Windows 10

Windows 10 19H2 will include optimizations to how instructions are processed by the CPU in order to increase the performance and reliability of the operating system and its applications.

When a CPU is manufactured, not all of the cores are created equal. Some of the cores may have slightly different voltage and power characteristics that could allow them to get a "boost" in performance. These cores are called "favored cores" as they can offer better performance then the other cores on the die.

With Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, an operating system will use information stored in the CPU to identify which cores are the fastest and then push more of the CPU intensive tasks to those cores. According to Intel, this technology "delivers more than 15% better single-threaded performance".

With Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, lightly-threaded performance is optimized by identifying your processor's fastest cores and directing your most critical workloads to them.

Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0
Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Technology (Source: Intel)

While Windows 10 has already supported Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, in a recent Windows Insider blog post Microsoft has stated that Windows 10 19H2 will include optimizations on how instructions are distributed to these favored cores.

"A CPU may have multiple “favored” cores (logical processors of the highest available scheduling class). To provide better performance and reliability, we have implemented a rotation policy that distributes work more fairly among these favored cores."

By offering a better rotation policy, critical instructions will be distributed more evenly among the favored cores so that they are executed quicker.

It should be noted that not all CPUs support Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

For Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, the following CPUs are supported:

  • Intel® Core™ i7 Mobile and Desktop Processors
  • Intel® Core™ i5 Mobile and Desktop Processors
  • Intel® Core™ X-series Processors

For Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, the following CPUs are supported:

  • Intel® Core™ i7-69xx/68xx Processor Family
  • Intel® Core™ i9-7900X/i9-7920X/i9-7940X/i9-7960X/i9-7980XE/i7-7820X/i7-9800X
  • Intel® Core™ i9-9820X/i9-99x0XE/i9-99x0X
  • Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-1600 v4 Product Family (single-socket only)
  • Intel 10th Generation CPUs

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