Question Ryzen 9 5900x boost to aggressive

[tomafantomas]

ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
Ryzen 9 5900x

After updating the bios (because of usb compatibility issues) from version 3405 to 4403 the CPU started to boost more aggressive, to the point that it jumps from 50-70c for a split second.
This happens by doing nothing, I can literally watch the desktop and randomly hear the fans ramp up.

And the idle temps are atrocious 50-60 without the spikes, just fluctuating.

When I set the maximum processor state at 99 the temps drop to 35c idle, but the clock stays locked at base.

PBO is off, the CMOS was cleared multiple times, I'm at a loss.

Thanks!

 

[BogdanH]

You say, you only updated BIOS ..ok, I believe you.. but the thing is, CPU doesn't just boost without a reason.. Did you check in TaskManager what app/process is boosting your CPU usage?
Also keep in mind, that at updating BIOS, fan curves are reset to (whatever) default values .. so maybe you should check how fans curves look alike.
Having PBO disabled is good (unless you really know why it should be enabled). Have you tried to disable Core Performance Boost in BIOS? Yes, that will decrease performance a bit, but will at least make CPU colder until you find the solution.

Bogdan

 

[ohio_buckeye]

What are you using for cooling? My 5900x is sitting under a 240mm aio on my b350 board but is quite happy with pbo on and usually goes to a max of 77-78 under all cores loaded.

 

[tomafantomas]

You say, you only updated BIOS ..ok, I believe you.. but the thing is, CPU doesn't just boost without a reason.. Did you check in TaskManager what app/process is boosting your CPU usage?
Also keep in mind, that at updating BIOS, fan curves are reset to (whatever) default values .. so maybe you should check how fans curves look alike.
Having PBO disabled is good (unless you really know why it should be enabled). Have you tried to disable Core Performance Boost in BIOS? Yes, that will decrease performance a bit, but will at least make CPU colder until you find the solution.

Bogdan

I updated to windows 11 so the process optimization is way better, so no more than 1-2% utilization. The fan curves are controlled within the l-connect software from LianLi so nothing was changed there. I tried every settings regarding the boosting of the clocks, nothing changed. I tried an per core undervolt of 30 and I was getting some weird crashes, so all to default now.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...The fan curves are controlled within the l-connect software from LianLi... I tried an per core undervolt of 30 and I was getting some weird crashes...

The LianLi software could easily be one reason the CPU is periodically boosting so high.

Negative 30 is way too much if it was on all the cores. If you don't want to work at it much then try a negative 10 on all cores. Another way to try it is negative 10 on the three or four best cores (find the core rankings in HWInfo64), and no more than negative 18 on the other cores. Your CPU can probably handle negative 30 on several cores but finding those can be tedious even when using a tool like Core Cycler to help find them.

And lastly: Ryzen works vastly different from Intel's boosting so you have to set aside any comparison. It's perfectly normal to boost aggressively for processing light tasks, it's the way the processor works and desirable to see since you know it's working right. And when you think the system is idle...it never is. There are literally hundreds of background processes running, with potentially thousands of process threads any of which will wake up and ask for attention from moment to moment whether or not you are running a program.

Lastly the best, and easiest, way to tame some of the boosting behaviour is in the Power, Sleep and Battery Settings applet (type that in search box). Change Power mode to Best Power Efficiency setting and it should be less eager to boost and hold a slightly lower clock on cores that aren't actively processing anything complex. When working a complex/all-core task it can still use the full processing power of all the cores.

A less desireable easy way is to use the EcoMode setting in BIOS. That will result in somewhat less performance for heavy processing though. There are even more ways that involve delving into PBO settings: they are not so easy to do well but easy to do in a way that turns your expensive, up-to-date system into a 15yo sloth. But then, people do that trying to emulate the way Intel's boosting algorithm works and then wonder why it's so slow.