Upgrade to Ryzen 5 1600x. Need someone to clear things up for me.

[silentgroupdev]

Hello community!

I've just upgraded from Ryzen 3 1200 to Ryzen 5 1600x. I'm experiencing some temperature spikes. A nice to way to put it is like the CPU "overreacts".

Mobo is - ASUS A320M PRO4
CPU Cooler is - Cooler Master EVO 212
I'm currently running only 8GB of ram at 2133Mhz. My budget is quite tight so I'm approaching my upgrades slowly. I did not overclock and do not plan to.

My idle temperatures are pretty good 26C which makes me assume the cooler is mounted right with the right amount of thermal paste.
The thing im experiencing is .. for example while doing something simple like watching a youtube video the temperature is stable at 28C, but as soon as I just simply scroll the page down the CPU jumps to 39-40C. I mainly use my PC for Graphic Design work(Photoshop,Illustrator). I've done some quick tests with my normal workflow and some e-sport titles and the CPU doesn't go over 50C .. its close but it doesn't go over. Windows 10 is set up on Balanced Mode and minimum processor state is at 0%. Maybe my confusion comes by comparing temperatures to my previous CPU.

One thing I've noticed is that the clock speed doesn't go below 2.2Ghz at idle. I use Ryzen Master and HWmonitor for monitoring my temps.

So my questions are:
Is it normal that the clock speed stays at 2.2 Ghz at idle, because I've read some posts on reddit that peoples clock speed goes down to 1550 Mhz at idle. (Just like it was with my R3).

Are my temperatures normal, should I be worried?

I'm planning my second component upgrade to be my RAM(make it at least 16 gigs), I've read that the 1600x likes faster RAM. Is 2133Mhz good enough and will it make a big difference to bother going for something more than that(excluding gaming, I just use my PC for work)?

 

[2sidedpolygon]

Don't worry about your clock speeds/temps. As for faster RAM, I'd say it's worth the extra cost for the performance you're getting, and it will make a difference in the workloads you're describing.

 

[terry4536]

The idle CPU frequency is based upon the multiplier in the BIOS. The multiplier is expressed as a range. The lower number times the the Bus speed (probably 100 MHz) gives the idle frequency. The upper range number times the bus speed gives the turbo boost frequency.

The motherboard will define the supported memory frequencies. But the sweet spot seems to be around 3000 MHz .
The temperatures seem pretty normal. I wouldn't be worried unless temperature under load hits 70 - 75 C .
If you have CPU-Z, it may even give you the multiplier range. It does on mine.

 

[norcalsc]

Anytime you change cpu or motherboard a fresh windows install is recommended

 

[silentgroupdev]

Thank you for the replies. It's really frustrating to look at and still have no explanation why it behaves like this. Also in bios it shows 65-70C is it possible that the 20C offset is still not fixed for my mobo? I flashed the bios to the latest version before I installed the CPU.

Did some stress tests with AIDA 64 it settles at 75C in 10 minutes, but in the same moment HWMonitor shows 55C, 20 degrees less than what AIDA shows. At that point I was completely confused what temperature read to trust(bios,aida,hwmonitor,ryzen master). Min / Max CPU Multiplier is 22x / 37x. Core Voltage range is 0.887 - 1.375 V ,the maximum it ever hit is 1.444V.

About reinstalling Windows, I don't think it's necessary especially when swapping only the CPU, on top of that with similar architecture, but will probably try this also if there is a possibility to be a software issue. even tho I'm sure I did everything right with my chipset drivers. I'm really starting to think it's some false read off the bios. Something just doesn't feel right .. I find it very unusual to get 40-50C sometimes just by opening an application or jumping thru browser windows and other very simple operations.

 

[terry4536]

There have been situations where the Ryzen processor was stuck at a low frequency (around 1.5 GHz) and would not overclock. You can google search "Ryzen stuck" to see cases of that problem. There was no set cure for it. But deleting Ryzen Master seemed to be the most effective (along with updated BIOS and fresh install of OS).

So try deleting the Ryzen Master and just use the motherboard utility.

The part about the temperature jumping (when using the system) isn't all that strange. The degree it jumps around may just be normal for the motherboard / processor combo.

 

[silentgroupdev]

The only solution I found to this behaviour was going from "Windows/Ryzen Balanced mode" to "Power Saving Mode". It seems the issue I'm facing has something to do with Precision Boost and XFR. But in power saving mode case the only way to really push it is by a Cinebench render test or an aida stress test, nothing else I do manages to push it to 3.7 Ghz and 1.3-1.4 volts(It never goes to 4.1GHZ). I'm kinda digging the power saving mode, because my temps never get above 35C and voltages don't fluctuate up and down for every tiny action I do but .. does that lower the CPU performance or only keeps the cores from auto overclocking except in a case when they REALLY need it? I've been getting the same score in Cinebench in all power modes. About deleting Ryzen Master I've already tried that + everything I was able to find thru google searches on that issue.

 

[terry4536]

Unfortunately there are some bugs in the first generation Ryzen processors. I would suggest keeping the BIOS and motherboard drivers updated to the latest versions (if the processor is still in the return period try to exchange it for the 2600X).

You do read a lot about 3200 + MHz RAM use on the Ryzens. The reality is that most of them struggle below 3000 MHz. And it is worse if all four dimm slots are populated. The second thing in general is that they have more limited overclocking. Some of these issues are improved on the second generation Ryzens.

 

[terry4536]

The only solution I found to this behaviour was going from "Windows/Ryzen Balanced mode" to "Power Saving Mode". It seems the issue I'm facing has something to do with Precision Boost and XFR. But in power saving mode case the only way to really push it is by a Cinebench render test or an aida stress test, nothing else I do manages to push it to 3.7 Ghz and 1.3-1.4 volts(It never goes to 4.1GHZ). I'm kinda digging the power saving mode, because my temps never get above 35C and voltages don't fluctuate up and down for every tiny action I do but .. does that lower the CPU performance or only keeps the cores from auto overclocking except in a case when they REALLY need it? I've been getting the same score in Cinebench in all power modes. About deleting Ryzen Master I've already tried that + everything I was able to find thru google searches on that issue.

In general moving to power saving modes limits the power to the CPU cores. It essentially caps the performance of the processor. But if you are happy with it, then go for it.

 

[silentgroupdev]

Unfortunately there are some bugs in the first generation Ryzen processors. I would suggest keeping the BIOS and motherboard drivers updated to the latest versions (if the processor is still in the return period try to exchange it for the 2600X).

You do read a lot about 3200 + MHz RAM use on the Ryzens. The reality is that most of them struggle below 3000 MHz. And it is worse if all four dimm slots are populated. The second thing in general is that they have more limited overclocking. Some of these issues are improved on the second generation Ryzens.

Thank you for your patience and help.Yes most threads I've read are rigs with faster ram than mine. "Unfortunately there are some bugs in the first generation Ryzen processors." I kinda agree, it appears something is not 100% right with the 1600x and the only solution around those 1.4-1.5V fluctuations is to OC(those voltage jumps appear at stock settings and VCORE set to auto in bios, which makes Precision Boost and XFR to kick in), since my MOBO can't OC and there is no option to disable XFR, I disabled "Core Performance Boost" in BIOS and now voltages don't go above 1.2V and it only runs at base clock speeds (3.6Ghz) .. I will keep it this way until I can afford some upgrades to my system and take it from there. Most people say "its normal", "the chip can handle those high voltages" and so on, but my concern is the lifespan of the chip and those high voltage jumps occur from non-demanding operations extremely often and on top of that with high temperatures. I kid you not BIOS says that the VCORE was at 1.4400V at 70C. I hope our discussion will be helpful to someone ,because situations like this can sometimes be frustrating.

 

[terry4536]

No disagreement there, I've wanted to tear my hair out many times.