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Turbo Boost Switcher



Turbo Boost Switcher is a little application for Mac computers that allows to enable and/or disable the Turbo Boost feature. It installs a precompiled kernel extension (32 or 64 bits depending on your system) that updates the Turbo Boost MSR register, so It will ask for your admin password when using it. It’s installed on your Mac status bar.

  1. Turbo Boost Switcher is a minimalist macOS application based on a kernel extension that resides in your status bar and allows you to disable and re-enable the Turbo Boost function with minimal effort. Toggle the status of the Turbo Boost function without dealing with the command line.
  2. Turbo Boost Switcher Pro Mac cracked version – Turbo Boost Switcher Pro is a little application for Mac computers that allows to enable and/or disable the Turbo Boost feature. It installs a precompiled kernel extension (32 or 64 bits depending on your system) that updates the Turbo Boost MSR register, so Turbo Boost Switcher Pro will ask for your admin password when using it.
  • Visually know if Turbo Boost is enabled or disabled at any time.
  • Enable / Disable Turbo Boost manually, getting up to a 25% more battery life and lowering down the CPU Temp up to 20ºC. (check this).
  • Configure it to disable Turbo Boost automatically at launch.
  • Enable / Disable Turbo Boost automatically for a set of apps (only on Pro version).
  • Set default mode for Turbo Boost Enabled or not (On or Off)
  • Disable Turbo Boost when battery charger is not connected (only on Pro version).
  • OSX Notifications integration (only on Pro version).
  • Asks for root password only once (only on Pro version).
  • Check your CPU temp and fan speed.
  • Set it to open at login.
  • Automatically restore Turbo Boost on exit.

Turbo Boost is most definitely the most power-hungry and useless technology that cannot be easily disabled on a Mac.

In my review of ASUS GL553VD, I said that I had found a way to reduce the fan noise produced by the cooling system. With a fresh installation of Windows 10, the cooling system is kicked off every two seconds even for simple tasks like opening a web page. I hate fan noise!

Article index:

  • 2 – Techniques to disable the Turbo Boost

1 – Overview

After some searches, I found the culprit: Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

So what is Intel Turbo Boost Technology? From Intel’s website:

Intel Turbo Boost Technology is a way to automatically run the processor core faster than the noted frequency. The processor must work in the power, temperature, and specification limits of the thermal design power (TDP). Single and multi-threaded application performance increase.

The GL553VD is powered by an Intel Core i7 7700HQ. This quad-core processor works at 2.8GHz (the processor name in the registry is: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz). Thanks to Intel Turbo Boost, the CPU can work in an overclocked mode and the CPU clock can jump up to 3.8GHz.

I monitored the CPU clock speed with the latest version of HWMonitor:


Download Turbo Boost Switcher

On a desktop machine with a decent CPU cooler, such increases of clock speed are more of less invisible in terms of noise, but on a laptop, you hear them. And it’s really annoying.


Turbo Boost Switcher Wants To Make Changes

2 – Techniques to disable Intel Turbo Boost

I found and tested several techniques to disable Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

2.1 – BIOS switch

This is the most simple technique. On desktop motherboards, there is such option in the BIOS. But unfortunately, this kind of option is not available in the GL553VD BIOS!

Boost

2.2 – Advanced Power Management Settings

The second technique I found is to set the maximum processor state to 99%. By default the max processor state is 100% and Intel Turbo Boost kicks off when the CPU reaches 100% usage. If we set the max processor state to 99%, the Turbo Boost technology is disabled.

To set the max processor state, open the Advanced setting panel of the Power Options:

Control Panel > Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Change Advanced Power Settings:


This technique works (the CPU clock speed is limited to 2.8GHz) but the CPU usage is also limited at… 96%:


2.3 – ThrottleStop

ThrottleStop is a tool designed to stop the CPU throttling. In our case, I selected the third option (internet mode) and I clicked on Save:


Turbo Boost Switcher App

ThrottleStop works fine, the CPU clock speed is limited to 2.8GHz and the CPU max usage is 100%. But these settings do not resist to a reboot…

2.4 – Advanced Power Management Settings – The Return!

Finally, I found the ultimate and perfect technique: a reg file (a registry file) that updates the advanced settings of Power Options and adds a new option: Processor performance boost mode:


This technique limits the CPU clock speed to 2.8GHz, allows a 100% CPU usage and is saved in Windows registry so Intel Turbo Boost is still disabled after a reboot.

Turbo Boost Switcher Mac

Thanks to this technique, the cooling system is quiet. No more fan noise when I launch firefox!

You can download this registry update from THIS PAGE. Unzip the archive, right-click on the reg file and merge.

Turbo boost switcher pro


Turbo Boost Switcher Macbook Air

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