Question Want to learn how to Overclock my CPU

Nov 26, 2005
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I'm want to learn a little about overclocking with this 3800X before I upgrade. I intend to reallocate this 3800X to a daily, non gaming rig, when I get rolling.

Recently ran CB20 MT and all my cores were at 4150MHz, Temps ~ 74*C, PPT 74% of 142w, CPU Power 86w, SOC power 9.5w, TDC 69%, EDC 75%. Score 4955

ST I'm getting boots of 4450MHz

Gaming, using Ryzen Master Histogram I get 1 core that bounces to 4GHz randomly, and the rest are well below 3.8GHz


So just change the CPU Clock Ratio? e.g. 43, and then raise the CPU Vcore? e.g. 1.3v

PBO is confusing for me.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
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I'm gonna say not worth an OC.

Right now you have all the power saving benefits and most of the performance.
4.3GHz or even 4.4GHz all core sounds good, but it's hardly better than 4.15GHz.

If you'd like to learn a little overclocking, start looking into RAM timings and such.
All Ryzen likes high speed low latency RAM, and more ranks (even Intel benefits).
 

Thunder 57

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Aug 19, 2007
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I'm running 1:1 3800 at CL14 stable

How do I make the cores static? Even for something like 4GHz

If you are asking that kind of question, you should probably leave it be. Ryzen doesn't overclock well, and is generally best left alone. Especially on a higher frequency model like a 3800X.

I'm sure there are Ryzen overclocking guides out there if you really want an idea. It is not worth the effort most of the time though. I run mine stock, not even PBO. If you really want to OC, download Ryzen Master and enable PBO. It might give you a marginal boost. You would likely be better off looking into memory overclocking/timings.

EDIT

Heh, forgot you included memory info already. That is excellent, I would beave it be. I guess the question is, what are you trying to achieve by overclocking? Also, if you overlock, you will give up lightly threaded performance to get minimal gains in all core. Zen is very well tuned. You are unlikely to beat it manually.
 
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Leeea

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Outside of enabling XMP, there is not much to be gained from overclocking these days.

However, it can be great fun*. Especially if you have the pocketbook for a new cpu or mainboard.

As for a guide, it is poke it with a stick and then test with some sort of benchmark. Keep in mind it is not the manufacturers fault in the unlikely event it breaks.

to learn about PBO, I suggest reading this:

*these days I find it mind numbingly boring. Push the setting, wait for the computer to start, run the benchmark, write down the result, poke it with a stick again ...
 
Nov 26, 2005
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I guess I'm interested in an all core static clock. I'm not looking to get more fps out of games, although that would be nice, just looking for behavioral changes in online gaming.
 

Leeea

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Your really determined to do this?
I suggest watching this:

---------------------

ok. Please be aware its been like 5+ years since I overclocked a CPU. GPU*s on the other hand different story.

Ram XMP is a form of overclocking, although not many people consider it to be overclocking these days. All gain, easy, and no real risk. Your cpu's infinity fabric runs at ram speed, so it is generally going to show speed improvements on Ryzen right to 3600 if I remember right. If your not running XMP do it and take the free gift.


so cpu overclocking:
So, typically, on most boards, when you enable overclocking and setting the cpu multiplier, you automatically disable turbo and are setting the all core clock.

There are lots of over clocking loops, here is the one I use:
I go on google, punch the cpu number in along with the word "overclock". I then see what other people are getting, and what voltage they are using.
I will then set the voltage to whatever comfortable with
and crank the cores up to max cpu rated for
stress test it (I used to use prime95), check the temps, and see if it crashes
-> if it does not crash, up the frequency and try again
-> if it does crash, and temps are ok, up the voltage and try again

after repeating the loop a bunch of times you will eventually find a threshold of temperature, frequency, voltage, and stability your comfortable with. It is not my fault if you fry your cpu like an egg, or pop a mainboard vrm.

20 years ago a person could get 20% more performance out of it. In the heyday we had Celerons outperforming Intel's best stock Pentiums. These days, your very lucky if you get 3%. Most people get nothing.

---------------------

*why not do your GPU instead? My Vega 56 pulled 6% more performance out of no where. If you purchased your GPU late in the product life cycle**, they typically can overclock for a lot more gain then a CPU will get you.

**products purchased early in the life cycle typically overclock poorly. The get binned by how well they perform. However, as the manufacturer runs the line, they tweak it to get better yields. This tweaking means later revisions of the same model part tend to have considerably more overclocking headroom. Late product lifecycle also typically has high end parts being relabeled as low end parts to fill demand. These late product lifecycle "low end parts" quite frequently can get results from overclocking and or a re-flash.
 
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Nov 26, 2005
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@DrMrLordX I have no experience adjusting anything CPU wise. I've done lots of work with the RAM kit getting it stable.

I'm old school. I like overclocking via the bios. I'm on a Gigabyte X570 if you are familiar with it's bios pages.

I have:
CPU Clock Control = 100.00MHz
CPU Ratio Mode = All cores
CPU Clock Ratio = Auto. I'm assuming I change this to the multiplier (core clocks) I want to use? e.g. 42

The only other thing I guess would be to raise the CPU Vcore.


Is it that simple? When I boot into windows Ryzen Master doesn't show all the cores @ 4.2GHz
 
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You need to find your max safe voltage... need as in if you care not too degrade your chip.

I don't intend to push the chip or voltages at all. I want the voltages to be limited to the safe range. However if constant volts will equate to some degradation then I will limit the time with the experiment/experience till I have a better understanding. That might be only a week or two, who knows.
 

thesmokingman

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May 6, 2010
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I don't intend to push the chip or voltages at all. I want the voltages to be limited to the safe range. However if constant volts will equate to some degradation then I will limit the time with the experiment/experience till I have a better understanding. That might be only a week or two, who knows.

This is really dependent upon your cooling. We can go over voltage, manual or using PBO (recommended) but again it's all dependent upon your cooling. You'll get no where fast if your cooling cannot handle the extra load.
 

Leeea

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2020
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I have an NH-D15

I think what he is referring to is nearly all of our stock CPUs are designed to function just fine at 90C ( 194 F ) and not crash. They usually thermal throttle after that.

However, if you keep the CPU at say 65C*, then that 25C of thermal headroom can be converted into overclocking headroom.

In short, you can overclock a CPU at 65C faster then one at 90C. As long as you keep it under 65C, it shouldn't crash.


So if your current cooler may be just fine if it keeps the CPU an acceptable temperature. Watch in your hardware monitor as you stress test it.


*this is just an arbitrary number I picked. You can pick higher or lower then that. Up to you. The hard core guys use liquid nitrogen for a reason. These days there is not much difference between a high end air cooler like what you have and an AIO water cooler. Open loop water is different. Chilled water is another subject.
 
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DrMrLordX

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@DrMrLordX I have no experience adjusting anything CPU wise. I've done lots of work with the RAM kit getting it stable.

I'm old school. I like overclocking via the bios. I'm on a Gigabyte X570 if you are familiar with it's bios pages.

I have:
CPU Clock Control = 100.00MHz
CPU Ratio Mode = All cores
CPU Clock Ratio = Auto. I'm assuming I change this to the multiplier (core clocks) I want to use? e.g. 42

The only other thing I guess would be to raise the CPU Vcore.


Is it that simple? When I boot into windows Ryzen Master doesn't show all the cores @ 4.2GHz

Okay, let's get started.

Ryzen chips are pretty easy to static OC. No uncore values to worry about. You've got two voltages you need to think about:

vcore
vSoC

You should already have your vSoC set for your memory overclock. I would not recommend moving that since it's probably higher than stock for the memOC. If not then I guess leave it alone?

CPU Clock Ratio is what you want to set your OC - not CPU Clock Control (that's your bclk). Assuming you want static OC and not PBO (and I think PBO is terrible, though you can try if it you really want to). But before that we need to see if you have any LLC options. Can you find the power controls for your motherboard?
 
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Nov 26, 2005
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Okay, let's get started.

Ryzen chips are pretty easy to static OC. No uncore values to worry about. You've got two voltages you need to think about:

vcore
vSoC

You should already have your vSoC set for your memory overclock. I would not recommend moving that since it's probably higher than stock for the memOC. If not then I guess leave it alone?

CPU Clock Ratio is what you want to set your OC - not CPU Clock Control (that's your bclk). Assuming you want static OC and not PBO (and I think PBO is terrible, though you can try if it you really want to). But before that we need to see if you have any LLC options. Can you find the power controls for your motherboard?

CPU Vcore = Auto
VCORE SOC = 1.025v

I have a CPU/VRM Settings option. All are set to Auto
 

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DrMrLordX

Lifer
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Okay. Matisse has pretty massive vdroop. Your 8c might not droop as much as my 3900x but I digress.

First thing: which Gigabyte x570 board do you have? Does it have solid VRMs + VRM cooling?
 
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Okay. Matisse has pretty massive vdroop. Your 8c might not droop as much as my 3900x but I digress.

First thing: which Gigabyte x570 board do you have? Does it have solid VRMs + VRM cooling?

I have the Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme. Supposedly it has the best VRM solution? A true 14 phase VRM, no doublers. If I'm looking at it correctly it has a passive heatsink for all the VRMs. I do, however, have 2 140 mm fans blowing through the HS to the back of the case (Corsair 800D), and one 140mm fan, the Noctua fan, blowing straight down directly towards the VRMs.


EDIT: I've actually tried changing the CPU Clock ratio before with adjusting the Vcore. But I don't understand why Ryzen Master would be reporting the cores at idle, while also not remaining static say e.g. 4.2GHz
 

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DrMrLordX

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I have the Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme. Supposedly it has the best VRM solution? A true 14 phase VRM, no doublers. If I'm looking at it correctly it has a passive heatsink for all the VRMs. I do, however, have 2 140 mm fans blowing through the HS to the back of the case (Corsair 800D), and one 140mm fan, the Noctua fan, blowing straight down directly towards the VRMs.


EDIT: I've actually tried changing the CPU Clock ratio before with adjusting the Vcore. But I don't understand why Ryzen Master would be reporting the cores at idle, while also not remaining static say e.g. 4.2GHz

Static OC still allows cores to idle on Matisse if you don't set a static voltage in the UEFI (it still works if you set static voltage via Ryzen Master). It's really quite interesting. Other tools may report them at a constant clock but Ryzen Master won't.

Okay you have the big bad-boy brother to my board (Aorus Master). First trick is to jack up your VRM frequency response. Damn I'm gonna have to reboot to look those up for you, sec.

edit: okay set the VRM phase control to the highest setting - "Xtreme" or whatever it is. For me the best CPU and SoC LLC setting was "Normal" but you may find other settings work better for you. I learned to embrace the vdroop fully! Which is counter-intuitive, but it actually works.

Next you have to pick a static vcore target. This is the maximum amount of vcore you feel is safe for your CPU. The_Stilt reported a FIT table max voltage of 1.325v during high current workloads. Personally I have used vcore as high as ~1.344v. I use CPU-z to momitor vcore. Be aware that with your LLC settings at Normal, you'll experience full vdroop which will bring your actual voltage (as reported by CPU-z) lower than the static value you set in the UEFI. In any case, take the CPU Vcore setting off Auto to Manual, and then dial in something like 1.344v. Load up Windows with something conservative (like 40x CPU Clock Ratio) and test CBR20 and see where your voltage goes in CPU-z during the run. Keep tuning the voltage in the UEFI upwards until you reach the max voltage you want for your chip, while watching temps. You can also test against Blender Benchmark, which is a little more-aggressive in bringing high temps. Don't use Prime95 SmallFFTs or anything like that. Insane AVX2 workloads (Prime95, PrimeGRID, y-cruncher) will not get along with your static OC (probably).

If temps get too high during testing of something like Blender Benchmark or CBR20, back off voltage in baby steps until you're safe. Then start upping clocks and test for stability in as many applications as you can besides heavy AVX2 workloads. Honestly you should set up a separate OC profile for those in your UEFI.
 
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Nov 26, 2005
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Does the CPU & SoC LLC effect whether or not the clocks will remain static? I tried a static Vcore ~ 1.265v with the CPU Clock ratio at 42. Is there something else in the bios, or perhaps windows power settings that ... wait, 'Processor idle disable' ??? is it that? Or will Matisse not allow static core speeds?
 

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
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Does the CPU & SoC LLC effect whether or not the clocks will remain static?

No.

I tried a static Vcore ~ 1.265v with the CPU Clock ratio at 42. Is there something else in the bios, or perhaps windows power settings that ... wait, 'Processor idle disable' ??? is it that? Or will Matisse not allow static core speeds?

First off if you got 4.2 GHz out of your chip at 1.265v then good job! Secondly, hmm it looks like current UEFI revisions even allow the CPU to downclock when idle while using a static vcore, which is lovely. Anyway you should only care about the volts + clocks while the chip is loaded, you won't see the chip stuck at your chosen OC while idle. Which is not a bad thing.
 
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Okay, thanks.

Looks like my local Micro Center just got the 5600X in stock. After reading the review on TPU and the gaming results I'm leaning back towards the 5800X. It's solely a gaming machine, and I can save money to put towards a new GPU e.g. the 6800XT
 

EliteRetard

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Okay, thanks.

Looks like my local Micro Center just got the 5600X in stock. After reading the review on TPU and the gaming results I'm leaning back towards the 5800X. It's solely a gaming machine, and I can save money to put towards a new GPU e.g. the 6800XT

Not sure the 5800 is a good choice for any system right now.
Not with the current pricing structure, being 50% / $150 more.

The 5600 with an OC and memory tune performs rather well.

If you're going to spend huge monies on a 5800, why not get a 59xx.
Otherwise use the $150 for top tier RAM, cooler, and GPU upgrades etc.
 

EliteRetard

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I do wish AMD hadn't bumped the prices so hard...
Here's my random "reasonable" wish pricing:

5950x - $750
5900x - $500
5800x - $350
5600x - $275

This way, even if it's still a worse value, the 5800 would be cheap enough to be worth consideration.

This pricing would also make all the other CPUs more palatable, and might encourage more up sell.
I suppose even $300/375 for the 5600/5800 would be tolerable, but this is all just a wish anyway.