Needs guidance on Ryzen 7000 overclocking or undervolting?
Needs guidance on Ryzen 7000 overclocking or undervolting?
I've been reviewing the stickies and posts in the AMD OC threads for about five minutes, but nothing has come up.
I upgraded my PC from a 9900K to a Ryzen 5 7600X, using it as a temporary CPU until the 7800X3D arrives.
For my 9900K with an air cooler, I synchronized all cores to 50, adjusted the voltage high enough to avoid crashes at P95, and configured the line level load settings to handle power spikes when the CPU receives power. The system ran smoothly at around 5.0GHz, with temperatures fluctuating between 120 and 230 watts depending on the stress test used.
With my new AMD setup, I'm still unsure what steps to take, as the online guides for PBO or curve optimization seem focused mainly on Zen3 (and even then they differ significantly from Zen4 OC) or involve unusual power management techniques for Ryzen 9 models. I just need to apply some basic settings for gaming—especially Microsoft Flight Simulator—which prioritizes single-threaded performance at the highest possible GHz, and prefers SMT disabled.
I ran several PBO, negative 3, and Ryzen Master Eco & OC curve GFX -30 tests, but I have no idea what I'm doing beyond seeing CPU speeds range from 5150 to 5450 (5.4 is stock, not great), with power usage between 65-130 watts and temperatures between 45-90.
The only time I saw a 95°C was in the stock MB settings with SMT enabled.
I’d appreciate suggestions on overclocking or undervolting strategies for a 6-core SMT configuration aimed at gaming, along with links to current tutorials. I’m looking for something straightforward that requires minimal stress testing right now. The PBO -3, the PBO curve -30, and the Ryzen Master curve optimizers are the only three methods I know of at the moment, as I own my first AMD CPU yesterday. I don’t run heavy multi-threaded tasks except for stress tests, which according to what I read, don’t consider undervolting Ryzen 7000 models crashing under light load.
Paul Anderegg
(Was uncertain whether to include this in the AMD OC sticky, but it appears to have been discontinued in 2020)
The 7000 series is still quite new. There won't be much trustworthy information available about OC or undervolting at the moment, since these topics haven't been explored yet. It's a fresh architecture running on a new platform that differs from previous ones. Similar to the transition from FX to Ryzen, lga775 to lga1156, it will take some time for people to understand what's feasible and what isn't.
Just entering those numbers into the curve optimizer gave me a Cinebench 23 single core score of 1926, 5450MHz 40 watts and an average of 1.37 VID. I didn’t wait for a multicore result because the SMT was off, but I managed to hit all six cores at 5300MHz with 90 watts and an average of 1.30 VID. This is essentially everything I’ve done so far—just using the manual curve optimizer.
Using different RAM configurations, timing tweaks, and clock adjustments can help fine-tune Ryzen stock CPU settings without much noticeable impact. It's not guaranteed that videos or articles will accurately reflect your specific setup since hardware variations matter. Each combination of RAM, CPU, and motherboard can yield different outcomes, which might not always benefit you. Cinebench doesn't consistently produce the same results with a Ryzen due to dynamic core behavior. A score like 1954 might reflect a cooler CPU, while yours could be warmer, making it hard to compare fairly.
I currently have a budget 5200 CL40 with 32GB of RAM, while my Z5 Neo 6000 CL30 is expected to arrive from China or another location. I'm not as focused on the CB23 score as I thought; it seems like the clocks are almost full and I don't know how to speed them up. Should I check overclocking guides for Zen3 and just ignore my temperatures, since they're not a problem for my six-core processor that isn't heavily multicore? I was hoping the device would boot at 95°C and stay there constantly, so I'm unsure what the Ryzen 7000 temperature concerns really mean—perhaps for stress testers on a 7950X. Paul
Ryzens are quite amusing. They act very differently from Intels. Ryzens react strongly to temperature changes, as IPC depends on ambient conditions. For example, my 3700x scores higher at 4.28GHz all-core at 62°C compared to a static 4.40GHz at 80°C. I wish I could locate that article, but the main idea is that Ryzen processors tend to perform better in temperatures between 50-70°C than outside those ranges.
This seems to come down to how data and bandwidth connect when traces and circuits are either warmer or cooler than an optimal range for RAM, I/O, and cores on the infinity fabric.
Currently, you have one of the top-performing CPUs available, matching or surpassing a 12900k in nearly every aspect, while using significantly less power and cooling.
You don’t really need to overclock it. At all. You can comfortably wait and observe what experts develop—considering pros, benefits, drawbacks, tweak RAM settings slightly for a performance boost, and still remain among the fastest and most efficient CPUs.
I believe I might be technically undervolted, since I entered those lower 88/75/150 curve settings into the BIOS. Even though the speed didn't improve, it's running cooler now.
That said, it's still pushing my old 90c 5.0 GHz 9900K overclock, which was also limited to 16MB of L3 memory... eww.
Paul
Cpus are quite demanding machines. If you give them Auto vcore, they’ll push for a higher voltage from the VRM, even though they only require 1.1v. The Optimizer is restricting the voltage too much—it’s like a teacher forcing a ruler to measure something wrong. When the CPU asks for 1.45v, the teacher steps in, reduces the ruler’s pressure, and gives it 1.2v, using only 1.1v. If the CPU insists on at least 1.3v for stability, the teacher agrees and raises it to 1.35v. The compromise is better temperatures, more relaxed VRM operation, and steadier power delivery because the VRM and other regulators aren’t overworked. This balance shows up in HWInfo64, reflecting supply, demand, and real usage. Other factors like memory controller needs or other CPU parts also play a role, meaning even if vcore is low, the overall system must handle more for optimal performance.
Congratulations on your new setup. I'm curious about what you're using to keep the R5 7600X running cool, and also about the performance differences between the i9 9900K and the R5 7600X in MSFS.