[SOLVED] My PC decides the CPU voltage on its own, and I can't even tell what it is.

[Labrador86]

Hello, I'm not completely new to overclocking, but not a pro. My setup is a Ryzen 5 2600 (3.4 GHz is normal clock), GTX 1660, and a Gigabyte AB350M-DS3H V2-CF motherboard. I've been overclocking my CPU quite a bit, or trying, at least, because there are always 2 problems which seem to be unfixable. Number one is that whenever I set the CPU frequency higher and add some voltage, the voltage is suddenly a whole lot higher than I set it to, and my BIOS doesn't have any voltage regulation options like LLC or vdroop, only performance boost, which I disabled. I looked carefully, and still didn't find any setting that could be doing this. Number 2 is that there's always confusion as to what my actual CPU voltage is. If I put the frequency to 4 Ghz, the voltage goes to 1.248 volts even if I set it lower or higher than that. That's where it gets really confusing. The BIOS says it's 1.248, and the Vcore voltage in hardware monitor says it's 1.248. But the CPU Core Voltage (SVI2 TFN) says 1.112 volts, but I can't tell if it is correct, even if it seems to be a more accurate measurement of the CPU voltage, as far as I know. And with that my PC completes a full cinebench run with no stability issues. So it's as if something knows exactly what my CPU voltage needs to be at what frequency, but I don't know anything at all what could be doing that. I would really appreciate if someone could explain what is happening to my CPU voltage and where I need to look to know the actual CPU voltage. Also, when I tried 4.1 GHz, raised the voltage in the BIOS, the CPU Core Voltage (SVI2 TFN) went down, while Vcore went up, but it wasn't stable. By the way, I use the Dymanic Vcore setting in bios (if I rememebr correctly) to change the cpu voltage, there seems to be other.

 

[CountMike]

Hello, I'm not completely new to overclocking, but not a pro. My setup is a Ryzen 5 2600 (3.4 GHz is normal clock), GTX 1660, and a Gigabyte AB350M-DS3H V2-CF motherboard. I've been overclocking my CPU quite a bit, or trying, at least, because there are always 2 problems which seem to be unfixable. Number one is that whenever I set the CPU frequency higher and add some voltage, the voltage is suddenly a whole lot higher than I set it to, and my BIOS doesn't have any voltage regulation options like LLC or vdroop, only performance boost, which I disabled. I looked carefully, and still didn't find any setting that could be doing this. Number 2 is that there's always confusion as to what my actual CPU voltage is. If I put the frequency to 4 Ghz, the voltage goes to 1.248 volts even if I set it lower or higher than that. That's where it gets really confusing. The BIOS says it's 1.248, and the Vcore voltage in hardware monitor says it's 1.248. But the CPU Core Voltage (SVI2 TFN) says 1.112 volts, but I can't tell if it is correct, even if it seems to be a more accurate measurement of the CPU voltage, as far as I know. And with that my PC completes a full cinebench run with no stability issues. So it's as if something knows exactly what my CPU voltage needs to be at what frequency, but I don't know anything at all what could be doing that. I would really appreciate if someone could explain what is happening to my CPU voltage and where I need to look to know the actual CPU voltage. Also, when I tried 4.1 GHz, raised the voltage in the BIOS, the CPU Core Voltage (SVI2 TFN) went down, while Vcore went up, but it wasn't stable. By the way, I use the Dymanic Vcore setting in bios (if I rememebr correctly) to change the cpu voltage, there seems to be other.

 

[CountMike]

Nothing wrong with those voltages, even pretty good for that CPU ?

 

[Labrador86]

Nothing wrong with those voltages, even pretty good for that CPU ?

Well, I agree that 1.248 volts for 4 Ghz is not bad, but the question is about what voltage reading I should trust and why my PC decides the voltage on its own.

 

[CountMike]

Well, I agree that 1.248 volts for 4 Ghz is not bad, but the question is about what voltage reading I should trust and why my PC decides the voltage on its own.

Ryzen has leeway all the way up to 1.5v. Highest voltage tends to be higher at (near)idle so unless there is problem with overheating there's mo problem.

 

[Labrador86]

Ryzen has leeway all the way up to 1.5v. Highest voltage tends to be higher at (near)idle so unless there is problem with overheating there's mo problem.

You're not answering my question. There IS a problem, or should I say two, which is, as I said, something deciding the CPU voltage despite me entering the precise voltage I wanted, and that I can't tell what voltage reading I should trust. I'm not pushing my overclock higher, I'm trying to figure out what's happening with my CPU voltage.

 

[aldan]

is your oc stable the way it is?

 

[CountMike]

You're not answering my question. There IS a problem, or should I say two, which is, as I said, something deciding the CPU voltage despite me entering the precise voltage I wanted, and that I can't tell what voltage reading I should trust. I'm not pushing my overclock higher, I'm trying to figure out what's happening with my CPU voltage.

Core voltage is decided by algorithms in the CPU, you can change only "Package" in BIOS.

 

[drea.drechsler]

You're not answering my question. There IS a problem, or should I say two, which is, as I said, something deciding the CPU voltage despite me entering the precise voltage I wanted, and that I can't tell what voltage reading I should trust. I'm not pushing my overclock higher, I'm trying to figure out what's happening with my CPU voltage.

When set up in stock configuration Ryzen CPU's don't operate on a fixed voltage...nor a fixed frequency. They constantly change both clock frequency and the voltage needed for the frequency to keep the CPU safe. That's why you can't really set a 'precise' voltage and most AM4 motherboards don't facilitate doing so.

LLC in those boards that do have one is usually unhelpful, so you're not missing out on anything there. In fact, the way Ryzen works when set up right it actually likes VDroop.

It's less a problem with a 2600 but it's actually a bit risky to run a fixed voltage with Ryzen....or at least not going to bring as high performance as letting it's boost algorithm work for you with PBO. If you want to try anyway you look for the maximum voltage and temperatures. Also use a good monitoring program...like HWInfo64 that will show you peak values as well as average values through a testing cycle. HWInfo also shows you the SVI2 TFN voltage which is the true Vcore reported by the CPU.

Recommended are:

1.33V max Vcore when setting a fixed voltage with 85C max temp

1.38V max Vcore when setting a fixed voltage with improved cooling (65C)

1.425V fixed voltage has been reported to cause degradation over a relatively short timespan of 3 months even with temps around 50-60C.

 

[Karadjgne]

Don't be confused about cpu voltages. They are all correct simultaneously. It's Not a problem. The only problem that exists is one of your own making, and thats the insistence on the voltage you set being the one read. But it doesn't work that way, it's a Ryzen not an intel.

There's multiple cpu voltages. There's voltage used, voltage demanded, voltage supplied, socket voltages, core voltages etc all of which can be and usually are labeled as CPU Voltage. Even vcore is no longer sacrosanct, and there's 2 or 3 SVI2 voltages listed in HWInfo64.

LLC is a necessity. It's present in every system, whether you have the bios option to change it is irrelevant. It's still there, with just 1 setting and not one the bios allows for change by user, so doesn't even bother listing it. It's relegated to the same place as all the other bios options listed in an Asus Extreme mobo that you can't see, invisibility.

So you'll see voltage differences between what you set and what you see, some will be actual use, some will be demanded, some will be with auto LLC applied etc.

Intel are a static cpu. You apply voltage and speeds to increase performance, but you also get left to deal with cooling.

Ryzen are dynamic cpus. They boost according to load, temps, voltages. So in light loads, they'll run upto max speed on a couple cores, use upto 1.5v to maintain stability as long as the cooling is good enough. By capping voltage for OC, that's a static voltage and Ryzens at over 1.325v all core don't last long. Static voltages limit max GHz on the master thread, so you actually lose performance in lighter loads, even if you gain performance in all core. Games don't use all your cores, so an OC quite often means loss of fps, even if cinebench reports a higher all core number.

You'll get more performance from a Ryzen by working on ram secondary timings, undervolting the cpu by offset or VID and using a decent cooler. That'll allow the cpu to apply whatever voltages it needs, when it needs them, without being excessive or static, and lowers thermals. Overall result is more cores will boost to higher limits, for longer. Which means higher fps, regardless of 'performance numbers' in cinebench.

 

[Labrador86]

Okay. Thank you Karadjgne and drea.drechsler a lot for the detailed answers. I will keep note.