IBM x3850 X6 Planning And Implementation Manual page 42

Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
The Intel Xeon E7-8800/4800 v2 processor family brings enhanced capabilities of changing
processor speed with new generation of Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology.
Intel Turbo Boost Technology dynamically saves power on unused processor cores and
increases the clock speed of the cores in use. Depending on current workload, Intel Turbo
Boost Technology allows a dynamic increase in the clock speed of the active cores to gain a
performance boost. For example, a 3.4GHz 15-core processor can overclock the cores up to
3.7 GHz.
Turbo Boost Technology is available on a per-processor basis for the X6 systems. For
ACPI-aware operating systems and hypervisors such as Microsoft Windows 2008/2012,
RHEL 5/6, SLES 11, VMware ESXi 4.1, and later, no changes are required to take advantage
of it. Turbo Boost Technology can be engaged with any number of cores enabled and active,
resulting in increased performance of both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.
Turbo Boost Technology dynamically saves power on unused processor cores and increases
the clock speed of the cores in use. In addition, it can temporarily increase speed of all cores
by intelligently managing power and thermal headroom. For example, a 2.5 GHz 15-core
processor (E7-8880 v2) can temporarily run all 15 active cores at 2.9 GHz. With only two
cores active, the same processor can run those active cores at 3.0 GHz. When the cores are
needed again, they are turned back on dynamically and the processor frequency is adjusted
accordingly.
When temperature, power, or current exceeds factory-configured limits and the processor is
running above the base operating frequency, the processor automatically steps the core
frequency back down to reduce temperature, power, and current. The processor then
monitors temperature, power, and current, and re-evaluates. At any given time, all active
cores run at the same frequency.
For more information about Turbo Boost Technology, go to the following website:
http://www.intel.com/technology/turboboost/
QuickPath Interconnect
The Intel Xeon E7 processors implemented in IBM X6 servers include two integrated memory
controllers in each processor. Processor-to-processor communication is carried over
shared-clock or coherent quick path interconnect (QPI) links. Each processor has three QPI
links to connect to other processors.
Figure 2-19 shows the QPI configurations. On the left is how the four sockets of the x3850 X6
are connected together. On the right is how all eight sockets of the x3950 X6 are connected
together.
4
1
x3850 X6
4 sockets
Figure 2-19 QPI links between processors
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IBM System x3850 X6 and x3950 X6 Planning and Implementation Guide
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2
6
8 4
5 1
x3950 X6 - 8 sockets
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