The all new Turbo mode - AMD Turbo Core

The T in the model number indicates the product supports Turbo CORE. AMD's Phenom II X6 series is now equipped with a Turbo feature much like Intel's Core i5/7 series have. The new feature will be called turbo core. Turbo Core will be able to increase the operational frequencies of three active cores by up to 500MHz (depending on the processor) if an application can't use all six cores.

All monitoring and clock/voltage management is exclusively handled by the CPU, so this is not a quick software fix. Turbo Core is triggered based on operating conditions and application load demand. When power consumption is below the CPU's TDP, the technology puts the three used cores in a boost-enabled P-state.

This means that, should the application demand it, those cores will be able to increase their clocks by an amount dependent on the processing workload. This approach has more than one advantage. Since cores don't need to operate at the same frequency, each will only be pushed higher if the application demands it. As such no extra power will be spent on unnecessary overclocking.

When turbo Core is activated the clocks of the three unused cores can be lowered to even 800MHz. The voltage needed normally is now diverted to the others. This allows dynamic overclocking to be achieved without exceeding the 125W thermal design power (TDP).

• The 125W TDP AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 3.2 GHz with AMD Turbo Core @ 3.6GHz
• The 125W TDP Phenom II X6 1055T @ 2.8GHz with AMD Turbo Core @ 3.3GHz.

Above you can see a screenshot stressing six cores, we see the processors all clocked at 3200 MHz. Once we stress only one to three treads, the clock frequencies will jump up.