Increase the highest operating temperature for the AMD Ryzen 5000 (5950X).
Increase the highest operating temperature for the AMD Ryzen 5000 (5950X).
Hello everyone As the title suggests, and against all intuition, I would like to know if there's a way to increase the maximum achievable temperature on the Ryzen 5000 platform. I have an Asus Crosshair 8 with a Ryzen 9 5950X, cooled by an EKWB Nucleus CR360 AiO. While the AiO performs really really well, I am running into dumb limits when it comes to maximum power (more precisely amperage) and maximum temperature. I would like to OC the CPU to its limits but I'm lazy so I'm using Ryzen Master to automatically determine the curves for Curve Optimizer (it has worked really well for the past attempt) but the CPU temperature limit of 90°C along with the maximum TDC of 200A is limiting the potential of the CPU. Now, I already went and searched in the BIOS for the settings above (and figured out the INSANE mess that it is to OC on Asus motherboards... the same settings appears multiple times at different locations in BIOS). I cannot set the TDC above 200A and changing the max platform thermal to 100 doesn't change anything, it still caps at 90. I have tried to use "motherboard" limits, which sets the TDC to SUPER HIGH and thus allowing more power to the CPU, but it's set to ridiculous levels and you cannot tune it. Do any of you have more experience and could help with that by any chance? Thanks in advance!!
Consider motherboard restrictions first, then adjust curves on the master to fit your needs. Reducing curves significantly can help stay within the board's capabilities, which will be higher than what the CPU settings allow.
I don't understand your expectations for this setup—it's meant to reach a thermal limit near 90°C. Pushing it further would cause damage. The key to maximizing CPU performance is reducing voltage as low as it remains stable, allowing it to handle more current without exceeding 90°C.
When working manually from the BIOS, those restrictions don't matter much. The maximum values disappear, and the temperature cap jumps to around 105C—possibly even higher. This only makes sense if you're testing for benchmarks; otherwise, stick with PBO. For PBO, the limits should actually be tight. A 90C for temperature seems reasonable, and the current limit appears to have a sweet spot. On my 5900X, the EDC (which acts like the real current limit) was optimal near 180, TDC around 170. The 5950X seems quite similar, mainly because of temperature restrictions.
90C isn't that important for a CPU, particularly when we're discussing die temperature rather than the socket. The socket typically stays below 65 degrees, and the cooling system is more than sufficient to manage these power levels. Increasing it to 100C wouldn't noticeably affect single-core performance, though it could boost overall performance which matters for the types of tasks I run. A 100C on the die would be fine as long as the socket doesn't exceed that temperature. Regarding E/TDC limits, after updating the BIOS I now have tighter controls and can set them to 240A. I've discovered that high TDC paired with precisely adjusted CO delivers the best results for my CPU. Reducing TDC only hurt performance (perhaps VRM is the bottleneck). Remember, the 5900X has 75% more cores than the 5950X. The E/TDC limits at 180A match exactly 75% of the 240A target I'm aiming for.
You experimented with the configuration and achieved 28,600 points in Cinebench, reaching the EDC threshold of 250A at 300W. You're aiming to boost performance further, targeting around 400W and close to 30,000 points. I wonder if the issue lies with the motherboard or if the CPU firmware imposes restrictions.
The APUs feature a 95C threshold (such as 5600G, 5700G, etc.) likely because of their all-in-one architecture and the way they’re mounted on a base. The Ryzen 5 5600X stands out as the sole chiplet-based CPU with this restriction. This might stem from its compact size relative to other X-series chips. Still, even the standard 5600 model caps at 90C, so it’s unclear what sets the 5600X apart in terms of thermal performance. In general, the maximum is determined by the CPU selected for the board. You might be able to adjust it if you’re not concerned about overheating your processor.
I've already tried my best to cut down the heat! Sadly, I'm stuck with limited choices. I'm pushing -20 across most cores and -5 on the top two CCDs, which is a good balance of power use and stability. Going below that usually leads to crashes in games with lots of sudden spikes. I adjusted the SoC voltage to try and cut heat, changed a few other settings, but it didn't make much difference—maybe just a few percent. After the first test ended, I ran another to capture scores and sensor data. Temperatures stayed steady around 84 and rising slowly as the water warmed. I'll adjust later when I push the EDC a bit higher; that might be where the real issue lies. In the meantime, imagine if I could push the die temps up to 100°C—that would open up huge power options. I could run all cores at 395W total (within AM4 limits) and handle whatever the cooler could manage.