The processor state control has 2 states, namely :
The C State : Represents the sleep state. Varies from c0 to c6, where c6 is the deepest sleep state for a processor.
The P State : Represents the performance state. Varies from p0 to p15, where p15 is the lowest possible frequency.
A processor has multiple cores, and each of them requires thermal headroom for gaining a boost in performance. Hence, the temperature needs to be kept at an optimal level so that the cores can perform at their highest.
When a core is put into the sleep state then it results in a reduction of the overall temperature of the processor. This gives an opportunity to other cores for giving out a better performance. Hence, a strategy can be devised by properly putting some cores to sleep and others in a performance state to get an overall performance boost from the processor.
Instances like the c4.8xlarge allow customizing the C and P states for customizing the processor performance according to the workload.
