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Why I don't get the clock speed that is reported for F32s v2.

Emre Utku Solak 25 Reputation points
2025-06-11T23:19:23.4233333+00:00

For context, I'm running year-long MIP problems on an optimization engine. My model solves 1 day per 6 minutes on my physical server.

My physical server has an Intel Core i7-10700 CPU @ 2.90GHz and 64GB of RAM.

To save time for running my simulations, I decided to leverage Azure Virtual Servers, and I created a VM Scale Set with 2 VM instances under that:

  • Standard D32s v3 (32 vcpus, 128 GiB memory)
  • Standard F32s v2 (32 vcpus, 64 GiB memory)

I created the Standard F32s v2 (32 vcpus, 64 GiB memory) VM instance because I did not get a satisfactory speed with the Standard D32s v3 (32 vcpus, 128 GiB memory) instance. For reference, they both solve 1 day per 10 minutes on both servers.

According to the following link, I'm supposed to get a clock speed of 3.7 GHz.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/series/?cdn=disable#:~:text=F%2Dseries%20VMs,Boost%20Technology%202.0.

However, on both VMs, I see the base clock speed as 2.60 GHz, which doesn't scale up.

Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8272CL CPU @ 2.60GHz, 2594 Mhz, 16 Core(s), 32 Logical Processor(s)

How can I get a higher clock speed?

Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines

An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.

Answer accepted by question author

kobulloc-MSFT 26,861 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator
2025-06-24T01:19:01.66+00:00

Hello, Emre Utku Solak!

The Fsv2 sizes series documentation page isn't entirely clear on its own because it quotes maximum speed which you may or may not see on your VM for the reasons listed in the other answers:

...a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 3.7 GHz.

What we're likely looking for is the expected performance of a VM. To help understand the compute power of different VMs, there used to be an ACU (Azure Compute Unit) page which would give you a sense of compute power. This has unfortunately been retired.

So while it's possible for the Fsv2-series to have a max boost clock of 3.7 GHz, speeds like you are reporting are within the expected range of performance. For speeds similar to what you have at home, I might look at other VMs as suggested in the other answers such as the Dav4 and Dasv4-series. For practical speeds closer to 3.7 GHz, I would look at the DCsv2-series or FX-series.

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  1. Mounika Reddy Anumandla 7,135 Reputation points Moderator
    2025-06-18T11:54:14.27+00:00

    Hi Emre Utku Solak,

    Turbo Boost is an internal implementation and is triggered automatically as needed by the underlying host infrastructure and there is no way to control it or monitor it by customer. This is controlled at the Bios level, and you do not have any access to this level of hardware.

    Although the processor does include that technology it is not something you yourself can enable or disable.
    You are allocated the number of processors you pay for when you pick your size but besides that there are no additional options to enable turbo boost technology. As mentioned, this series of processor can be better for applications that require faster CPUs, but this is already configured by Azure. There is no additional action required from you to be able to utilize this technology.
    Turbo Boost (e.g., 3.7 GHz on 8272CL) is not a fixed entitlement. It’s opportunistic — based on power, thermal, and load conditions. On Azure, you may never hit max turbo because hosts are tuned for thermal stability and multi-tenant fairness.

    To get actual high-clock performance for your MIP (Mixed Integer Programming) workload, consider the below options:

    • Switch to FX-Series VMs: Azure's FX-series VMs are specifically designed for workloads requiring high CPU clock speeds. They offer an all-core turbo frequency of 4.0 GHz and up to 4.1 GHz single-core, which is higher than the Fsv2-series. These VMs are recommended for compute-bound, single-threaded, or lightly-threaded workloads. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/optimize-extreme-computing-performance-with-azure-fxseries-virtual-machines/
    • Consider Azure Dedicated Host (if budget allows) With Dedicated Hosts, you can control: Power settings and turbo behavior CPU affinity (potentially) Noise from other tenants (better for performance isolation) But this is expensive and better suited for production scenarios with high budget.
    • Try the new Azure “Ev5” series: Some Ev5 SKUs offer Intel Ice Lake or Sapphire Rapids, which have higher all-core turbo frequencies than older Xeon Platinum SKUs.
    • Use Azure HBv3 or HBv4 Series (AMD EPYC): These VM series are designed for HPC workloads, offering: Higher base and turbo clocks (3.4–3.6 GHz all-core boost) Excellent single-thread performance with Zen 3 / Zen 4 cores Consistent CPU performance, unlike general-purpose VMshttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/sizes/high-performance-compute/hbv4-series?tabs=sizebasic

    Also please have a look at this thread where Priyanka gave some more details: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2084682/which-size-provides-how-to-get-fastest-single-thre

    Hope it helps!

    Let me know if you have any further queries!

    If the comment is helpful, please click "upvote" to let us know!

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-06-12T02:44:00.3233333+00:00

    Hi Emre Utku Solak,

    The CPU model you choose directly impacts the base and boost clock speeds available. For workloads that demand high-speed performance, it's recommended to select a processor with a higher maximum turbo frequency.

    Azure offers high-performance compute instances optimized for such needs. The FX-series is powered by Intel® Xeon® Gold 6246R (Cascade Lake) processors, delivering an all-core turbo frequency of 4.0 GHz, 21 GB RAM per vCPU, up to 1 TB of total RAM, and local temporary storage. This series is ideal for workloads that require high CPU clock speeds and a high memory-to-vCPU ratio, including those with high per-core licensing costs or applications dependent on strong single-core performance.

    The Fsv2-series runs on a variety of processors, including the 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8370C (Ice Lake), Xeon® Platinum 8272CL (Cascade Lake), and Xeon® Platinum 8168 (Skylake). These VMs offer a sustained all-core turbo clock speed of 3.4 GHz and a maximum single-core turbo frequency of 3.7 GHz. Additionally, they support Intel® AVX-512 instructions, enhancing performance for compute-intensive workloads on Intel Scalable Processors.

    Please refer the similar threads below:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/541456/turbo-boost-azure-vm
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2084682/which-size-provides-how-to-get-fastest-single-thre

    If you found information is helpful, please click "Upvote" on the post to let us know.

    If you have any further queries feel free to ask us we are happy to assist you.

    Thank You.

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