Question should i keep processor performance boost mode on/off for desktop?

[Valina35]

i have ryzen 5 5600 and rtx 4060 however its using the stock amd cooler and idk if others have same issue but its TERRIBLE, on max stress test it reaches 93.3C max and its not even summer where i live so during summer its gonna be even hotter the room=even higher cpu temp, however when i turn off processor performance boost the drop from 4.0 ghz to 3.4/3.5 ghz however the temps at very very max load reach a max from my testing of 68.9 C and its way quiter, so im wondering if the slight performance loss is worth it? the clocks are also stable at 3,475.0 mhz while before they would jump around

 

[John Chesterfield]

No, you should leave boost on. If it's not cooling sufficiently, you need a new cooler.

 

[Eximo]

I half agree. If you are worried about the CPU, you can turn off performance mode.

But the ideal solution is to get a better CPU cooler. They aren't terribly expensive to do better than the stock one. $20-30.

 

[hotaru.hino]

I propose a different perspective: if you're doing CPU intense workloads and time isn't that much a factor, disable it. It runs more efficiently that way. As an anectdote (though I'm sure you can find other people who did this), I did a Handbrake run on a Ryzen 5600X and it'd do the jobs almost in real time when allowed to turbo (i.e., 1 second of encoding = 1 second of the video), but it also ate up something like 75W to do so. When turbo was disabled, clock speeds dropped from 4.5GHz to 3.7GHz, increasing the time by about 20%. But power consumption dropped to 45W. So basically, I had to wait 15 minutes extra per hour of encoding time, but I was using 40% less power and the CPU cooler didn't have to work as hard.

Otherwise, if this is mostly for gaming and content consumption, then leave it on.

 

[vMax]

It really depends on you....For the most part the 5600 will be perfect in the non performance mode and maybe only when you have very specific workloads like gaming or whatever pro workload you are using needs the extra push then turn on performance mode.....but with CPU coolers being so cheap, it is worth spending the $20 to $35. The Thermalright AssassinX Refined is under $20 at the moment and will make a fairly big difference especially to your 5600 and will no doubt take the stress you are worried about away by dropping temps to the low 60's under max load..

 

[hotaru.hino]

I forgot to add, you don't have to set this in BIOS, you can toggle whether or not you want boost in Windows:

• Open a command prompt (cmd, terminal, etc)
• Type in the command powercfg -attributes sub_processor perfboostmode -attrib_hide
• Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings
• Open the "Change advance power settings" dialog
• Under "Processor Power Management", there should be an option called "Processor performance boost mode", set this to "Disabled" when you want to turn off performance boosting.