Ryzen 7 3700X running at 4.35 GHz with 1.375 volts
Ryzen 7 3700X running at 4.35 GHz with 1.375 volts
I keep progressing through this process, testing to push my CPU beyond its limits. I successfully reached 4.35 GHz at 1.375 volts, but I'm curious—can I safely run it at that voltage? I attempted to lower the speed to 4.3 GHz but haven't found a stable setting yet. It seems the current configuration might be fine, though there are several errors when using prime95, suggesting it may not be as reliable as I hoped. What are your thoughts? P.S. I'm using a Hyper 212 with an extra Mf120R cooler.
A tiny mistake indicates instability. I aim to maintain under 1.35V continuously.
I was aiming for a clock speed of 4.3 and expected 1.35V to function, but it didn't work, so I'll need to explore other options.
Have you considered just turning on PBO and allowing it to handle things? It often works best, since most Zen 2 chips have limited room for manual overclocking.
Up to 1.4v is generally considered safe on ryzen. 1.35v and under is very safe I need to do more research on the subject fwiw there has been issues with ryzen 3000 series voltage issues with the boosting algorithm. It's true that there's not much headroom, and single threaded performance takes a hit, but you can eliminate potentially dangerous voltage spikes (at least until that's all fixed)
I haven't experimented with PBO because I thought the performance gain wasn't significant. I'm going to try it and observe the results.
Typically the spikes people mention occur when the system is off, and they reach around 1.45V. It doesn’t usually cause a big problem because idle conditions limit current flow through the CPU. During heavy usage, aim to maintain the Vcore below about 1.35V, or perhaps slightly lower such as 1.3–1.325V for Zen 2 processors.
For Zen 2, the safe voltage range is still subjective, as AMD hasn't released a definitive figure. While 1.3V might not completely ruin your CPU, it's wise to avoid extremes. People often share personal experiences, but those stories can be misleading—like when a new game changes the workload unexpectedly. In reality, the Vcore voltage is likely slightly lower than what you set, around 0.01 to 0.03V depending on the board and LLC due to Vdroop effects. Setting 1.3V or even 1.325V in the BIOS probably won't cause damage, unless you're using very poor silicon and pushing it hard with tools like Prime95.