There's an on-die Power Control Unit on the CPU that can independently control each core's BCLK and can shut off unused cores to use virtually zero power. The PCU monitors power and temperature and allows a boost if certain conditions are met: # of cores in use, load, power consumption below a set maximum. The PCU replaces firmware that was previously used for power management.
The multiplier is increased beyond the normal maximum for Turbo Mode. For example, the i7-720qm at 1.6GHz uses a 12x multiplier. At 2.8GHz (max single core boost), the multiplier can be increased up to 21x.
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