Is there a problem with my computer?
Is there a problem with my computer?
So basically, I've been experimenting with overclocking my CPU and GPU for the last two years. It was a never-ending cycle of trying things, hitting problems, getting frustrated, giving up for months, then coming back to try again. Recently, I pretty much mastered all the standard GPU overclocking tricks and understand the logic behind them. But handling CPU overclocking has been the real headache because even though I learned what most options do, their optimal settings, and how they work on my specific system, nothing works for me right now.
I've been digging into recent guides to see what people like about AMD's PBO (Power Boost Overclocking) because it seems easy and better than stock settings. I also found that if you overclock manually with the right setup, it usually beats PBO or built-in auto-overclocking. I prefer to do manual overclocking because I know exactly what is happening and want to squeeze out every bit of performance possible.
I started trying to overclock my CPU about 1.5 years ago after buying this new PC. At first, I just messied around with settings like frequency multiplier, core voltage, socket voltage, and the memory control lock (LLC). Nothing worked well then, so I gave up and left it at a low 4Ghz. For the next year and a half, I didn't change much but kept messing around until I finally figured out what each setting does. But recently, I started with a clear goal in mind: getting stable overclocking running at 4.2ghz under 1.475v, which eventually showed up as 1.5v in the software.
The only issue is that whenever I try manual overclocking—even going for 4ghz with max voltage and LLC settings—it just never completes a test run; instead of stabilizing, it crashes immediately. If you use PBO though, the benchmark actually finishes successfully. But even when running on stock settings, the frequency ended up at an insanely low 3650mhz by the time I hit the benchmark.
This is completely [redacted] nonsense and even if I had the worst CPU chip in history, it still shouldn't cause this kind of failure. Is it my motherboard causing the issues or is my CPU just that terrible? Here are my PC specs:
* **CPU:** Ryzen 7 2700x running at 4Ghz (Stable for general use and gaming but crashes during heavy video rendering or synthetic benchmarks).
* **Cooler:** Stock cooler.
* **GPU:** eVGA GeForce GTX1070Ti SC Black.
* **Motherboard:** ASUS TUF B450-PLUS Gaming.
* **RAM:** GeIL 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 SUPER LUCE RGB SYNC C16 running at 3000Mhz.
* **Storage - SSD:** Samsung 970 Evo 250GB M.2 NVMe.
* **Storage - HDD:** Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM008 3.5" 2TB hard drive.
* **Power Supply:** EVGA SuperNOVA G1+ 650W Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold unit.
First thing's first, having too much power (around 1.5v) is a big problem. It's better if you can keep it under 1.3v, and even better at 1.25v. Since you're dealing with all the headaches from overclocking, you should just leave it alone as is. You also have a stock cooler, which means you need to buy a bigger one like a 240mm or 360mm AIO fan so that your runs look good on benchmarks even though the voltage levels aren't healthy over time. What BIOS version are you using right now?
First, having too much power like 1.5v is causing issues. You're told to stay under 1.3v and ideally aim for 1.25v. With all the headaches from overclocking, it's better off keeping the settings exactly as they are right now. Since you have a stock cooler, I recommend buying at least a large water-cooling block or two (like a 240mm or 360mm AIO) so your computer stays cool for benchmark tests. However, these voltages might not be great for the long run. What BIOS version are you currently using?
I used a stock 1700 CPU, but I thought it ran better if I set the clock to 3.9 GHz on about 1.38 volts. PBO works differently than older CPUs like the 3000 series. To test my 3900X, I followed Buildzoid's guide and turned up the voltage by +200 MHz with XMP enabled. That got me a score that felt like running at a manual speed of around 4.2 GHz. I usually rely on PBO for gaming too. For benchmark testing only, I also added custom BIOS settings to boost to 4.3 GHz at 1.3V and 4.4 GHz at 1.38V.
I probably won't invest in water cooling because it's a long trip, and other people on the stock cooler have way better luck than me. I don't care about going over 1.3, but I'd prefer not to go above 1.4, and definitely under 1.45-1.475 with the latest bios version 2202.
But if I turn on auto voltage and auto frequency in PBO, I get 4.2 ghz when idle, but drop to 3.7 to 3.65 ghz while running CBR20. The average voltage is around 1.5 volts at idle and drops down to 1.2 volts at full load. If I add a negative offset of 0.75 or even 0.5 volts, PBO becomes useless because the stock settings run better right there. At the end of the CBR20 run, PBO brings my voltage way down back to the usual stock level, which is just 1.2 to 1.25 volts.
You usually won't see 1.5 volts on PBO unless the battery is almost empty and only one or two batteries are powering up.
We tried to help you find your way. If you need to use PBO, just look at the Builzoids guide. For running a custom character with lower power levels, stick to low volts as suggested by Lutfij and me.