Significantly reducing the CPU's boost settings can greatly improve frame rates.
Significantly reducing the CPU's boost settings can greatly improve frame rates.
I appreciate your time and the detailed information you provided. I’ll share more updates when I return from work. At the moment, I can only discuss certain aspects of custom profiles. Keeping the CPU on stock boosts it to 4650MHz @1.4V, which is quite high for me—I prefer around 1.3V or less. That voltage level causes overheating without much gain (like a small speed increase for a few degrees). That’s why I set up Profile 2, offering similar performance but with significantly lower temperatures.
Profile 1 was designed for lighter tasks like browsing or background music, so I kept it at 0.975V to save power and heat. For idle or gaming sessions, I can enable sleep mode on the cores. I tested this with just 2 cores at 2825MHz and FPS remained consistent whether cores were active or asleep. If you have any suggestions or feedback, I’d love to hear them.
Stock configurations show 4650MHz but at 1.4V which is too high for my preferences, particularly since temperatures rise excessively. I avoid overclocking; instead, I underclock to achieve comparable performance with reduced heat and lower voltage, which is why I adjusted my clock to 4475MHz at 1.25V. Temperatures are about 10°C lower with only a slight performance drop (~1-2 FPS). I tested this with The Witcher 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and AC Valhalla.
Restricting clocks below 3GHz actually improves overall performance across all games. Running at under 80°C is perfectly acceptable for CPU usage.
Sure, I get it. You're looking for the temperature at which the CPU begins throttling. Based on what you described, it seems the CPU starts to slow down noticeably around 51°C, especially when compared to lower temperatures like 48°C with a reduced clock speed. Your observation about the 3°C difference being significant even for a cooler CPU is accurate.
My CPU stays within a safe range, never going above 70°C. I know clocks slow down when things get hot, which helps protect the chip and reduce heat. Since I’m already keeping it cool, the video shows a temperature of 51°C, but I’m confused about why performance drops. I haven’t tried all the games I own—just three before starting work—and I’ll check again once I’m back home.
I can't provide exact numbers, but I believe results will differ based on the CPU model, since variations in cores and threads affect heat output, power limits, and safe operating temperatures. For instance, AMD claims their 5950(X), 5900(X), and 5800(X) models handle full load up to about 90°C, while the 5600(X) stays around 95°C. I’ve seen data suggesting an average idle temperature between 40°C and 45°C, with a peak of roughly 70–72°C under heavy load. No details on case or cooling solutions were shared.
For my setup, I’m using a Corsair RM850x power supply, a Corsair 4000X iCUE RGB case with three front-mounted 120mm fans, an Asus Tuf B550 Plus motherboard, a Ryzen 5900X processor, a Corsair iCUE Commander Core XT, extra fans, a Scythe Mugen 5 CPU cooler, an Asus KO RTX3060ti 8GB OC with 2x16 Crucial DDR4-3200 modules, and a 1TB WD Blue SN570 M.2 drive plus a WD Black 6TB HDD. I also follow a custom fan curve that adjusts speed between 30°C and 80°C, linking RGB color to temperature for alerts. My colors run blue up to 66, yellow from 67–77, red at 78°C and above. All fans stay blue (≤66°C) throughout the day.
Results show temperatures are noticeably lower than the published averages—Armory Crate lists 29°C–39°C idle, 47°C–57°C under load, peaking around 64°C. This indicates better cooling performance than typical tests suggest, and the machine is very stable, with only minor rendering hiccups during 4K recording. Cinebench even reported a 3% to 5% speed boost compared to a standard 5900X.
Machine-reported temps can be misleading; consider using a laser pointer to check actual CPU temps on a known reference surface for more accuracy. For further precision, test individual components with a calibrated thermometer after placing them in a controlled environment.
Bad testing means starting with default settings and then making small adjustments, not pushing hardware beyond its limits. Even the base configuration still feels slower than the first profile. It seems that without any modifications, the system is already underperforming compared to other configurations.
Hey, if you don't want the FPS, send it to me, I can use all I can get when recording 4K. I did a little poking around and can't find much official, but some mention seeing signs of throttling around 80C with a 5600X. That said, another site claims AMD's official statement is 90C without throttling. I could be wrong, but I call BS, I hardly think AMD would have a processor only begin throttling back at 5C below its max safe temp. Way too close to the danger zone for logic. Strictly conjecture on my part, but in a perfect world, I would say my 5900X, having a max safe temp of 90C under full load, would start throttling back hard around 75C, but could start around 65-70C. Your 5600X, having a claimed max safe temp of 95C, would probably start throttling back around 70C. Again, strictly conjecture, and I didn't design them, so I'm not in a position to preach this as gospel. I didn't see your cooler type / style mentioned. I run a Scythe Mugen 5 with six 120s, three up front, two up top, one to the rear, ramping 70%-100% between 30C and 80C. In a temp-controlled room at 68F (20C), my idle temps range 29C-39C, nominal load around 46C-57C, have yet to peak over 64C-65C. Fun experiment -- check your in-game settings and see if any mention is made of VSync or Vertical Synchronization -- if so, see if it is enabled or not. It certainly sounds like it is disabled, and enabling will cap your FPS to 60 and put you right back where you were. Edited March 18, 2022 by An0maly_76 Revised, more info