High performance processor with reduced voltage settings and increased heat output.
High performance processor with reduced voltage settings and increased heat output.
Hello everyone, I'm using a Ryzen 5 3600 with a stock cooler, and I'm trying to undervolt it to lower temperatures while maintaining stable performance. My motherboard is a Gigabyte B450M S2H, which isn't ideal for heavy overclocking, but I'm not aiming to push the limits—I just want better cooling and steadier clock speeds. Initially, I was at 1.3V @ 4100 MHz, which was fine. Then I faced some issues with Valorant, so I lowered it to 4000 MHz with the same voltage to check its impact. However, in my room without air conditioning, I've noticed temperature spikes up to 84°C during certain games. Eventually, I settled on 1.25V @ 3900 MHz for stability testing. But when I ran Prime95 Small FFTs, my power usage hit a safe limit and quickly throttled at around 95°C. According to Ryzen Master, it reached over 100% of TDC (60A), with readings like 130% or even 78A. On HWInfo64, with default settings and PBO enabled, it showed up to 95 Watts under 1.3V @ 3900MHz. I'm worried this could harm the CPU over time. All voltages were fluctuating rather than steady, and I was keeping idle voltage below 1.0V while using C-State and AMD Quiet&Chill. What should I do? Also, when I try to keep cores at a target frequency like 4000 MHz constantly—even for simple tasks—I notice they vary depending on the workload. Thanks for your advice!
You're applying high voltage, which explains the poor thermal performance. PBO won't cause any issues—only manual overvolting can lead to degradation. To really wear down a modern CPU, you'd need extreme measures. For a quieter setup, stick to stock clocks without PBO and consider a small undervolt to reduce heat and noise.
I believe my explanation wasn't very clear, sorry about that. I'm not worried about PBO affecting the lifespan of my CPU; my main concern is that undervolting at 1.25V might reduce performance due to increased power use and current beyond the TDC limit. Do you think this voltage is too high for this CPU?
You seem overly concerned. PBO is fully secure since it was built by AMD. Regarding underclocking, if you're at 3900, simply turn off boost and set it to 3.7 in auto mode.
I set up an account to give my feedback, even though it's late. Greetings, I’m not using air conditioning. Here, it rarely climbs past 90°F, but it’s definitely hot right now. I understand what you’re saying. My 3600 from last year is fully stable with all-core at 4.2GHz @ 1.25v. Still, because manual overclocking affects current draw during stress tests, it uses a bit more power when benchmarked or pushed hard. It cools down a bit during lighter use or idle since the CPU doesn’t hit 1.3-1.4v in mixed conditions. Gaming sessions see better performance too. I used 1.25v for all-core max load, but at stock speeds it never exceeded 3.9-4GHz. Even single-core tests stayed under 4.1. I experimented with 1.3v @ 4.2 first, then lowered to 1.25v and ran some stress tests. Results showed better scores when I set the voltage higher. I’m considering lowering it to 1.23 or 1.225 and see how it performs as it cools. Suggest setting all-core at 4GHz @ 1.225 and doing a stress test—though you’ll never know the true limits without trying different settings. If you want to push further, try 1.2v @ 4GHz and adjust up from there. Who knows? Some Ryzen models have surprisingly low voltages under certain conditions.