I'm reading both sides on this - some people say it's better to overclock your CPU, others say Intel turboboost doesn't really work well with server workloads. Others are recommending turning turboboost off for cooling's sake.

Any opinions?

I've got a Thinkpad with a I7-6600u with a base clock speed of 2.6 ghz, 2 cores, 4 threads, turbo boost to 3.4 ghz. It's lightly loaded now, running Proxmox, the BBS, a Pihole LXC container, Nginx Proxy Manager, and a test Windows AD environment which is usually shut off.
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Hello poindexter,

On Thu, Jun 13 2024 19:45:58 -0500, you wrote:

I'm reading both sides on this - some people say it's better to
overclock your CPU, others say Intel turboboost doesn't really work well with server workloads. Others are recommending turning turboboost off
for cooling's sake.

Any opinions?

I've got a Thinkpad with a I7-6600u with a base clock speed of 2.6 ghz,
2 cores, 4 threads, turbo boost to 3.4 ghz. It's lightly loaded now, running Proxmox, the BBS, a Pihole LXC container, Nginx Proxy Manager,
and a test Windows AD environment which is usually shut off.

I probably wouldn't recommend overclocking anything for a server, or you will probably start having cooling issues - especially on a laptop. Overclocking seems (to me, at least) to be more of a fad for gamers, or just kids that like to brag about PC stats.

I feel like the 'turboboost' technology only applies when it is needed, also, so unless you're under constant heavy load (you mentioned it's 'lightly' loaded), it may not even be used/needed. If things are working well currently - and in your case, I would probably be worried about cooling the most, I wouldn't change it.

Regards,
Nick

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
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Re: TurboBoost on servers?
By: Accession to poindexter FORTRAN on Tue Jun 18 2024 12:48 pm

I probably wouldn't recommend overclocking anything for a server, or you will probably start having cooling issues - especially on a laptop. Overclocking seems (to me, at least) to be more of a fad for gamers, or just kids that like to brag about PC stats.

For other computation-intensive tasks (video editing, data processing, etc.), overclocking could provide some benefit in allowing the tasks to finish sooner. But depending on the processor, I don't think I'd risk it.

I have an unlocked processor in my desktop PC, with liquid cooling, but still, in 5 years I've never really felt a desire to overclock it..

Nightfox

Hello Nightfox,

On Tue, Jun 18 2024 18:29:14 -0500, you wrote:

For other computation-intensive tasks (video editing, data processing, etc.), overclocking could provide some benefit in allowing the tasks to finish sooner. But depending on the processor, I don't think I'd risk it.

I still wouldn't do it unless it was necessary. Even today, an i9-9900k (3.6ghz and 5.0ghz with turboboost) is plenty for just about anything you throw at it. Maybe someday, when it starts to bog down on games, overclocking might be in my thoughts, but.. probably not. :)

I have an unlocked processor in my desktop PC, with liquid cooling, but still, in 5 years I've never really felt a desire to overclock it..

Nor is there a need to do so. Again, most people overclock if their hardware isn't able to handle newer things, or they're just wanting to brag about what they can get out of their processor.

Regards,
Nick

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
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Re: TurboBoost on servers?
By: Accession to Nightfox on Tue Jun 18 2024 01:50 pm

For other computation-intensive tasks (video editing, data processing,
etc.), overclocking could provide some benefit in allowing the tasks to
finish sooner. But depending on the processor, I don't think I'd risk it.

I have an unlocked processor in my desktop PC, with liquid cooling, but

I still wouldn't do it unless it was necessary. Even today, an i9-9900k (3.6ghz and 5.0ghz with turboboost) is plenty for just about anything you throw at it. Maybe someday, when it starts to bog down on games, overclocking might be in my thoughts, but.. probably not. :)

That's the processor I have in my desktop PC. I haven't really felt a need to overclock it. I built this PC in 2019 and it's still plenty for what I use it for (I just upgraded the graphics card in 2022).

Nightfox

Accession wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

Any opinions?

I've got a Thinkpad with a I7-6600u with a base clock speed of 2.6 ghz,
2 cores, 4 threads, turbo boost to 3.4 ghz. It's lightly loaded now, running Proxmox, the BBS, a Pihole LXC container, Nginx Proxy Manager,
and a test Windows AD environment which is usually shut off.

I probably wouldn't recommend overclocking anything for a server, or
you will probably start having cooling issues - especially on a laptop. Overclocking seems (to me, at least) to be more of a fad for gamers, or just kids that like to brag about PC stats.

Yeah, I'd rather run a server at its quoted spec, given that it's
running 24/7.

I feel like the 'turboboost' technology only applies when it is needed, also, so unless you're under constant heavy load (you mentioned it's 'lightly' loaded), it may not even be used/needed. If things are
working well currently - and in your case, I would probably be worried about cooling the most, I wouldn't change it.

The only 24/7 workload I have running are PiHole and the BBS, so I
turned turbo boost off, and I don't see a difference in the performance
of either.





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Hello Nightfox,

On Tue, Jun 18 2024 20:38:16 -0500, you wrote:

I still wouldn't do it unless it was necessary. Even today, an i9-9900k
(3.6ghz and 5.0ghz with turboboost) is plenty for just about anything you
throw at it. Maybe someday, when it starts to bog down on games,
overclocking might be in my thoughts, but.. probably not. :)

That's the processor I have in my desktop PC. I haven't really felt a
need to overclock it. I built this PC in 2019 and it's still plenty for what I use it for (I just upgraded the graphics card in 2022).

Yeah, there's nothing I do that will max this thing out. Maybe one day it when it becomes a minimum requirement for some newer games, it'll be time to update. I don't see that happening any time soon, though. Even then, if you only use 1080p it'll be fine for some time longer.

I don't remember exactly when, but I also upgrade my graphics card sometime in the last year or two. I will usually buy one of the lower ends of the new line, which when I upgraded was the 3060, and it still handles everything just fine. I don't need the best one out there for over a grand, as you still tend to have to upgrade at the same point anyways. So if the 6xxx series is out by the time I need to upgrade, I'll just get one of the lower end ones again.

Regards,
Nick

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
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Hello poindexter,

On Wed, Jun 19 2024 13:27:00 -0500, you wrote:

I probably wouldn't recommend overclocking anything for a server, or
you will probably start having cooling issues - especially on a laptop.
Overclocking seems (to me, at least) to be more of a fad for gamers, or
just kids that like to brag about PC stats.

Yeah, I'd rather run a server at its quoted spec, given that it's
running 24/7.

Agreed. That and the fact that your laptop's processor probably isn't really rated for, or usually used for servers, either.

I feel like the 'turboboost' technology only applies when it is needed,
also, so unless you're under constant heavy load (you mentioned it's
'lightly' loaded), it may not even be used/needed. If things are
working well currently - and in your case, I would probably be worried
about cooling the most, I wouldn't change it.

The only 24/7 workload I have running are PiHole and the BBS, so I
turned turbo boost off, and I don't see a difference in the performance
of either.

I wouldn't even bother turning it off, to be honest. It's made to be used when it's needed, so if it's not ever needed it shouldn't boost. But if there's ever a time when it is needed and it's not there, it might bog your system down a bit.

Regards,
Nick

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
--- slrn/pre1.0.4-9 (Linux)
* Origin: _thePharcyde distribution system (Wisconsin) (41:1/100)