[SOLVED] Why won't my overclocked cpu exceed the stock speeds ?

Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
So i have an AMD R3 1200 and the base clock seems to be around 3.1 Ghz and i overclocked it a few years ago to 3.9 GHz and after it seemed to be stable i kind of forgot about it until today when i was doing some benchmarks in cinebench r23 and i noticed that while rendering my cpu utilization was stuck at 79% and the speed is stuck at around 3.08 to 3.1 GHz and i cant understand why since the base clock in task manager still says 3.89 ghz


you can find the pictures at : View: https://imgur.com/a/TjgdjHv
 
Solution
Its a Gigabyte A320M-H and the voltage is set to auto
Oh duh. There's no OC ability on the A320 mobo's. The max turbo of your cpu is 3.4GHz and base speed of 3.1GHz. Means if you ran a Cinebench single test, you'd see 3.4GHz, but running multi you'll get 3.1GHz. And that's all.

The reason the multiplier can go higher than the 3.4GHz is because different cpus have higher frequency ability, but no matter what you set, you get cpu defaults unless you set them lower. You never had 3.9GHz, just thought you did.

Being dynamic, if you can keep temps moderated and undervolt the cpu by vid to keep voltages down, you'll get higher boosts on more cores for longer, possibly upto all 4 cores, which is where the other pc's in cinebench are...
So i have an AMD R3 1200 and the base clock seems to be around 3.1 Ghz and i overclocked it a few years ago to 3.9 GHz and after it seemed to be stable i kind of forgot about it until today when i was doing some benchmarks in cinebench r23 and i noticed that while rendering my cpu utilization was stuck at 79% and the speed is stuck at around 3.08 to 3.1 GHz and i cant understand why since the base clock in task manager still says 3.89 ghz


you can find the pictures at : View: https://imgur.com/a/TjgdjHv
Voltages and temperature ???
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
How was it OC'd? Static OC where the cpu runs 3.9GHz no matter what, like it's an intel, or turbo OC where you raised the boost level to 3.9GHz maximum.

Static will run the required speed all the way upto the point where temps override the OC and you are fully into throttle temps.

Turbo OC only raises the maximum achievable, for single thread, unless locking cores, most times multi thread will always be somewhat lower as Ryzens start throttling cores on an individual basis by 50-100Hz anywhere after @ 60°C depending also on the voltages per core. At closer to 90°C, I'd be expecting multi core to be closer to 3.1GHz if voltages are also high.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CountMike
Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
How was it OC'd? Static OC where the cpu runs 3.9GHz no matter what, like it's an intel, or turbo OC where you raised the boost level to 3.9GHz maximum.

Static will run the required speed all the way upto the point where temps override the OC and you are fully into throttle temps.

Turbo OC only raises the maximum achievable, for single thread, unless locking cores, most times multi thread will always be somewhat lower as Ryzens start throttling cores on an individual basis by 50-100Hz anywhere after @ 60°C depending also on the voltages per core. At closer to 90°C, I'd be expecting multi core to be closer to 3.1GHz if voltages are also high.


Im pretty sure its Dynamic overclock or Turbo overclock as you said it as it does go down when idle and as for the temps and voltage : View: https://imgur.com/a/8o90mpE







im not sure if i set the voltage to auto or 1.25V in bios tho , ill check n let you know soon
 
So i have an AMD R3 1200 and the base clock seems to be around 3.1 Ghz and i overclocked it a few years ago to 3.9 GHz and after it seemed to be stable i kind of forgot about it until today when i was doing some benchmarks in cinebench r23 and i noticed that while rendering my cpu utilization was stuck at 79% and the speed is stuck at around 3.08 to 3.1 GHz and i cant understand why since the base clock in task manager still says 3.89 ghz


you can find the pictures at : View: https://imgur.com/a/TjgdjHv
You may be seeing one of several things. One I've seen that with just about every AM4 motherboard I've worked with. Have seen many explanations...none of which seem definitive. The most common explanation is it's a side effect of spread-spectrum, used to reduce EMI emissions, but I'm not sure. At any rate it's got something to do with slight deviations in the 100Mhz bus clock, that much I know. It affects CPU (actual) clock and memory clock in the same way since they are based on the bus clock and a multiplier. It has virtually nil impact to performance though; after all, 11Mhz is only a .28% deviation on a 3900Mhz base.

Utilities can also report on CPU clock speed in different ways: some actually measure the CPU reported clock speed so you see the deviation. Some just look at the set multiplier (39 in your case) and multiply it by the set bus clock (100Mhz by default).

And last: some utilities report something called effective clock speed. I believe Task Manager does that...and HWINfo does too. It starts with the clock speed the CPU is set for but considers the impact of utilization and idle states the CPU sees even during heavy useage. It will usually be less than the actual set clock speed, most frequently a lot.

I'd suggest you get HWInfo64 and check what it reports for effective clocks and actual core clocks to see what the CPU's really doing under load.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Karadjgne

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I think 1.25v is too low. With Ryzen it's better to lower VID a small amount and let the cpu decide what it needs, with a 50-66% LLC. Limiting core voltage limits the amount of boost available, especially on single thread loads. The cpu can try to bump up amperage to compensate, but the cpu still needs the voltage. I'd suggest starting with VID of 1.375 and see where that puts you, go down to maybe 1.325 in a couple steps.

With Ryzen, the voltage doesn't play such a major independent role vs temps as it does with Intel because Ryzens are self governing with Dynamic boosts.
 
Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
I think 1.25v is too low. With Ryzen it's better to lower VID a small amount and let the cpu decide what it needs, with a 50-66% LLC. Limiting core voltage limits the amount of boost available, especially on single thread loads. The cpu can try to bump up amperage to compensate, but the cpu still needs the voltage. I'd suggest starting with VID of 1.375 and see where that puts you, go down to maybe 1.325 in a couple steps.

With Ryzen, the voltage doesn't play such a major independent role vs temps as it does with Intel because Ryzens are self governing with Dynamic boosts.

View: https://imgur.com/a/kDwvWY0


The voltage is set to auto so should i set it to 1.375 as you said or should i leave it at auto?
 
Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
You may be seeing one of several things. One I've seen that with just about every AM4 motherboard I've worked with. Have seen many explanations...none of which seem definitive. The most common explanation is it's a side effect of spread-spectrum, used to reduce EMI emissions, but I'm not sure. At any rate it's got something to do with slight deviations in the 100Mhz bus clock, that much I know. It affects CPU (actual) clock and memory clock in the same way since they are based on the bus clock and a multiplier. It has virtually nil impact to performance though; after all, 11Mhz is only a .28% deviation on a 3900Mhz base.

Utilities can also report on CPU clock speed in different ways: some actually measure the CPU reported clock speed so you see the deviation. Some just look at the set multiplier (39 in your case) and multiply it by the set bus clock (100Mhz by default).

And last: some utilities report something called effective clock speed. I believe Task Manager does that...and HWINfo does too. It starts with the clock speed the CPU is set for but considers the impact of utilization and idle states the CPU sees even during heavy useage. It will usually be less than the actual set clock speed, most frequently a lot.

I'd suggest you get HWInfo64 and check what it reports for effective clocks and actual core clocks to see what the CPU's really doing under load.



View: https://imgur.com/a/kDwvWY0


Its a Gigabyte A320M-H and the voltage is set to auto


I also took another ss during a cinebench multi core test with HWinfo




View: https://imgur.com/a/G80LxNr
 
Last edited:

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Its a Gigabyte A320M-H and the voltage is set to auto
Oh duh. There's no OC ability on the A320 mobo's. The max turbo of your cpu is 3.4GHz and base speed of 3.1GHz. Means if you ran a Cinebench single test, you'd see 3.4GHz, but running multi you'll get 3.1GHz. And that's all.

The reason the multiplier can go higher than the 3.4GHz is because different cpus have higher frequency ability, but no matter what you set, you get cpu defaults unless you set them lower. You never had 3.9GHz, just thought you did.

Being dynamic, if you can keep temps moderated and undervolt the cpu by vid to keep voltages down, you'll get higher boosts on more cores for longer, possibly upto all 4 cores, which is where the other pc's in cinebench are scoring so high.

Running auto voltage at vid, your cpu is running upto 1.475 or so for single thread and 1.425ish for multi thread, explaining the lowered boost.
 
Solution
Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
Oh duh. There's no OC ability on the A320 mobo's. The max turbo of your cpu is 3.4GHz and base speed of 3.1GHz. Means if you ran a Cinebench single test, you'd see 3.4GHz, but running multi you'll get 3.1GHz. And that's all.

The reason the multiplier can go higher than the 3.4GHz is because different cpus have higher frequency ability, but no matter what you set, you get cpu defaults unless you set them lower. You never had 3.9GHz, just thought you did.

Being dynamic, if you can keep temps moderated and undervolt the cpu by vid to keep voltages down, you'll get higher boosts on more cores for longer, possibly upto all 4 cores, which is where the other pc's in cinebench are scoring so high.

Running auto voltage at vid, your cpu is running upto 1.475 or so for single thread and 1.425ish for multi thread, explaining the lowered boost.



So is there anything i can do to improve performance like change the voltage or something and does this mean my max freq is 3.4GHz ?


also thank you for the replies
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Yes. Your max frequency is 3.4GHz.

You have a Ryzen, not Intel. Intel with a 3.4GHz max is 1 core at 3.4, 2x at 3.4, 3x at 3.3 and all 4 at 3.1GHz. That's set, proscribed steps the cpu follows, every single time, regardless of voltages or temps.

That's not Ryzen. Your cpu is fully capable of getting, and maintaining 3.4GHz across all its cores simultaneously depending on voltage and temp. It'll boost as it can within its limits. Upto you to change the environment, keep the cpu cool, airflow etc.
 
Jun 13, 2022
8
0
10
Yes. Your max frequency is 3.4GHz.

You have a Ryzen, not Intel. Intel with a 3.4GHz max is 1 core at 3.4, 2x at 3.4, 3x at 3.3 and all 4 at 3.1GHz. That's set, proscribed steps the cpu follows, every single time, regardless of voltages or temps.

That's not Ryzen. Your cpu is fully capable of getting, and maintaining 3.4GHz across all its cores simultaneously depending on voltage and temp. It'll boost as it can within its limits. Upto you to change the environment, keep the cpu cool, airflow etc.

Thank you