Question Underperforming 7950x

[frozennoodle]

Hi all,

Thanks for stopping in and lending your help. Hardware and issues are below:

Summary of issue: 7950x performing poorly in benchmarking ~22,000 to ~24,000 on Cinebench R23 and ~10th percentile on UserBenchmarks. CPU utilization during benchmarking on Resource Monitor is about 50%. Also, fans are going full tilt and CPU is idling at 95 degrees.

All-Core Clock Idle - ~ 5.4 Mhz
All-Core Clock Cinebench - ~ 3.2 MHz

CPU-Z Screenshots

https://imgur.com/a/0QdhmiJ

View: https://imgur.com/a/0QdhmiJ


System Configuration:

• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 22H2, OS Build 19045.2364
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950x, no overclock
• GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia 3070 TI 8 GB
• Motherboard: Asus TUF x670E-PLUS Wifi with 0821BIOS
• RAM: 4x16GB DDR5-5000 CL39-36-36-96 with EXPO settings
• PSU: Corsair RM850x
• Cooling:
  • Case: Corsair 4000x iCUE
  • Front:
    • 360mm Corsair H150i Elite Capellix AIO with -
    • 3 x120 fans and a 4th fan at the top on the back of the radiator for additional intake.
    • Top: 2x 120mm exhaust
  • Rear:
    • 1x120mm exhaust
  • All fans are Corsair

 

[COLGeek]

Are you certain you have your AIO connected properly to the CPU itself? Those temps are much higher than I would expect with this config.

 

[frozennoodle]

Are you certain you have your AIO connected properly to the CPU itself? Those temps are much higher than I would expect with this config.

No, I'm not confident. This is my first AIO. The AIO is plugged into the CPU_FAN with the 120's plugged into a Corsair Commander XT that is linked to the pump.

 

[alceryes]

Are you certain you have your AIO connected properly to the CPU itself? Those temps are much higher than I would expect with this config.

This.
It sounds like your AIO isn't running/hooked up properly.

 

[sonofjesse]

normally you have an CPU fan and a AIO header. Read the manual of the AIO/Motherboard and be sure you are plugging it up correctly.

If you have a local computer friend, get them to come over and give you a 2nd set of eyes on it.

 

[frozennoodle]

Hi all - @alceryes @sonofjesse @COLGeek,

I was away on vacation and was just recently able to access my desktop. So, I verified that I did follow the instructions correctly and have the AIO connected to the CPU_FAN slot as mentioned in the manual. I have a stethoscope and can confirm the pump is working by listening to the pump spinning. I cleaned the CPU and heat sink with alcohol and re-applied the thermal paste as I suspected I may have applied too much. That helped tremendously. I am currently benchmarking at 32000. I still think this is lower than I anticipated, but it's within the realm of reasonable performance at least. The latest application of paste was about the size of a pea in the center of the CPU. UserBenchmark has the CPU placing in the 60th percentile against peers. I wonder if it's still too much paste.

 

[alceryes]

If you just used too much paste it shouldn't have made that much of a difference, just made a mess as it was squeezed out the sides. Are you doing a single run of Cinebench after a cold boot and sitting at the desktop for 5 mins, or the 10 loop default? What's your single run score?

Unless you've got one of the best AIOs on the market, that CPU will peak at 95ºC - this is normal and expected.

 

[frozennoodle]

[RESOLVED] - @alceryes @sonofjesse @COLGeek

It was the thermal paste.

I had originally reapplied the Corsair XTM50 with positive results but felt like I could get more out of the AIO and the chip so I bought Kryonaut and reapplied, The chip is now benching around 38000. I changed no other settings.

Fixed.

 

[alceryes]

Glad you got it fixed but I don't see how just the thermal paste was responsible for raising a Cinebench R23 score from 22000 to 38000. That's a crazy difference!

 

[hotaru.hino]

[RESOLVED] - @alceryes @sonofjesse @COLGeek

It was the thermal paste.

I had originally reapplied the Corsair XTM50 with positive results but felt like I could get more out of the AIO and the chip so I bought Kryonaut and reapplied, The chip is now benching around 38000. I changed no other settings.

Fixed.

Keep in mind Kryonaut degrades when temperatures exceed 80C. Given Zen 4 CPUs hit their thermal limits first, you might want to monitor things over the coming months to make sure it actually sticks.