[SOLVED] Help with AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Overclocking

[JaymanHD]

Hello, I am a beginner to the overclocking world and I believe I stumbled on one of the more difficult platforms to start on. I know quite a bit of knowledge on what I need to change, but actually changing it is another thing. I will give you as many details as possible in regards to my current situation, so please hang on. I started out learning by playing with Ryzen master software. I only played around with the boost and auto overclock tabs, but didn't notice much of a difference. For reference, I have a Ryzen 7 3700X cpu, a Gigabyte B450M DS3H motherboard, 16 Gigs of GSkill ripjaws DDR4 3000 RAM, a RTX 2060, and all of that powered by a Thermaltake toughpower GX2 80+ gold 600W power supply. I have done some research and it appears to support overclocking for my CPU , but haven't really seen anyone do it. If I look in the bios, all the overclocking settings are able to be modified. So going back to my problem here... Is it just that the auto functions for boost and overclocking in the Ryzen master don't do anything for my particular case? Or do I need to learn how to change the settings manually in order to see any real effect? I'm not looking to break any world records here, but I would like to see a small improvement if possible. Does anyone know what would be a reachable goal for overclocking this chip with my current set of hardware? I will send a few screenshots to show my status regarding the automatic boost and overclock settings that were set by the amd ryzen master software. Please let me know if you see something that seems wrong to you , all help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!AMD Ryzen Master Thermals

 

[CountMike]

Hello, I am a beginner to the overclocking world and I believe I stumbled on one of the more difficult platforms to start on. I know quite a bit of knowledge on what I need to change, but actually changing it is another thing. I will give you as many details as possible in regards to my current situation, so please hang on. I started out learning by playing with Ryzen master software. I only played around with the boost and auto overclock tabs, but didn't notice much of a difference. For reference, I have a Ryzen 7 3700X cpu, a Gigabyte B450M DS3H motherboard, 16 Gigs of GSkill ripjaws DDR4 3000 RAM, a RTX 2060, and all of that powered by a Thermaltake toughpower GX2 80+ gold 600W power supply. I have done some research and it appears to support overclocking for my CPU , but haven't really seen anyone do it. If I look in the bios, all the overclocking settings are able to be modified. So going back to my problem here... Is it just that the auto functions for boost and overclocking in the Ryzen master don't do anything for my particular case? Or do I need to learn how to change the settings manually in order to see any real effect? I'm not looking to break any world records here, but I would like to see a small improvement if possible. Does anyone know what would be a reachable goal for overclocking this chip with my current set of hardware? I will send a few screenshots to show my status regarding the automatic boost and overclock settings that were set by the amd ryzen master software. Please let me know if you see something that seems wrong to you , all help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!AMD Ryzen Master Thermals

You can use "Old time" OC easy enough but get a CPU cooler better than OEM first.
Otherwise OC is easy , raise multiplier and voltage according to OC.
Go small steps and make sure temperatures stay under 75c. Check stability at every step.

 

[JaymanHD]

You can use "Old time" OC easy enough but get a CPU cooler better than OEM first.
Otherwise OC is easy , raise multiplier and voltage according to OC.
Go small steps and make sure temperatures stay under 75c. Check stability at every step.

Thank you for your reply! I have considered this, but I would feel more comfortable allowing the Ryzen Master program to do its thing at the moment. I don't think you can just change the multiplier and voltage and have it work fine. I've learned this much from various YouTube videos explaining the process. They mention fabric clock and RAM timing. I am not smart enough in the field to attempt this myself without instruction. Since I am not reaching the thermal limit of my processor, what would you recommend for me to see a noticeable difference in performance using the auto options in the ryzen master program. This is just for starting out. Once I have more of a grasp on what I am doing, I will definitely manually adjust everything. I know some other people that use the same chip I have, and they are able to get at least a few hundred MHz above base clock. The only difference in between them is my motherboard and power supply. Do you think I am lacking in the VRM department or did I just lose the silicon lottery?

 

[Rogue Leader]

What cooler are you using? If you're using the one that came in the box don't waste your time, you are NOT overclocking with it. Get something better

Next up, there really is not a lot of room for overclocking on this CPU, not only that you can set it up to basically overclock itself better than you ever could. As I said, get a better cooler, then in the BIOS of your board you need to turn on PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive). This feature, based on thermals, will automatically push the clocks up on your CPU as needed.

Seriously, this will give you better performance than you can get on your own, and requires no major effort.

 

[alexbirdie]

If you turn on PBO, the improvements will be very low compared to the much higher power consumption and heat. Only thing I would suggest to lower the CPU-voltage in the BIOS using a negative offset from about -0.05 to -0.1. You should try best settings , because every CPU and motherboard is different.

 

[Rogue Leader]

If you turn on PBO, the improvements will be very low compared to the much higher power consumption and heat. Only thing I would suggest to lower the CPU-voltage in the BIOS using a negative offset from about -0.05 to -0.1. You should try best settings , because every CPU and motherboard is different.

I am running PBO on my 3700X and have noticed a minimal increase in power consumption, certainly not enough to care about, though he won't get the most out of it with the 4+3 power phase setup that board has, vs a board thats a bit higher end.

 

[jwcrellin]

A standard stable OC for my 3700X is a 42 multiplier and a voltage of 1.42 and I get temps around 81C at peak. It doesn't like to go 43 without 1.435 volts and the temps start climbing toward 89 under load which is to high for my comfort.

 

[CountMike]

"Silicone Lottery" has a lot to do with OC although cooling and VRM are also important. If there was one thing I learned thru years of OC is "Cool now, OC later". My 3700x is full stable at 4.3GHz @1.325v corrected by LLC2/power limit 140%. Up to 76c at full load.
That is "Old time OC" nothing more of settings is needed. It's also crucial to go up in small steps and check everything in between.

 

[JaymanHD]

What cooler are you using? If you're using the one that came in the box don't waste your time, you are NOT overclocking with it. Get something better

Next up, there really is not a lot of room for overclocking on this CPU, not only that you can set it up to basically overclock itself better than you ever could. As I said, get a better cooler, then in the BIOS of your board you need to turn on PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive). This feature, based on thermals, will automatically push the clocks up on your CPU as needed.

Seriously, this will give you better performance than you can get on your own, and requires no major effort.

I am still using the cooler that came out of the box to test thermals. So far the temps do not reach higher than 68 deg. I know I definitely will need a better cooler to handle the extra thermal output from the overclock, but could it be safe to say my board just isn't able to meet the power requirements to maintain a high boost clock?

 

[JaymanHD]

"Silicone Lottery" has a lot to do with OC although cooling and VRM are also important. If there was one thing I learned thru years of OC is "Cool now, OC later". My 3700x is full stable at 4.3GHz @1.325v corrected by LLC2/power limit 140%. Up to 76c at full load.
That is "Old time OC" nothing more of settings is needed. It's also crucial to go up in small steps and check everything in between.

Thank you for sharing your results! So if I were to only adjust the multiplier and voltage, would the bios automatically adjust the fabric clock and memory to compensate for higher clock speed?

 

[Nemesia]

I am still using the cooler that came out of the box to test thermals. So far the temps do not reach higher than 68 deg. I know I definitely will need a better cooler to handle the extra thermal output from the overclock, but could it be safe to say my board just isn't able to meet the power requirements to maintain a high boost clock?

68C with the stock cooler in stress test? Probably not.

 

[JaymanHD]

68C with the stock cooler in stress test? Probably not.

Yes, it is 68 degrees (Celsius )according to the Ryzen Master program while doing a stress test. I assume that program reads the die temp considering it is a program focused on the processor.

 

[Nemesia]

Yes, it is 68 degrees (Celsius )according to the Ryzen Master program while doing a stress test. I assume that program reads the die temp considering it is a program focused on the processor.

What's your room temperature? What stress test? This is the temp you see with a good cooler. Not the stock one. Stock is ~80C in stress test and it sounds like a jet engine.

A 3900X with a Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler with a room temp of 16C in stress test is around 65C.

 

[JaymanHD]

What's your room temperature? What stress test? This is the temp you see with a good cooler. Not the stock one. Stock is ~80C in stress test and it sounds like a jet engine.

Ambient temp in the room where the PC is located is around 23 deg Celsius. I am running the stability test included in the AMD Ryzen master software. I have precision boost overdrive enabled and click the apply/test button. It pegs the cpu at 100% and shows the temperature in the top of the screen. Are you familiar with the Ryzen overclocking software? I cant say for sure that it is reading the die temp or if it is reading another sensor in the case. The test doesn't last that long but the temps look to be stable as they fluctuate up and down.

 

[Nemesia]

Ambient temp in the room where the PC is located is around 23 deg Celsius. I am running the stability test included in the AMD Ryzen master software. I have precision boost overdrive enabled and click the apply/test button. It pegs the cpu at 100% and shows the temperature in the top of the screen. Are you familiar with the Ryzen overclocking software? I cant say for sure that it is reading the die temp or if it is reading another sensor in the case. The test doesn't last that long but the temps look to be stable as they fluctuate up and down.

Right I thought you ran some stress test program like Cinebench and Prime95 for exemple. You would see a lot more heat in those ;p

 

[JaymanHD]

Right I thought you ran some stress test program like Cinebench and Prime95 for exemple. You would see a lot more heat in those ;p

I have just completed both cinnebench r20 and Prime95 stress tests. Cinnebench finished pretty quick, so I didn't count any usable temperature information from that. However from the Prime95 torture test (I think that is the tool I am supposed to use), I have achieved a max temp of 71 deg Celsius. The temperature readings were obtained from CPUID Hardware Monitor software. I can send a picture to verify with you if you would like to look over some of the data logs. Just a reminder, this is with precision boost overdrive on. The CPU was steady at 4.13 GHZ through the entire run. (Read from task manager)

 

[CountMike]

Thank you for sharing your results! So if I were to only adjust the multiplier and voltage, would the bios automatically adjust the fabric clock and memory to compensate for higher clock speed?

No. fabric and memory are adjusted by XMP.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I am still using the cooler that came out of the box to test thermals. So far the temps do not reach higher than 68 deg. I know I definitely will need a better cooler to handle the extra thermal output from the overclock, but could it be safe to say my board just isn't able to meet the power requirements to maintain a high boost clock?

If you're serious about this you need to replace that cooler. The stress test in Ryzen master with PBO off isn't going to tell you much, as with stock settings the CPU is never going to overheat with that unless you have a bad case or a hot (ambient) room. Once you start overclocking increasing clocks and voltages temp climbs quickly and the efficiency of the stock cooler tanks.

Your board is a lower end B450 with a small VRM setup (4+3), while its not as critical on Ryzen as on older FX processors, it is still important to getting the highest and most stable boost or OC on your cpu.

As I mentioned I run a 3700X which with PBO will sit there at 4.3 Ghz all day long without any work. I also have a good board and cooler. You need the cooler first and then try it. If you want to tinker you can go ahead and try overclocking it yourself, but you likely won't get better results. Its more of a preference thing, some people just like to tinker, can't fault that.

 

[JaymanHD]

If you're serious about this you need to replace that cooler. The stress test in Ryzen master with PBO off isn't going to tell you much, as with stock settings the CPU is never going to overheat with that unless you have a bad case or a hot (ambient) room. Once you start overclocking increasing clocks and voltages temp climbs quickly and the efficiency of the stock cooler tanks.

Your board is a lower end B450 with a small VRM setup (4+3), while its not as critical on Ryzen as on older FX processors, it is still important to getting the highest and most stable boost or OC on your cpu.

As I mentioned I run a 3700X which with PBO will sit there at 4.3 Ghz all day long without any work. I also have a good board and cooler. You need the cooler first and then try it. If you want to tinker you can go ahead and try overclocking it yourself, but you likely won't get better results. Its more of a preference thing, some people just like to tinker, can't fault that.

I agree. I will buy a more adequate cooler, but should I also go for a better motherboard considering that it doesn’t necessarily meet the power requirements for an over clocked chip? I just don’t understand why the OC won’t work. It is under the thermal limits in all the benchmarks, the only thing I could think of is that it isn’t getting enough power.

 

[JaymanHD]

No. fabric and memory are adjusted by XMP.

I don’t have xmp enabled due to some instability it caused in programs, would that need to be enabled in order for the OC to be stable?

 

[DMAN999]

The first thing you need to do is enable the XMP profile for your RAM.
According to your Ryzen Master screenshot your RAM is running at 2133 MHz instead of 3000.
Also make sure that the Infinity Fabrik (FLCK) is running at 1500 (1/2 of 3000) after you enable XMP.

 

[Rogue Leader]

I agree. I will buy a more adequate cooler, but should I also go for a better motherboard considering that it doesn’t necessarily meet the power requirements for an over clocked chip? I just don’t understand why the OC won’t work. It is under the thermal limits in all the benchmarks, the only thing I could think of is that it isn’t getting enough power.

Honestly I don't think you will get your moneys worth out of a better board. What I mean by that is for the lets say $150 you spend you're not going to get $150 worth of performance. Its just not going to make THAT much of a difference in real life, synthetic benchmarks sure, but IMO not worth it unless you can somehow get 100% of your money back on your old board.

The first thing you need to do is enable the XMP profile for your RAM.
According to your Ryzen Master screenshot your RAM is running at 2133 MHz instead of 3000.
Also make sure that the Infinity Fabrik (FLCK) is running at 1500 (1/2 of 3000) after you enable XMP.

Do this!

 

[JaymanHD]

Honestly I don't think you will get your moneys worth out of a better board. What I mean by that is for the lets say $150 you spend you're not going to get $150 worth of performance. Its just not going to make THAT much of a difference in real life, synthetic benchmarks sure, but IMO not worth it unless you can somehow get 100% of your money back on your old board.



Do this!

That’s a pretty fair argument. I have a friend that might want the board, so if he does I will make most (if not all) of my money back. As for the cooler, I can buy that immediately since the socket will be the same across all the motherboards for am4. I just gotta do a little research on which cooler would be the best for the given situation. But I have one question, can you please tell me what I am truly limited by in my current setup? I just want to know for peace of mind and future diagnosis. I think I am limited by my motherboard power delivery (VRMs) the most and then obviously thermals when I am actually able to overclock. I’d prefer that someone who is smarter than me in this field would give me the bottom line. If The main reason was just thermals, what temp does Ryzen stop boosting over? Like I mentioned, the temps were under 72dec Celsius in stress tests.

 

[Rogue Leader]

That’s a pretty fair argument. I have a friend that might want the board, so if he does I will make most (if not all) of my money back. As for the cooler, I can buy that immediately since the socket will be the same across all the motherboards for am4. I just gotta do a little research on which cooler would be the best for the given situation. But I have one question, can you please tell me what I am truly limited by in my current setup? I just want to know for peace of mind and future diagnosis. I think I am limited by my motherboard power delivery (VRMs) the most and then obviously thermals when I am actually able to overclock. I’d prefer that someone who is smarter than me in this field would give me the bottom line. If The main reason was just thermals, what temp does Ryzen stop boosting over? Like I mentioned, the temps were under 72dec Celsius in stress tests.

You're limited by the motherboard VRMS (too few and limited cooling) and the efficiency of the current cpu cooler. As i said you didn't overheat because you are running it completely stock without even PBO, which limits the thermal load. The CPU cooler in the box is sufficient for that.

As for when Ryzen stops boosting thats a mixed question. Ryzen throttles at 95C, thats where it won't even run past base clock. Ryzen prevents PB2 which is its basic built in "turbo" functionality (to use an Intel term) at around 85C. If you were using PBO which is the preferred and automatic method of overclocking your temps need to be 71C or below for it to continue clocking up. They GRADUALLY decrease as you continue over 71C.

As for your cooler selections you need to look at what would work best for the case that you own.

 

[JaymanHD]

You're limited by the motherboard VRMS (too few and limited cooling) and the efficiency of the current cpu cooler. As i said you didn't overheat because you are running it completely stock without even PBO, which limits the thermal load. The CPU cooler in the box is sufficient for that.

As for when Ryzen stops boosting thats a mixed question. Ryzen throttles at 95C, thats where it won't even run past base clock. Ryzen prevents PB2 which is its basic built in "turbo" functionality (to use an Intel term) at around 85C. If you were using PBO which is the preferred and automatic method of overclocking your temps need to be 71C or below for it to continue clocking up. They GRADUALLY decrease as you continue over 71C.

As for your cooler selections you need to look at what would work best for the case that you own.

Alright, thank you and everyone else here for clearing up this issue. All input and suggestions are greatly appreciated!