[SOLVED] Would I be able to safely overclock my CPU on this system?

[woofer300]

Hello! I am wondering if someone knowledgeable could give me some advice. Is the system I've linked below safe to overclock my CPU on? If so, how much? And, just in general, anything else I should change? Thanks!

PC Part Picker Part List

 

[Darkbreeze]

There is no practical reason or headroom for, overclocking on any of the Ryzen platforms from the 3000-5000 series. Reviews and user experiences have CONSISTENTLY shown that better gains are achieved through the use of PBO (Precision boost overdrive, normally on by default in most BIOS settings, but worth checking to be sure) than from any attempts at overclocking.

Also, while the cooler you've chosen is a high quality CPU cooler, from a very reputable manufacturer, and a much better solution than the stock cooler, I'd be surprised if either of two things was true.

1. It is enough to afford the required thermal headroom to overclock to any degree beyond which PBO could afford you anyhow.

2. You can achieve an overclock that is significantly enough better than what you'd get via PBO to make it worth the effort and in depth testing necessary to validate the overclock as being safe and stable.

The fact is that these parts are pretty much pushed to the limit out of the box, as it is, and that if samples hold true as they have from most of what we've seen from the 3000 series and so far from the 5000 series, it will be a VERY small percentage of CPUs that are able to succeed with an all core overclock that is as good as or better than the max single core boost frequency by design and as part of the PBO boost profile.

Short version is, it's probably not worth your time, and even if you take the time there's a good chance you'll never get better performance than you will by simply enabling PBO in the BIOS.

 

[woofer300]

There is no practical reason or headroom for, overclocking on any of the Ryzen platforms from the 3000-5000 series. Reviews and user experiences have CONSISTENTLY shown that better gains are achieved through the use of PBO (Precision boost overdrive, normally on by default in most BIOS settings, but worth checking to be sure) than from any attempts at overclocking.

Also, while the cooler you've chosen is a high quality CPU cooler, from a very reputable manufacturer, and a much better solution than the stock cooler, I'd be surprised if either of two things was true.

1. It is enough to afford the required thermal headroom to overclock to any degree beyond which PBO could afford you anyhow.

2. You can achieve an overclock that is significantly enough better than what you'd get via PBO to make it worth the effort and in depth testing necessary to validate the overclock as being safe and stable.

The fact is that these parts are pretty much pushed to the limit out of the box, as it is, and that if samples hold true as they have from most of what we've seen from the 3000 series and so far from the 5000 series, it will be a VERY small percentage of CPUs that are able to succeed with an all core overclock that is as good as or better than the max single core boost frequency by design and as part of the PBO boost profile.

Short version is, it's probably not worth your time, and even if you take the time there's a good chance you'll never get better performance than you will by simply enabling PBO in the BIOS.

Ok, got it. So, as I understand it, the stock cooler is good? Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, not really. You don't want to run the stock cooler if you can afford to avoid doing that. The stock coolers are VERY problematic. What happens is that at least with a decent aftermarket cooler you extend the peak boost frequency and duration in most cases over what you get with the stock cooler, because the stock coolers are not very capable.

Also, the stock coolers tend to be VERY annoying, and every single one I've installed on any Ryzen platform has had terribly annoying cyclic up and down fan behavior that drove me and the customer completely nuts no matter how I configured the CPU cooler header fan curve or thermal points and regardless of how good the case cooling itself was. There is only one reason to stick with the stock cooler and that's if you have no other choice because you can't afford anything better.

I'd recommend this cooler over that Noctua cooler, unless you have your heart set on Noctua (in which case I'd either go for the Noctua NH-U14S or the NH-U12A) because it outperforms the NH-U12S, looks better and is less expensive. I've used this on a number of Ryzen 3600, 3600x and 3700x builds and it has done a very admirable job for a less than 50 dollar cooler. Thermalright has been at this longer than almost anybody else in the industry, and makes very high quality cooling products much like Noctua. If you buy the RIGHT product, I'd put Noctua just slightly higher in terms of quality and performance (Mostly better noise levels from superior fans) though.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 Direct 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $42.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-23 13:13 EST-0500

If you can afford the NH-U14S or U12A those are good choices too for this CPU. Actually, any of these are a good choice, from highest performance (top) to least performance (bottom) on the list.

Noctua NH-D14 (Replace stock fans with NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000rpm)
Noctua NH-D15/D15 SE-AM4
Noctua NH-D14 (With original fans)
Thermalright Silver arrow IB-E Extreme
Cryorig R1 Ultimate or Universal
Be Quiet Dark rock Pro 4
Thermalright Legrand Macho RT
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (BK,BL, OR or RD)
Deepcool Assassin III
Thermalright Macho X2
Thermalright Macho rev. C
Thermalright Macho rev.B
Thermalright ARO-M14G (Ryzen only)
SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425
Thermalright Macho direct
Deepcool Assassin II
Noctua NH-U14S
Thermalright true spirit 140 Direct
Cryorig H5
FSP Windale 6
Scythe Ninja 5
Scythe Mugen max
Scythe Mugen 5 rev.B
BeQuiet dark rock (3 or 4)
Thermalright Macho SBM
Noctua NH-U12S


It may not be obvious, but is probably worth mentioning, that not all cooler models will fit all CPU sockets as aftermarket coolers generally require an adapter intended for use with that socket. Some coolers that fit an AMD platform might not fit a later AMD platform, or an Intel platform. Often these coolers come with adapters for multiple types of platforms but be sure to verify that a specific cooler WILL work with your platform before purchasing one and finding out later that it will not.

 

[woofer300]

No, not really. You don't want to run the stock cooler if you can afford to avoid doing that. The stock coolers are VERY problematic. What happens is that at least with a decent aftermarket cooler you extend the peak boost frequency and duration in most cases over what you get with the stock cooler, because the stock coolers are not very capable.

Also, the stock coolers tend to be VERY annoying, and every single one I've installed on any Ryzen platform has had terribly annoying cyclic up and down fan behavior that drove me and the customer completely nuts no matter how I configured the CPU cooler header fan curve or thermal points and regardless of how good the case cooling itself was. There is only one reason to stick with the stock cooler and that's if you have no other choice because you can't afford anything better.

I'd recommend this cooler over that Noctua cooler, unless you have your heart set on Noctua (in which case I'd either go for the Noctua NH-U14S or the NH-U12A) because it outperforms the NH-U12S, looks better and is less expensive. I've used this on a number of Ryzen 3600, 3600x and 3700x builds and it has done a very admirable job for a less than 50 dollar cooler. Thermalright has been at this longer than almost anybody else in the industry, and makes very high quality cooling products much like Noctua. If you buy the RIGHT product, I'd put Noctua just slightly higher in terms of quality and performance (Mostly better noise levels from superior fans) though.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 Direct 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($42.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $42.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-12-23 13:13 EST-0500

If you can afford the NH-U14S or U12A those are good choices too for this CPU. Actually, any of these are a good choice, from highest performance (top) to least performance (bottom) on the list.

Noctua NH-D14 (Replace stock fans with NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000rpm)
Noctua NH-D15/D15 SE-AM4
Noctua NH-D14 (With original fans)
Thermalright Silver arrow IB-E Extreme
Cryorig R1 Ultimate or Universal
Be Quiet Dark rock Pro 4
Thermalright Legrand Macho RT
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (BK,BL, OR or RD)
Deepcool Assassin III
Thermalright Macho X2
Thermalright Macho rev. C
Thermalright Macho rev.B
Thermalright ARO-M14G (Ryzen only)
SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425
Thermalright Macho direct
Deepcool Assassin II
Noctua NH-U14S
Thermalright true spirit 140 Direct
Cryorig H5
FSP Windale 6
Scythe Ninja 5
Scythe Mugen max
Scythe Mugen 5 rev.B
BeQuiet dark rock (3 or 4)
Thermalright Macho SBM
Noctua NH-U12S


It may not be obvious, but is probably worth mentioning, that not all cooler models will fit all CPU sockets as aftermarket coolers generally require an adapter intended for use with that socket. Some coolers that fit an AMD platform might not fit a later AMD platform, or an Intel platform. Often these coolers come with adapters for multiple types of platforms but be sure to verify that a specific cooler WILL work with your platform before purchasing one and finding out later that it will not.

Alright, good to know. Thanks! I had planned to use a Noctua cooler because I am a complete noob to PC building and I knew that Noctua was a good brand. I’m really fine with anything as long as I know that it will work well.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do yourself a favor too. Once you are ready to build, because you have already indicated that you are a novice builder, find and watch SEVERAL Youtube videos on installing the specific cooler model you go with, before attempting to install it. Also, find and watch all three parts of the Newegg "build a PC" video tutorial series, because if you've never built before there is very good information contained in those videos that the average person who has never built a PC before would probably not even think about. They are well worth watching even if some of the stuff seems like common sense, still watch them, and if you can watch a few others too you will help yourself in the long run.

Always BE SURE, and never guess, when it comes to building a PC, and you can do that by becoming very informed about what you are doing. People who guess and make mistakes are the ones who usually end up here crying "why did this happen" and then we can't help but laugh because they didn't take the opportunity to educate themselves BEFORE attempting to do something they didn't know how to do. Don't be like them, educate, then build.

 

[woofer300]

Do yourself a favor too. Once you are ready to build, because you have already indicated that you are a novice builder, find and watch SEVERAL Youtube videos on installing the specific cooler model you go with, before attempting to install it. Also, find and watch all three parts of the Newegg "build a PC" video tutorial series, because if you've never built before there is very good information contained in those videos that the average person who has never built a PC before would probably not even think about. They are well worth watching even if some of the stuff seems like common sense, still watch them, and if you can watch a few others too you will help yourself in the long run.

Always BE SURE, and never guess, when it comes to building a PC, and you can do that by becoming very informed about what you are doing. People who guess and make mistakes are the ones who usually end up here crying "why did this happen" and then we can't help but laugh because they didn't take the opportunity to educate themselves BEFORE attempting to do something they didn't know how to do. Don't be like them, educate, then build.

Ok, got it. I will definitely make sure to be as prepared as I can.

 

[Darkbreeze]

👍