frequency is going to 110%. What does that mean?

 

depends on how much cores you are putting on load, 2.9 is based on 1 core, and the speed goes downwards when you load more cores

 

You can use this list to see what the max turbo for mobile core i7 models are. For the 2630qm, the base frequency is 2.0GHz, max turbo on 3 and 4 cores is 2.6 GHz, 2.8 GHz on 2 cores and 2.9 GHz on 1 core. Note that it is very hard to hit a load on only a single core so the highest you'll likely see is 2.8 GHz.

 

HP Sandy models can't go to max Boost clock. My 2670qm topped at 2.9GHz. Heat protection...

 

Are you sure it's heat protection. You probably watched the temps and it did hit 100 ^oC, but I figure I'd ask, because in 3 years, I have only seen a mobile core i almost hit max turbo once. Usually, stays one or two multiplier below max turbo due to Windows distributing the load on more than one core.

 

According to the list tijo linked to, your 2670QM has a max turbo of 2.8Ghz when using 3-4 cores and a max turbo of 3 Ghz when using 2 cores. Your max frequency seems appropriate.

 

Ok, my post wasn't entirely accurate. I was doing some rendering and all I had to monitor Turbo was Intel's widget. That is the worst piece of software ever. It locked up and wasn't indicating the proper frequency. Watching system resources, I could see that the freq was in fact moving around.

Is there a good monitor you guys are using to watch turbo?

 

If I need to monitor turbo, I either use Intel XTU or Throttlestop.

 

Thanks tijo, is XTU specific to intel Mobos or anything with Intel chipsets?

 

what do you mean by that?

if its only going to function with intel mobos and chipset yes. if its about it only works with certain mobos and chipsets I dont think so, but you wont be able to oc your cpu

 

I think he's asking if it only works on motherboards manufactured and produced by Intel specifically, or if the utility will work on Intel chipsets regardless of the system board manufacturer.

 

Works just fine on my Dell, so should work with any Intel Chipset, for monitoring at least.

 

Great, thanks