Overclocking and Turbo Boost Technology in PCs

If you have been wondering what's the difference between overclocking and turbo boost. Then you need to read this.

In a simple term, overclocking means setting your CPU and memory to run at speeds higher than their official speed grade. Overclocking a computer's processor or memory causes it to go faster than its factory rated speed. The extra speed results in more work being done by the processor and/or memory in a given time period, increasing the overall computing performance of the PC.  Almost all processors comes with a default speed rating. For example, an Intel Core i7 860 runs at 2.80GHz out of the box. Overclocking a Core i7 860 means pushing it to a clock speed higher than 2.80GHz.

While 

Turbo boosting is when your processor boosts its clock speeds automatically to higher levels. This only happens when your CPU is under load and the max Turbo depends on the CPU.

In Details  

They are both essentially the same thing although they work a little differently. Turbo Boost is a feature in Intel processors created by Intel which dynamically overclocks a CPU, meaning the more you use your CPU, the faster your CPU goes up to a certain point which is determined by Intel (for instance, 3.5 GHz under normal condition and 3.9 GHz under stressful conditions). 

Overclocking is implemented manually, either through software or through BIOS on newer motherboards, and if you do it you will void your warranty with Intel or AMD, as overclocking is pushing the CPU beyond "safe" factory conditions. If you overclock your giving the CPU more power in order to make it run faster (for example, 3.5 GHz normal speed to 4.5GHz overclocked speed). 

Unlike turbo boost, overclocked speed is static meaning it will stay at whatever value you set it. However, this can be dangerous because if you carelessly push your CPU too hard without having a proper cooling system, it will overheat and fry, or even worse, as in the case of the notorious pentium 4's, it may explode.

Intel's implementation allows the CPU to specifically accelerate one or more cores, AMD’s approach only accelerates three cores in the case of a six-core CPU and only two with quad-core processors.

While AMD basically reduces clock speed and voltage for inactive cores, Intel can physically shut them down. While AMD's six-core processors access 6 MB of shared L3 cache, Intel's architecture currently offers a massive 12 MB repository. If you switch off individual cores, the remaining active processing units can still access the full 12 MB L3.