[SOLVED] Ryzen 3600x boost clock issues

[monsoon85]

Hi there. New poster here, I'm having some issues with a Ryzen 3600x on a MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX.

I have been battling 0xc0000005 on app crashes for weeks. I have trouble shot it down to CPU. Whenever PBO and Core Boost are enabled in the BIOS (which is default) I get random crashes from pretty much all applications I run (GTAV RDR2, Medieval 2 Total War, Sims 4, Doom and Doom eternal etc.).

When these options are disabled, rock solid, no crashes.

I would like to try to lower the boost to see if I can get more stability, but I also want to know if I should just RMA this CPU cuz I don't think its supposed to act like this from the box on default settings. I know just enough about modern computers to follow most directions as long as they are laid out pretty plain. I'm at my wits end, should I RMA this CPU or try to lower the boost (3.8 boosts to 4.4) for more troubleshooting?

Should also mention, that if I should try lowering the boost, that I have no modern CPU experience, last time I messed around with clocks is like 2004.

Specs:
Ryzen 3600x
MSI Tomahawk MAX B450
32gb (8gx4) RAM
GTX1660 TI Black

 

[Darkbreeze]

Assuming all four DIMMs came in ONE memory kit, what is the model of that memory kit? The EXACT model number?

What is the EXACT model of your power supply?

What BIOS version is currently installed?

Have you tried removing two of the DIMMs and running only two, in the A2 and B2 slots, to see if you still have the issue? If not, try that, to see what happens.

 

[monsoon85]

CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 and F4-3200C16D-16GVKB for ram, I have tried them in all slots, all configurations with 1, 2, and 4 modules. I know they don't match, most of the RAM t/s was done with only 1 part number at a time. Both are on the QVL. I don't usually run both sets at the same time, sorry for not explaining that out. Intention is for 16gb of RAM, whatever one is more stable, and gift/resell the other set.

BIOS is the 7C02v35 BIOS for the tomahawk max, the latest one for the board on MSI's website.

Power supply is CORSAIR HX Series HX750 CP-9020137-NA 750W ATX12V v2.4.

I should probably also mention I tore the build down to pieces, ran it on cardboard and rebuilt it, double checked screws, looked for caps (ALOT more solid caps on boards these days, didn't expect that) - no changes. Still only stable with with PBO and Core Boost disabled.

Also, temps never exceed 70ish C on both CPU and GPU under full load, fan cooled. No crashes at all in any stress test programs - Furmark, prime95, 3dmark. Memtest and hci no errors ran both overnight.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Also, temps never exceed 70ish C on both CPU and GPU under full load, fan cooled. No crashes at all in any stress test programs - Furmark, prime95, 3dmark. Memtest and hci no errors ran both overnight.

Is that WITH PBO and core boost enabled, or disabled? If it's with them disabled, then it's probably not very meaningful as most CPUs will be extremely stable and will rarely come anywhere near TDP at the base clock speed. Which I assume you already know.

Does it have the problem with EITHER PBO or core boost enabled, or only if BOTH are enabled? In other words, does it do this if ONLY precision boost is enabled and PBO is disabled?

 

[monsoon85]

stress tests will never crash PERIOD with or without PBO and boost.

I only ctd games, and on occasion razer synapse or chrome will ctd with PBO and boost.

As far as your question, both have to be disabled to prevent ctd on games and random apps.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you done all of this?

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.


Second,

go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



The last thing we want to look at,

for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

Clean install guide using the DDU​

Sorry if any of that is redundant, but have to cover all the basics, even when it's probably not the issue. Quite often the simplest things end up being overlooked.

 

[monsoon85]

I've done all of the above. I've run both AMD's chipset and misc drivers, and MSI's version. Windows fresh install for them both times.

The DDU was a pain, because I couldn't load into safe mode with wifi, had to run a LAN cable across my kitchen/living room lol.

At this point, is it worth maybe bumping the base clock up to 4ghz and forgetting boost? Or should I RMA this bad boy?

Forgot to mention that it's been doing this out of the box, built this 2 months ago and been fighting it the entire time.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Honestly, given all that you've done, it's got to be the CPU or the motherboard. What happens if you disable the boost behaviors and manually overclock? Have you tried it yet? Honestly though, you shouldn't have to do that and I'm guess that whatever is causing this is going to have an effect on that as well. What is weird though to me is that none of the stress tests are problematic. Only gaming or browsing, which might in truth be a GPU related problem instead. The fact that it doesn't have an issue when boosts are disabled though, makes it even more baffling, if it WAS a GPU related issue. IDK man. I think at this point anything is mostly a shot in the dark and a hope to get the right part on the first try. Any chance you have another graphics card to try, just to eliminate that as a potential issue?

Honestly, I doubt that's related anyhow, but I always like to eliminate all possible sources, when possible. I think it's also possible this might be a Tomahawk Max issue, as I know of another thread right now where a guy can't get his 3800x to boost past 4.01Ghz using PBO but it manually overclocks fine to 4.3Ghz, on the same board, and has some few other issues as well. Might just be a bad BIOS release. Have you tried an older version?

 

[monsoon85]

Used the original BIOS it shipped with originally, the BIOS was one of the first things I tried.

I threw a 970 GTX in there, no joy.

I'll throw in a ticket with AMD, and until they get back with me I'll just run it at base, cuz after weeks I can finally play something longer than 20 minutes.