Talks with Ryzen 9 5900/5950XT users about my experiences
Talks with Ryzen 9 5900/5950XT users about my experiences
that's not bad for an air cooler. the problem is with long-term air coolers—they tend to get overwhelmed faster. i wouldn't go below 1.3 because you'd likely notice instability or a significant drop in clock speeds. i suggest using a hw monitor, as it displays the two dies that form the cpu and their temperatures, with ccd1 being the hottest one.
Just a brief tip—based on past experience, instability tends to appear during idle or low-load conditions, not when running benchmarks. If you notice problems with stability on the desktop, while browsing, or while watching videos, it might be worth increasing the voltage slightly.
Another point to consider is that 16 core CPUs can improve performance while reducing heat output by disabling SMT.
Unless you frequently perform tasks that heavily utilize the 16 physical cores and shadow (SMT) cores, it's advisable to keep SMT off. SMT/HT functions mainly as a next-level cache-fill smart feature. It can definitely enhance performance when you require 32 cores, but may not be necessary otherwise.
The advantage of leaving SMT/HT off is that your 16 real cores stop sharing the power profile with shadow cores, eliminating additional heat from SMT/HT.
I had to verify once more, but last night while I was playing games, synthetic benchmarks, and so on, I spotted a spot in HWI where it displays active core stats. I didn't check again after several sessions, but one time on the desktop I saw it mention that the maximum core use was 4.5. Lol, how does it manage half a core?
I was also observing in RIVA that the core voltage was only fluctuating between 100-109W, whereas on stock it would occasionally reach up to 130W. I’ll need to tweak the fan curves a bit. They’re much more responsive now—like I can move the mouse and hear the whirr-whirr as it adjusts.
the overheating is quite typical during air cooling, usually when components get warmer even in water depending on the specific application. It’s good to think about the monitor—it alerts me when it spikes like that, which suggests something is going on. This tends to happen less in water; it really feels like a balancing act. How low are you managing the voltage?