R5 1600 voltage fluctuation on idle?

[Edgars Auzans]

Hi, so i've managed to overclock my Ryzen r5 1600 to 3.75Ghz and the voltage under load is around 1.308v i believe ( set via bios using offset voltage ). Temperatures are great even with the stock cooler as im keeping the oc fairly low, because i dont want to push my cpu too hard atm. Although my concern is that while the cpu is idling or under light load, the voltage fluctuates a lot, for example it's changing from 0.4V to 1.330V. So the question is - is it supposed to do so? and is it safe for cpu to be doing so while idling? Im just a bit confused as my old fx6300 didnt do so, as it was running at pretty much fixed voltage.

Im running my r5 1600 on Asus ROG strix B350-F gaming mobo and my ram is running @ 3066mhz .

 

[Crossvxm]

Hi, so i've managed to overclock my Ryzen r5 1600 to 3.75Ghz and the voltage under load is around 1.308v i believe ( set via bios using offset voltage ). Temperatures are great even with the stock cooler as im keeping the oc fairly low, because i dont want to push my cpu too hard atm. Although my concern is that while the cpu is idling or under light load, the voltage fluctuates a lot, for example it's changing from 0.4V to 1.330V. So the question is - is it supposed to do so? and is it safe for cpu to be doing so while idling? Im just a bit confused as my old fx6300 didnt do so, as it was running at pretty much fixed voltage.

Im running my r5 1600 on Asus ROG strix B350-F gaming mobo and my ram is running @ 3066mhz .

A few questions: is your BIOS updated? I have read about the Ryzen 5 and certain Asus motherboards causing similar issues. Also, how are your clock speeds when this occurs? If you have your desktop on "Balanced" power setting for example, then you may see your clock speeds at the floor, then rocket up when you open an app. This of course is the Turbo feature that both AMD and Intel have on most if not all of their processors, and the voltages will shoot up when this occurs (it is completely normal). "High Performance" for the most part keeps your CPU at it's highest frequency, although I think messing with these simple settings caused the Ryzen 7 series to have issues. Offset should allow for the CPU's voltages to drop and elevate as needed. If I am not mistaking, it may go a bit above your typical load amount in order to improve stability.

Sometimes while idle, other apps/programs may be using a bit of resources. Check to see if anything brings the CPU load even slightly high. For the most part, this shouldn't be the case, but you never know (viruses love our processors). Lastly, any specific apps you are using to monitor these things? Sometimes these apps themselves can add to the problem. I for example love CPUID's HWMonitor, but many people recommend other software because of issues, errors and incompatibility issues it at times produces, and I personally cannot use it to show me what happens after I game as it seems to bring my CPU temps higher than any other software.

 

[Edgars Auzans]

BIOS is up-to-date, also frequency stays at my OC'ed speeds all the time which is 3.75Ghz atm. To monitor everything i use HWmonitor and CPUz. Everything seems to be working alright, because under load voltage stays +/- constant. Im only worried about voltage fluctuations at idle, but that really should not harm my cpu, right?

 

[Edgars Auzans]

I think i've figured it out, voltage fluctuation at idle was due to '' global C state control '' and '' core performance boost'' being enabled, and these two are supposed to be disabled when overclocking cpu, if i understand it correctly...? Now when i disabled those two options in BIOS, voltage at idle is at 1.286V, and under load at around 1.308v and 1.319v which seems to be perfectly okay for ryzen 1600, right? Also got a Cinebench15 score of 1261 points, which is quite good ( correct me if im wrong ).

Should i keep C-state and core performance boost disabled ? What do you guys think?

 

[Crossvxm]

BIOS is up-to-date, also frequency stays at my OC'ed speeds all the time which is 3.75Ghz atm. To monitor everything i use HWmonitor and CPUz. Everything seems to be working alright, because under load voltage stays +/- constant. Im only worried about voltage fluctuations at idle, but that really should not harm my cpu, right?

It has always been debated that high voltages will degrade your CPU faster. I've never had a CPU fail on me due to age, and neither is it a common thing (since most upgrade before that day arrives). If it isn't always at that voltage, then you are perfectly safe.

 

[Edgars Auzans]

So should i leave C state off, so the voltage is +/- fixed or enable it and let the voltage fluctuate a lot? I feel like fluctuations with c6 on could cause some instability.

 

[Crossvxm]

So should i leave C state off, so the voltage is +/- fixed or enable it and let the voltage fluctuate a lot? I feel like fluctuations with c6 on could cause some instability.

You can if you really encounter stability issues. But if you are completely stable with them on, I'd leave them on as they help with idle power saving.

 

[Edgars Auzans]

I may as well turn them back on, but i mean... it won't hurt my CPU if the voltage fluctuates from like .4v all the way to 1.319v?

 

[Crossvxm]

I may as well turn them back on, but i mean... it won't hurt my CPU if the voltage fluctuates from like .4v all the way to 1.319v?

*EDITED: No. TRUST ME all other components in your DESKTOP will fail long before your processor does.

This is why most motherboards with auto voltages over volt the crap out of it. They know these things don't die easily unless they are damaged by other means. I have a 4790K on my main build and I still haven't properly learned how to use the offset mode, so mine is always at 4.5GHz with a constant Vcore of 1.2. Heat is the main concern most of the time as well as PSU quality as both can fry your CPU.

 

[Edgars Auzans]

Alright thanks for the help. =]