The performance gains you get with modern chips aren't as noteworthy as they used to be. If you were a PC enthusiast in the 2000s or even most of the 2010s, you may remember how popular overclocking was at the time. Overclocking involves increasing a CPU's clock speed past the manufacturer's advertised specifications. In effect, it allows you to squeeze more performance out of a chip, making it perform better than its factory settings and potentially even matching higher-end CPUs.
But overclocking has fallen out of favor in recent years even though it's still technically possible on modern CPUs. You won't find nearly as many guides on how to overclock these days, nor is the hardware modding community as large as it once was. Modern processors and motherboards now include features that push their clock speeds beyond their advertised capabilities whenever the workload demands it. By contrast, older processors would take a much more conservative approach and stick to two clock speed values from the factory: a base and maximum boost frequency.
Modern CPU spec sheets still advertise base and boost frequencies, but these are no longer definitive. Many motherboards' BIOS menu include a setting called Multi-Core Enhancement or Enhanced Turbo that algorithmically pushes clock speeds past their out-of-the-box defaults. Many AMD Ryzen CPUs also include a feature called Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO). Unlike traditional overclocking methods, PBO uses an algorithm that automatically raises the CPU's power and current limits when it detects enough thermal headroom. Finally, modern CPUs are simply designed to leave less performance headroom on the table. Chip makers were historically quite conservative with clock speeds. But thanks to improvements in chip fabrication, manufacturers can now produce more predictable and stable chips at scale.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing