[SOLVED] Is it normal for 5800x to spike randomly in temps + ramp up fan RPM even in idle?

[victormunro]

I built this PC a few days ago, and this is my first time having a Ryzen build. I heard this is normal but I just want to make sure. It is a tad of an annoyance when the CPU will spike for no reason, causing my fans to ramp up in their RPM by 300-400 and then go back to their normal set RPM.

These spikes would happen at random or while I'm gaming and I have another tab open (chrome) and lets say I tab back into chrome and load up any web page, the CPU will go up to where the fans will ramp up.

I have Ryzen 7 5800x, Noctua NH-U12S chromax.Black CPU Cooler and my case is the Phanteks 500a. The thermal paste amount I put is about a long-ish grain size of rice.

I am looking at these spikes/temps with MSI Center. I am at a healthy 63-70 when gaming + multiple tasks but it will spike randomly when I do anything in chrome or with any other application.
All system fans 1-4 start at 600 RPM and will go up to 900/1000 when it spikes for a few seconds then it will go back down to 700 (while gaming)


Is it also normal for my CPU MHz to go from 3700MHz to 4700MHz at random times as well? I just found that odd, even in idle it will jump itself up for a few seconds then it will go down.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Yes, it's normal.

Part of the reason is because when idling, there's still tasks to do, most of them housekeeping or checking to see if there's something to do. Windows services these idle tasks at a relatively low rate (I've read various things, like 100ms to up to 700ms, but either way, it's pretty slow in computer time). Since all of these idle chores take up little CPU time, Windows tends to throw them on one core and boosting is aggressive by default.

Another issue is that Ryzen reports lots of temperatures but most of fan controllers likely takes the one that reports the hottest part of the CPU, which happens to be the core that got all of the idle tasks.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Adding one more reason to @hotaru.hino 's...

Ryzen is extremely dynamic and boosts frequently to max clocks even from idle to finish off even light processing loads so it can put the core back into C6, deep sleep. AMD called it "rush to idle". All of those Windows idle tasks going on and it's tendency to boost at each one and you see it as frequent temp spikes.

If fans are a problem, the thing to do is adjust profiles to ignore the spikes...so a steady just audible but not annoying, flat fan speed up to something like 75-80C or so before you let it start ramping to anything louder.

 

[drea.drechsler]

I built this PC a few days ago, and this is my first time having a Ryzen build. I heard this is normal but I just want to make sure. It is a tad of an annoyance when the CPU will spike for no reason, causing my fans to ramp up in their RPM by 300-400 and then go back to their normal set RPM.
...

Well...OK...something I've just tested on my 5800x.

Over the past few weeks AMD and Microsoft have made some significant changes to power plan and chipset drivers. Especially for Windows 11 (if you're on that) but also Windows 10 (I'm on that). So of course, make sure you're on latest chipset drivers from AMD and make sure your Windows is fully updated.

In power plans, change to the power saver. Also check the Power and Sleep applet and move the slider to Best Energy Savings. On my 5800X system it makes the processor stop boosting on low-demand processes and it idles at a lower clock (3400Mhz vs 3800Mhz in High Power). That should make an impact on your cpu spikes.

 

[Viking2121]

The 5800x PBO is pretty aggressive in its stock out of the box settings, so yes its normal, Its not uncommon to see 90C on the 5800x, its designed to boost its clocks all the way up until 90C is hit, and then it slows down to maintain under 90C, cooler the better of course!

You can tweak this and actually increase performance in the process and have it boost higher and even run cooler, but it will require you to read about the chip, way to much to type about it, EDC,PPT, and TDC settings is all you really need to look up if you are interested, every chip is different so 1 setting might work for 1 guy, might not work for you.

in my opinion the 5800x uses way too much power in its stock form, it should of been a 90watt chip if not lower, that 105 they rate it at is kinda high.

 

[drea.drechsler]

.... it should of been a 90watt chip if not lower, that 105 they rate it at is kinda high.

Don't confuse the TDP rating with actual power consumption.

But I agree that you can't do the old school PBO thing of just maxing out PPT, TDC and EDC. Especially when running with individual core CO's I have to careful select an EDC (which is lower than the spec 140W) in order to get good light threaded scores as well as multi-threaded scores. I can tune it for a gaming CPU...or a Prime95 furnace...just by tweaking EDC.

My 5800X PPT output is limited ~145W on my system, which it only ever hits running something stupid like P95 'Smallest' FFT. I do that just to keep it around 80-83C: if I had better cooling I'd up it even higher...if I could. As it is, clocks have dropped to 4.4-4.5G and volts around 1.175-1.2. Crazy.

 

[Viking2121]

Don't confuse the TDP rating with actual power consumption.

But I agree that you can't do the old school PBO thing of just maxing out PPT, TDC and EDC. Especially when running with individual core CO's I have to careful select an EDC (which is lower than the spec 140W) in order to get good light threaded scores as well as multi-threaded scores. I can tune it for a gaming CPU...or a Prime95 furnace...just by tweaking EDC.

My 5800X PPT output is limited ~145W on my system, which it only ever hits running something stupid like P95 'Smallest' FFT. I do that just to keep it around 80-83C: if I had better cooling I'd up it even higher...if I could. As it is, clocks have dropped to 4.4-4.5G and volts around 1.175-1.2. Crazy.

Oh Im not confusing it, but it should not consume 18 watts per core out of the box where the 5600x only consumes around 9 to 10 watts per core, They could of lowered the power consumption, slapped a 65 - 75watt tdp rating on it and included one of their higher end coolers, it shouldn't need 105 watt cooler for this chip is the point im making.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Ryzen uses way too much voltage by default with PBO.
You did not state your motherboard but you can experiment with voltage reduction by setting voltage or offsets.
It will take a little while. Weeks maybe to dial in the perfect settings for your system.
I run with PBO off. Core Boost and all other bios overclocking disabled.
1.28v Turbo ration of 44 for 6 core boost of 4.4ghz all core.
Still stays within the board and processor power limits and maxes out @ 82-85 degrees on prime95 blend 4.4ghz all cor boost.
Every chip is different so your results will be determined by your chips silicone.
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/67653142

 

[victormunro]

Ryzen uses way too much voltage by default with PBO.
You did not state your motherboard but you can experiment with voltage reduction by setting voltage or offsets.
It will take a little while. Weeks maybe to dial in the perfect settings for your system.
I run with PBO off. Core Boost and all other bios overclocking disabled.
1.28v Turbo ration of 44 for 6 core boost of 4.4ghz all core.
Still stays within the board and processor power limits and maxes out @ 82-85 degrees on prime95 blend 4.4ghz all cor boost.
Every chip is different so your results will be determined by your chips silicone.
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/67653142

I have the MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge Wifi! I know how to go in the BIOS to change the PBO and the PPT, TDC and EDC. I tried messing with them kind of gave up since the pc still had its random spikes. Not as frequent but still there occasionally

 

[Unolocogringo]

Now that we know your motherboard.
Go into bios monitoring section.
Here you can set up fan profiles and set a short delay for fans to ramp up/down.
Try a 3-5second delay or so to stop the the fans from ramping up on short activity boosts.
Some motherboards have this option and others do not.
Luckily yours does and this will eliminate the short bursts from ramping up fans.

 

[drea.drechsler]

I have the MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge Wifi! I know how to go in the BIOS to change the PBO and the PPT, TDC and EDC. I tried messing with them kind of gave up since the pc still had its random spikes. Not as frequent but still there occasionally

The spiking is intrinsic to Ryzen...it's the way it works. You really don't want to stop it.

Like @Unolocogringo says, try increasing the fan delay. I put mine to max on my Asus board but it doesn't seem to help all alone though. So I also set a fairly high fixed base fan speed up to around 65 or 70 C. The fixed speed should something just below where it gets to be really noticeable. Don't worry about temps below about 70C since there's really nothing you can do to lower it when it spikes in that range, it's when it starts getting into the 70's and especially the high 70's you want fans to speed up more.

Another thing to do that does help is to use PBO and undervolt with curve otpimizer. It both tempers the spiking and improves performance. There's plenty of how-to's on Youtube, but if you want a link just ask.

And lastly (I posted this before) be sure to install the latest AMD chipset driver (get it from AMD's support site too) and update your Windows if it's not. Run the BALANCED power plan, open the Power and Sleep Settings applet and slide the slider to BEST ENERGY SAVINGS. It definitely tempers the spiking on my system.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Shameless self plug.

Another thing you may want to consider is adjusting the turbo boost behavior, which is apparently dictated by Windows: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/something-to-consider-for-laptops.3737865/ . This will make a new option in the power profile options appear to set turbo boost behavior. By default it's set to Aggressive, but you can turn it off to tame the spikes or try the "Efficient Aggressive" option.

I've set mine to "Efficient Aggressive" and a cursory logging on HWiNFO tells me that at least when there isn't much going on, the temperatures are fairly stable. Although I'm running with a 5600X on an Arctic Freezer 34 with the PBO curve optimizer.

 

[acordeon]

Some motherboards have this option and others do not.
Luckily yours does and this will eliminate the short bursts from ramping up fans.

What's the best way to tell which motherboards have this feature? I'm about to buy a new mobo for a 5600X and would like to have this option. Current plan is to get this MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard (B550-A PRO) - PCPartPicker but might switch to get the fan delay feature.

 

[drea.drechsler]

What's the best way to tell which motherboards have this feature? I'm about to buy a new mobo for a 5600X and would like to have this option. Current plan is to get this MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard (B550-A PRO) - PCPartPicker but might switch to get the fan delay feature.

The only way is to look in the BIOS for the settings...or ask other owners. I have a couple of MSI motherboards and even the older B350 has the option for setting a fan delay, both on ramp-up and ramp-down.

Also, while that helps it's only a partial fix: fully fixing it means adjusting the profile too. A flat speed that's just audible and not annoying up to 70C or so then gradually rising from there. And remember it's a modern CPU with Tjmax of 95C so even temps in the 80's will not be harmful.

But while it is desirable to keep temps in the 70's so that the processor keeps boosting to high clocks it's hard to keep it out of the 80's under extremely heavy processing loads. Gaming should not be that heavy though so if you can't keep it in the 70's (or lower) while gaming I'd look into better cooling. It may be case ventilation is a problem since CPU coolers using the hot exhaust of the GPU can't work well.