Here is a check of your CPU's temperature and some tips to help you run it better.
Here is a check of your CPU's temperature and some tips to help you run it better.
For starters here is my current PC setup on PC Part Picker. You can view the list there: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jrs48J This copy from that website helps me check things out. AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Processor running at a speed of 3.8 GHz, paired with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition cooling unit which has 57.3 CFM airflow. It's all on an MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard from Team T-Force that uses Z 32 GB RAM (two sticks of 16 GB) running DDR4 at 3200 MHz with a low CL16 timing. Memory comes from Crucial MX500 and I have two large hard drives: one is a solid-state drive from Crucial BX500, and the other is also a solid-state drive. For my graphics card, I'm using an EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with 11 GB of video memory to play games like SC2. The tower case is an NZXT H510 ATX mid-tower from Thermaltake Smart Pro RGB which offers 650W power at 80% Bronze certification and has a fully modular design for airflow.
For starters, I decided to try overclocking my CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, up to 4.0 GHz (that was my main goal). Because I'm interested in overclocking my CPU or possibly my GPU to see how far I can push these components without making them too hot. But before that, I went into the BIOS and set my RAM to 3200 MHz using the factory XMP preset. It showed zero issues or instability with the CPU at its default settings, so I decided to focus on trying to overclock it as of now. My current clock speed (which I will change in the BIOS after finding a stable voltage) is 4.3 GHz and my voltage is 1.35v. I ran it through an AIDA64 CPU stress test since it was said to be better than Prime95's stress test for this. The test lasted for three hours, but the highest temperature reached was 69 degrees Celsius, while the average temp during the test was 62 degrees Celsius with a little bit of lag because I accidentally left Chrome and Discord open during the test (I believe that caused the lag). So my questions are: Do you think these temperatures with this overclock are good results? Do you believe I can possibly push this further or tweak it to be more optimal without pushing my components too far? Do you have any constructive criticism I can use to learn more about overclocking, especially since Ryzen CPUs seem different from Intel CPUs and maybe I'm wrong in that regard?
I am very new to all of this and tried to do my research on overclocking but I prefer learning by doing hands-on rather than reading or watching videos (which seems like the worst way to start). I tried giving as much info as possible so you guys can tell me if I did good or bad, how I can make it better, and give all feedback that helps. I really just want to see how far I can take this without losing my CPU in one year.
Most people agree that the 3600 processor isn't worth buying unless you are willing to risk your computer breaking or having it shut down due to instability. Even if you don't try to make it run at higher speeds, adding an X means you'll just sell it for less money because it already has a cool default speed built in. You can't really push it any harder without messing things up, and while some versions do manage to lower the voltage slightly, that's not big news. The only real upgrade you should look for is having fast RAM installed. Ryzen processors really love good memory, but getting that set up takes a long time and often causes crashes. It's also very tricky to get right compared to just tweaking the CPU itself.
Everyone agrees the 3600 isn't worth buying unless you want a super-hot chip to die after one year or get unstable settings until you hit that final score. It's actually a solid piece of hardware that comes with high speeds by default, so adding an "X" and selling it for more is easy money. There is very little else you can squeeze out, even though they do undervolt sometimes to make them work better. The only real thing you really have to try harding on is your RAM; Ryzen loves fast memory. But figuring that out takes a lot of time, lots and lots of testing where the system crashes often, it's messy, and requires more research than just overclocking the CPU itself.
I am going to research overclocking memory chips but I won't try it myself right now. It's a totally different thing because I can't really change those things easily. Instead, I should probably just try lowering the voltage on my Ryzen processor instead. Should I try increasing my EVGA 1080 Ti graphics card's clock speed to get more power? Is that risky or too hard like memory chips are (I will check online first)?