[SOLVED] Ryzen CPU Not Behaving as Intended?

Nov 24, 2020
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Hi Everyone. Back in March of 2020, I decided to get into PC gaming after 30 years of console gaming. I picked out all my parts online, then headed to Micro Center. But when I got there, I saw a deal on a pre-built ("Powerspec PC"- I believe a G705) that was a few hundred off the regular price. It cost far less than the parts alone would have, and it was just too good of a deal to pass up. So I walked out of the store with a pre-built PC containing a Ryzen 7 2700x, a Powercolor RX 5700xt, an Asrock mobo, and 16 GB of Ram. I got it home and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no bloatware, and nothing was proprietary (meaning I could upgrade it later). I gamed for 6 or 7 months on the machine without really messing with or checking into anything, and it performed pretty much exactly as expected. Happy gamer!

A few weeks ago, I dropped an RTX 3080 into this machine. For the most part it was a big upgrade, but I was slightly disappointed that there were some games (Control, Watch Dogs: Legion, Metro Exodus, etc.) where I couldn't just set everything at Ultra and count on getting a solid 60 fps (which I'd assumed, perhaps due to my lack of PC gaming experience, that I'd be able to do with a brand new "flagship" GPU). I've since learned that this is somewhat normal for these specific games, but regardless, the experience got me -- for the first time -- to start investigating clock speeds, temps, voltages, etc. on both my GPU and my CPU. This leads me to my reason for posting today...

What I've discovered is that (assuming I'm correctly understanding the readings), my CPU (the 2700x) has all of its cores running at a solid 4.1 Ghz at all times. It doesn't matter what I'm doing -- whether sitting at the Windows desktop with nothing running (besides normal background processes), viewing a Google Chrome page, or running a demanding video game or even a stress-test -- it just runs at 4.1 Ghz constantly. I've checked these readings with a few different tools (like CPU Z and Ryzen Master), and they all agree.

I guess this doesn't really "bother" me. The temps are fine and I'm getting roughly the performance I'd expect in games based on the benchmarks I've looked at online. But still, this isn't how it's supposed to run, is it? Isn't it supposed to settle down during light loads, then boost (maybe even higher than 4.1 Ghz) during demanding loads?

I've never tried overclocking the CPU or anything, nor have I messed with anything in the BIOS (it's all still set however Micro Center set it when they built the machine -- which is pretty much all BIOS items set to "auto"). I couldn't find anyone else online with this specific issue (most problems on forums related to this CPU were either about it not boosting high enough, or it not idling low enough, but nobody mentioned having constant clock speeds). But what I did find in forums led me to check my windows power plan setting (which is set to "Balanced (recommended)"), and my minimum processor state (Set to 5%) and maximum processor state (set to 100%). All of that is apparently normal.

So, I'm fresh out of ideas. Anyone have any clue why my 2700x would be running at a never-ending 4.1 Ghz for all of eternity? And does it even matter? Am I giving up any gaming performance?
 
Solution
Okay, so something you said about the BIOS being set to Auto...

I mean, if things are okay and you're not too worried about it, then perhaps not a lot to go on here. But...maybe call Micro Center (if an actual human can be talked to, anyway...I know I've had issues with that at my store from time to time) and see if the BIOS timings are supposed to be set to Auto. Something feels locked here...it might not be a bad thing, but if the consistent locking of your speeds has you up at night you may want to see if this is standard operating procedure for Micro Center builds.

This is probably something to do about nothing, and I hope it's nothing but that. But the Auto thing is kind of sticking in my mind here. I seem to recall...

Zapthos

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Dec 31, 2016
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Is your power plan setup correctly?
  1. Press Windows + I
  2. Go to system > energy & sleep
  3. Additional energy settings
  4. Click change plan settings on the active plan
  5. Click change advanced options
  6. Look for energy management for processor
  7. Make sure minimum processor status is set to 5% and maximum is set to 100%.
Like someone else suggested, updating the BIOS & chipset driver might help too. And as long as temps are fine, you shouldn't be worried about it running on that frequency all the time.

Edit: See your power plan is fine, but I'll keep this tip here incase anyone else comes across this thread with simular issues.
 

Tigerhawk30

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Dec 16, 2015
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Okay, so something you said about the BIOS being set to Auto...

I mean, if things are okay and you're not too worried about it, then perhaps not a lot to go on here. But...maybe call Micro Center (if an actual human can be talked to, anyway...I know I've had issues with that at my store from time to time) and see if the BIOS timings are supposed to be set to Auto. Something feels locked here...it might not be a bad thing, but if the consistent locking of your speeds has you up at night you may want to see if this is standard operating procedure for Micro Center builds.

This is probably something to do about nothing, and I hope it's nothing but that. But the Auto thing is kind of sticking in my mind here. I seem to recall taking my MSI B450 Tomahawk timings off of Auto since I'd learned that the BIOS has the final say over Ryzen Master in the ultimate battle for control...but I'm tired and can't remember precisely what I'd done. I'll have to go into my own BIOS at some point and look at that to see what I did...or if I even remember correctly!

I'll get back to you here on what I found either way.

In the meantime...happy gaming!

Edit
Went in and it wasn't as drastic as I thought...must just be tired. The only thing I really did was change the CPU Core Voltage setting from Auto of Offset Mode. If nothing else, (IIRC), that allows you voltage control in Ryzen Master with less "fighting" between program and BIOS. You may be able to control the frequencies a little better with that change in Ryzen Master.

Otherwise, I'd still see if you can get hold of MC and get their advice. Maybe take some shots of your BIOS screens with your cell to be a little more ready with answers to their questions should they arise.

Sorry I wasn't more help there.
 
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Solution
Nov 24, 2020
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Okay, so something you said about the BIOS being set to Auto...

I mean, if things are okay and you're not too worried about it, then perhaps not a lot to go on here. But...maybe call Micro Center (if an actual human can be talked to, anyway...I know I've had issues with that at my store from time to time) and see if the BIOS timings are supposed to be set to Auto. Something feels locked here...it might not be a bad thing, but if the consistent locking of your speeds has you up at night you may want to see if this is standard operating procedure for Micro Center builds.

This is probably something to do about nothing, and I hope it's nothing but that. But the Auto thing is kind of sticking in my mind here. I seem to recall taking my MSI B450 Tomahawk timings off of Auto since I'd learned that the BIOS has the final say over Ryzen Master in the ultimate battle for control...but I'm tired and can't remember precisely what I'd done. I'll have to go into my own BIOS at some point and look at that to see what I did...or if I even remember correctly!

I'll get back to you here on what I found either way.

In the meantime...happy gaming!

Edit
Went in and it wasn't as drastic as I thought...must just be tired. The only thing I really did was change the CPU Core Voltage setting from Auto of Offset Mode. If nothing else, (IIRC), that allows you voltage control in Ryzen Master with less "fighting" between program and BIOS. You may be able to control the frequencies a little better with that change in Ryzen Master.

Otherwise, I'd still see if you can get hold of MC and get their advice. Maybe take some shots of your BIOS screens with your cell to be a little more ready with answers to their questions should they arise.

Sorry I wasn't more help there.

Thank you for your detailed answer, and for checking your BIOS for me. I did call Micro Center today, but unfortunately, all they keep saying is, "we don't recommend end-users altering their BIOS settings". It's pretty clear that this is a "stock" line they're supposed to say, probably to keep people who don't know what they're doing from messing with their BIOS, screwing the machine up without knowing what they did, and returning it to their local store for being "broken". I can kind of understand why a store selling pre-builts would want a policy of: "Just tell the customer BIOS doesn't exist." LOL
 
Nov 24, 2020
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Try updating BIOS + updating chipset over at: https://www.amd.com/en/support

I highly recommend using Ryzen Performance or Ryzen Balanced over at Control Panel's Power Plan after installing the chipset.
Thanks for the advice. My BIOS is updated now, and I went through and tried the different power plan settings again-- no difference at all between "Ryzen high", "Ryzen Balanced", and "Windows Balanced".... All still locked at 4.1 Ghz.
 

EridanusSV

Notable
Aug 16, 2020
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Thanks for the advice. My BIOS is updated now, and I went through and tried the different power plan settings again-- no difference at all between "Ryzen high", "Ryzen Balanced", and "Windows Balanced".... All still locked at 4.1 Ghz.
Ok. Sometimes when the BIOS says Auto. It actually is disabled.

I know this because my Crosshair VIII X570's PBO and Automatic Core Enhancement were defaulted at Auto. My 3950X machine was fully unleashed when I manually changed the variables or booleans to Enabled or a set variable.