Question Why is my CPU always below base clock?

[alixthegreat]

So I just recently upgraded my PC, I installed a 4060 and a Ryzen 7 5700X into a new case with a new power supply. Everything was good, PC boots and runs as expected. I decided to run a userbenchmark as I had been doing so before I had upgraded my PC so that I would be able to see the difference with new parts. The benchmark told me that my CPU was performing way below expectations with a bench of 81.8% which was only a 4% increase from a Ryzen 5 3600. This wasn't too concerning however I noticed in task manager that my CPU is constantly at 3.175GHz which is below the base clock of 3.4GHz and a boost speed of 4.6GHz. I've also stress tested my CPU using Msi Kompostor CPU burner and the clock speed does not change at all, only the usage and temperatures. I have measured these in both task manager and open hardware monitor.

I have also tried overclocking it both with BIOS and Ryzen Master however I encountered a few issues. The first one being that no changes were actually made when I enabled curve optimization and auto overclocking. There were no changes in results for userbenchmark nor any changes in clock speed. The same happened for BIOS however when I enabled both at the same time by accident, I noticed my cpu usage spike to 100% when I restarted my PC and also that temperatures were between 90 - 100 degrees C. The clock speed however, did change to 3.6GHz which was good news I suppose. Shortly after I black screened and my PC shut off. The same thing happened until I disabled Ryzen Master settings to default and temperatures and things returned to normal.

I am aware that my CPU will not always run at base clock but I want to understand why it always runs below, there is no fluctuation and I want to find out how to fix this. I would be interested in overclocking it slightly but I do not want to cause damage to it, so it would have to be a way to do so without being too complex. If anyone can help me with this issue, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rgd1101]

full system spec?
update the motherboard bios?

 

[alixthegreat]

full system spec?
update the motherboard bios?

CPU: Ryzen 7 5700X
Motherboard: TUF B450-plus gaming
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 3200MHz
SSD/HDD: Adata SU630 480GB and Toshiba P300 1TB
GPU: RTX 4060
PSU: Corsair RM850e
OS: Windows 10

It is also worth mentioning that I had changed my BIOS to allow my RAM to be 3200MHz which I assumed may have been the wrong setting due to that being a similar value to CPU cap, so i googled it and then I enabled D.O.C.P profile for the RAM to be on 3200MHz. This also changed the CPU clock speed to 3.6GHz but again, I black screened within a minute or two of starting PC due to high temperatures. I have since changed back to default meaning RAM speed of 2133MHz which causes no issues but is not ideal.
My CPU Cooler is the AMD Wraith Stealth, which I understand is not the ideal CPU cooler to be overclocking, I would not like to run the risk of heating up too quick but I can't understand why temperatures get so high and it black screens at 3.6GHz when it is barely above base clock and my Ryzen 5 3600 had no issues with having this as a base clock speed. CPU usage sits on 100% when i make any changes to its clock or anything related, which also causes it to heat up. I am really stuck.

I have also updated the BIOS in order for the motherboard to work with a 5000 series CPU and I have also updated the chipset to latest version.

 

[drivinfast247]

Your CPU cooler isn't functioning! Either not properly attached or still has plastic on bottom.

 

[alixthegreat]

Your CPU cooler isn't functioning! Either not properly attached or still has plastic on bottom.

I thought so too but It was running perfectly fine when it was on a lower clock speed, and the CPU temperatures weren't so high. In regards to the plastic on the bottom, I've used this cooler for around 2 years without any issues on Ryzen 5 3600, so i would assume I got rid of the plastic lol.

 

[drivinfast247]

I thought so too but It was running perfectly fine when it was on a lower clock speed, and the CPU temperatures weren't so high. In regards to the plastic on the bottom, I've used this cooler for around 2 years without any issues on Ryzen 5 3600, so i would assume I got rid of the plastic lol.

Did you clean off old paste and replace?

 

[jasonf2]

How many sticks of RAM do you have? If you have a single stick instead of a pair that could be your issue. Ryzen is really fickle about RAM clock and bandwidth. I would also pull the CPU heatsink, clean it with rubbing alcohol and reapply a good thermal paste.

 

[alixthegreat]

Did you clean off old paste and replace?

I did not clean the heatsink on the cooler as I didn't have any rubbing alcohol, is there anything else I can use to clean it?

 

[alixthegreat]

How many sticks of RAM do you have? If you have a single stick instead of a pair that could be your issue. Ryzen is really fickle about RAM clock and bandwidth. I would also pull the CPU heatsink, clean it with rubbing alcohol and reapply a good thermal paste.

I have 2 sticks of 8GB RAM, I used Arctic MX-4 as my thermal paste, which I think is okay?

 

[drivinfast247]

I did not clean the heatsink on the cooler as I didn't have any rubbing alcohol, is there anything else I can use to clean it?

Dry paper towel and elbow grease. Clean both CPU and cooler.

Apply a thin layer of your thermal compound.

 

[alixthegreat]

Dry paper towel and elbow grease. Clean both CPU and cooler.

Apply a thin layer of your thermal compound.

Okay I will try that now, thank you. I will get back to you with my results.

 

[jasonf2]

When you reapply the thermal paste put a single glob in the middle. I have seen people get "artistic" with thermal paste and trapped air by drawing circles around the parameter of the CPU. Just wipe it down really well before putting the heat spreader on and you should be fine. Always clean and reapply every time you remove the CPU even if it has only been on for a couple of minutes. The the paste must make complete surface contact to be effective and removing it and putting it back on with out clean reapplication causes contact gaps.

 

[alixthegreat]

When you reapply the thermal paste put a single glob in the middle. I have seen people get "artistic" with thermal paste and trapped air by drawing circles around the parameter of the CPU. Just wipe it down really well before putting the heat spreader on and you should be fine. Always clean and reapply every time you remove the CPU even if it has only been on for a couple of minutes. The the paste must make complete surface contact to be effective and removing it and putting it back on with out clean reapplication causes contact gaps.

I've just finished replacing the thermal paste, I wiped off all residue from the previous stuff and I've applied it in a glob shape as you said. Temps seem to have improved slightly and im at around 50 idle which is much better than before. I'm still having issues with the base clock speed being 3.2GHz however.