TURBOSTAT(8)

NAME
turbostat - Report processor frequency and idle statistics

SYNOPSIS
turbostat [Options] command
turbostat [Options] [-i interval_sec]

DESCRIPTION
turbostat reports processor topology, frequency, idle power-state statistics, temperature and power on modern X86 processors. Either command is forked and statistics are printed upon its completion, or statistics are printed periodically.

turbostat must be run on root, and minimally requires that the processor supports an "invariant" TSC, plus the APERF and MPERF MSRs. Additional information is reported depending on hardware counter support.

  Options
The -p option limits output to the 1st thread in 1st core of each package.

The -P option limits output to the 1st thread in each Package.

The -S option limits output to a 1-line System Summary for each interval.

The -v option increases verbosity.

The -c MSR# option includes the delta of the specified 32-bit MSR counter.

The -C MSR# option includes the delta of the specified 64-bit MSR counter.

The -m MSR# option includes the the specified 32-bit MSR value.

The -M MSR# option includes the the specified 64-bit MSR value.

The -i interval_sec option prints statistics every interval_sec seconds. The default is 5 seconds.

The command parameter forks command and upon its exit, displays the statistics gathered since it was forked.

FIELD DESCRIPTIONS
pk processor package number.
cor processor core number.
CPU Linux CPU (logical processor) number.
Note that multiple CPUs per core indicate support for Intel(R) Hyper-Threading Technology.
%c0 percent of the interval that the CPU retired instructions.
GHz average clock rate while the CPU was in c0 state.
TSC average GHz that the TSC ran during the entire interval.
%c1, %c3, %c6, %c7 show the percentage residency in hardware core idle states.
CTMP Degrees Celsius reported by the per-core Digital Thermal Sensor.
PTMP Degrees Celsius reported by the per-package Package Thermal Monitor.
%pc2, %pc3, %pc6, %pc7 percentage residency in hardware package idle states.
Pkg_W Watts consumed by the whole package.
Cor_W Watts consumed by the core part of the package.
GFX_W Watts consumed by the Graphics part of the package -- available only on client processors.
RAM_W Watts consumed by the DRAM DIMMS -- available only on server processors.
PKG_% percent of the interval that RAPL throttling was active on the Package.
RAM_% percent of the interval that RAPL throttling was active on DRAM.

EXAMPLE
Without any parameters, turbostat prints out counters ever 5 seconds. (override interval with "-i sec" option, or specify a command for turbostat to fork).

The first row of statistics is a summary for the entire system. For residency % columns, the summary is a weighted average. For Temperature columns, the summary is the column maximum. For Watts columns, the summary is a system total. Subsequent rows show per-CPU statistics.

[root@sandy]# ./turbostat
cor CPU    %c0  GHz  TSC    %c1    %c3    %c6    %c7 CTMP PTMP   %pc2   %pc3   %pc6   %pc7  Pkg_W  Cor_W GFX_W
          0.06 0.80 2.29   0.11   0.00   0.00  99.83   47   40   0.26   0.01   0.44  98.78   3.49   0.12  0.14
  0   0   0.07 0.80 2.29   0.07   0.00   0.00  99.86   40   40   0.26   0.01   0.44  98.78   3.49   0.12  0.14
  0   4   0.03 0.80 2.29   0.12
  1   1   0.04 0.80 2.29   0.25   0.01   0.00  99.71   40
  1   5   0.16 0.80 2.29   0.13
  2   2   0.05 0.80 2.29   0.06   0.01   0.00  99.88   40
  2   6   0.03 0.80 2.29   0.08
  3   3   0.05 0.80 2.29   0.08   0.00   0.00  99.87   47
  3   7   0.04 0.84 2.29   0.09

SUMMARY EXAMPLE
The "-s" option prints the column headers just once, and then the one line system summary for each sample interval.

[root@wsm]# turbostat -S
   %c0  GHz  TSC    %c1    %c3    %c6 CTMP   %pc3   %pc6
  1.40 2.81 3.38  10.78  43.47  44.35   42  13.67   2.09
  1.34 2.90 3.38  11.48  58.96  28.23   41  19.89   0.15
  1.55 2.72 3.38  26.73  37.66  34.07   42   2.53   2.80
  1.37 2.83 3.38  16.95  60.05  21.63   42   5.76   0.20

VERBOSE EXAMPLE
The "-v" option adds verbosity to the output:

[root@ivy]# turbostat -v
turbostat v3.0 November 23, 2012 - Len Brown <lenb@kernel.org>
CPUID(0): GenuineIntel 13 CPUID levels; family:model:stepping 0x6:3a:9 (6:58:9)
CPUID(6): APERF, DTS, PTM, EPB
RAPL: 851 sec. Joule Counter Range
cpu0: MSR_NHM_PLATFORM_INFO: 0x81010f0012300
16 * 100 = 1600 MHz max efficiency
35 * 100 = 3500 MHz TSC frequency
cpu0: MSR_NHM_SNB_PKG_CST_CFG_CTL: 0x1e008402 (UNdemote-C3, UNdemote-C1, demote-C3, demote-C1, locked: pkg-cstate-limit=2: pc6-noret)
cpu0: MSR_NHM_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT: 0x25262727
37 * 100 = 3700 MHz max turbo 4 active cores
38 * 100 = 3800 MHz max turbo 3 active cores
39 * 100 = 3900 MHz max turbo 2 active cores
39 * 100 = 3900 MHz max turbo 1 active cores
cpu0: MSR_IA32_ENERGY_PERF_BIAS: 0x00000006 (balanced)
cpu0: MSR_RAPL_POWER_UNIT: 0x000a1003 (0.125000 Watts, 0.000015 Joules, 0.000977 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_INFO: 0x01e00268 (77 W TDP, RAPL 60 - 0 W, 0.000000 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_LIMIT: 0x830000148268 (UNlocked)
cpu0: PKG Limit #1: ENabled (77.000000 Watts, 1.000000 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: PKG Limit #2: ENabled (96.000000 Watts, 0.000977* sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: Cores Limit: DISabled (0.000000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: GFX Limit: DISabled (0.000000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_TEMPERATURE_TARGET: 0x00691400 (105 C)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_PACKAGE_THERM_STATUS: 0x884e0000 (27 C)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_THERM_STATUS: 0x88560000 (19 C +/- 1)
cpu1: MSR_IA32_THERM_STATUS: 0x88560000 (19 C +/- 1)
cpu2: MSR_IA32_THERM_STATUS: 0x88540000 (21 C +/- 1)
cpu3: MSR_IA32_THERM_STATUS: 0x884e0000 (27 C +/- 1)
 ...
The max efficiency frequency, a.k.a. Low Frequency Mode, is the frequency available at the minimum package voltage. The TSC frequency is the nominal maximum frequency of the processor if turbo-mode were not available. This frequency should be sustainable on all CPUs indefinitely, given nominal power and cooling. The remaining rows show what maximum turbo frequency is possible depending on the number of idle cores. Note that this information is not available on all processors.

FORK EXAMPLE
If turbostat is invoked with a command, it will fork that command and output the statistics gathered when the command exits. eg. Here a cycle soaker is run on 1 CPU (see %c0) for a few seconds until ^C while the other CPUs are mostly idle:

[root@x980 lenb]# ./turbostat cat /dev/zero > /dev/null
^C
cor CPU    %c0  GHz  TSC    %c1    %c3    %c6   %pc3   %pc6
          8.86 3.61 3.38  15.06  31.19  44.89   0.00   0.00
  0   0   1.46 3.22 3.38  16.84  29.48  52.22   0.00   0.00
  0   6   0.21 3.06 3.38  18.09
  1   2   0.53 3.33 3.38   2.80  46.40  50.27
  1   8   0.89 3.47 3.38   2.44
  2   4   1.36 3.43 3.38   9.04  23.71  65.89
  2  10   0.18 2.86 3.38  10.22
  8   1   0.04 2.87 3.38  99.96   0.01   0.00
  8   7  99.72 3.63 3.38   0.27
  9   3   0.31 3.21 3.38   7.64  56.55  35.50
  9   9   0.08 2.95 3.38   7.88
 10   5   1.42 3.43 3.38   2.14  30.99  65.44
 10  11   0.16 2.88 3.38   3.40
Above the cycle soaker drives cpu7 up its 3.6 GHz turbo limit while the other processors are generally in various states of idle.

Note that cpu1 and cpu7 are HT siblings within core8. As cpu7 is very busy, it prevents its sibling, cpu1, from entering a c-state deeper than c1.

Note that turbostat reports average GHz of 3.63, while the arithmetic average of the GHz column above is lower. This is a weighted average, where the weight is %c0. ie. it is the total number of un-halted cycles elapsed per time divided by the number of CPUs.

SMI COUNTING EXAMPLE
On Intel Nehalem and newer processors, MSR 0x34 is a System Management Mode Interrupt (SMI) counter. This counter is shown by default under the "SMI" column.
[root@x980 ~]# turbostat
cor CPU    %c0  GHz  TSC SMI    %c1    %c3    %c6 CTMP   %pc3   %pc6
          0.11 1.91 3.38   0   1.84   0.26  97.79   29   0.82  83.87
  0   0   0.40 1.63 3.38   0  10.27   0.12  89.20   20   0.82  83.88
  0   6   0.06 1.63 3.38   0  10.61
  1   2   0.37 2.63 3.38   0   0.02   0.10  99.51   22
  1   8   0.01 1.62 3.38   0   0.39
  2   4   0.07 1.62 3.38   0   0.04   0.07  99.82   23
  2  10   0.02 1.62 3.38   0   0.09
  8   1   0.23 1.64 3.38   0   0.10   1.07  98.60   24
  8   7   0.02 1.64 3.38   0   0.31
  9   3   0.03 1.62 3.38   0   0.03   0.05  99.89   29
  9   9   0.02 1.62 3.38   0   0.05
 10   5   0.07 1.62 3.38   0   0.08   0.12  99.73   27
 10  11   0.03 1.62 3.38   0   0.13
^C

NOTES

turbostat must be run as root.

turbostat reads hardware counters, but doesn't write them. So it will not interfere with the OS or other programs, including multiple invocations of itself.

turbostat may work poorly on Linux-2.6.20 through 2.6.29, as acpi-cpufreq periodically cleared the APERF and MPERF in those kernels.

If the TSC column does not make sense, then the other numbers will also make no sense. Turbostat is lightweight, and its data collection is not atomic. These issues are usually caused by an extremely short measurement interval (much less than 1 second), or system activity that prevents turbostat from being able to run on all CPUS to quickly collect data.

The APERF, MPERF MSRs are defined to count non-halted cycles. Although it is not guaranteed by the architecture, turbostat assumes that they count at TSC rate, which is true on all processors tested to date.

REFERENCES
"Intel® Turbo Boost Technology in Intel® Core™ Microarchitecture (Nehalem) Based Processors" http://download.intel.com/design/processor/applnots/320354.pdf

"Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3B: System Programming Guide" http://www.intel.com/products/processor/manuals/

FILES
/dev/cpu/*/msr

SEE ALSO
msr(4), vmstat(8)

AUTHOR
Written by Len Brown <len.brown@intel.com>