EXPO announces reduced performance for Ryzen 7900 by 12%
EXPO announces reduced performance for Ryzen 7900 by 12%
According to the title, others have experienced similar issues with MSI AM5 boards. The settings remain unchanged except for EXPO being enabled, which affects core voltage and power consumption. No other BIOS adjustments were made. The system runs stock BIOS version 1.0 with PBO disabled. Specific specs include Ryzen 7900 (non-x), DDR5 6000, GPU 750W, PSU supporting up to 25500W. When bench runs with EXPO on, core voltage drops from 4.3GHz to 4.0GHz and power usage per core decreases by 20W, dropping from 65W to 45W, even though the PPT stays at 88W in both modes. It's unclear if the CPU, motherboard, or RAM is the cause. Thanks for the help!
It seems the problem might stem from an outdated or incorrect BIOS version. Try switching to a newer or older revision to see if the issue persists. If the CPU continues to downclock while XMP is active, the fault likely lies with the motherboard rather than the RAM. The next step is to determine whether the BIOS itself is faulty or if your hardware needs replacement through an RMA.
The issue isn't due to any problem. Cinebench mainly focuses on CPU clock speeds, while RAM speed plays a minor role. When you enable EXPO, more power is directed to the IMC, reducing the power available to the cores and causing slower core clocks. This pattern has been observed in DDR4 CPUs from both AMD and Intel during power constraints.
IIRC AMD's PPT system doesn't factor in SOC power draws, only core power draws, but even if it did there's no way enabling EXPO would cause the IMC to draw 20W more. The SOC in total is lucky if it draws in the neighborhood of 15-20W total including the power it takes for handling all the PCIe lanes and other IO functionality, it's not going to more than double by just enabling EXPO, at most only going up another ~2W. There's something else going on with this.
I believed PPT covered everything in the socket, including IMC. It seems adjusting the IF speeds might increase power consumption for related components. Previously, I faced issues making sure all reported power values summed correctly to PPT, which could indicate a reporting inconsistency.
HWInfo64 notes that the overall power consumption accounts for the SOC's usage, which is likely the factor being constrained by PPT. This observation aligns with my experience when adjusting PLs on my 5900X OP settings—results become unusual. EXPO should only influence RAM latency and timing if it behaves similarly to XMP. Otherwise, changing clock parameters or other adjustments seem nonsensical since lowering CPU voltage and clocks shouldn't cause such issues.
The Ryzen 7000 consistently operates at 2000MHz FCLK regardless of RAM speed, which seems unusual. It appears another factor is influencing this behavior. There might be an issue with the current BIOS version—OP—possibly due to a bug when XMP is active. You may want to verify if the SOC is consuming excessive power, as it should draw different amounts on separate power planes, with the board reporting distinct readings for each.
Thanks for the input! This community is really insightful. I expected enabling ram XMP/EXPO wouldn’t drastically slow down CPU speeds, right? Also, all my cinebench results come from YouTube videos showing scores over 25000 with DDR5-6000 overclocked. I’m guessing the issue lies with the motherboard or BIOS, since those parts aren’t inexpensive and I don’t have many references. I checked MSI’s beta BIOS V1.13 online—it didn’t help at all, so I went back to V1.0. Here are some screenshots from cinebench runs: one without EXPO and 4800MHz RAM, another with EXPO activated via a single click in the BIOS. I saw my setup lag behind others, especially when comparing to R23 benchmarks. While I get that Cinebench isn’t perfect for real-world performance, it’s still useful for comparing specs online. Just wanted to double-check and share what I found.
The situation becomes more complicated. Observing those unusual SOC readings prompted me to test the memory controller. And just then, errors appeared within moments—am I dealing with a problem? But what about the CPU, RAM, or motherboard? Remember, this is using the standard BIOS without any extra updates.
How many memory sticks do you have? Brand varies a bit, but some perform better than others. Verify the voltages—sometimes a slight adjustment helps. My DDR3 3200 runs best at 1.35V; raising it to 1.37V brings it up to the optimal 3600 for AM4. It seems the memory might be the issue. One user thinks the storage drive was the problem, while another believes the memory was faulty. You’ll need to figure out which one is responsible.