Undervolting my 5800X
Undervolting my 5800X
I'm having an issue with my chip; benchmarks and stress tests keep making my 5800X stay at 90°C even when it's under load. Even during moderate usage like 60% CPU-intensive games, it reaches that temperature in summer. I recently bought an Arctic Freezer 3 AIO two days ago, but nothing has changed. My only option seems to be undervolting. My motherboard is an Asus ROG Strix B550-F gaming model. When I enabled Asus optimize mode, it maintained a steady 4.2ghz with a maximum temperature of 75°C and lower voltage. I'm wondering if using PBO can help me undervolt without affecting gaming performance. I don't know which settings to adjust, so I need some guidance.
I recently purchased an Arctic Freezer 3 AIO two days ago, but nothing has changed. My only option seems to be adjusting the voltage settings. When sharing a troubleshooting thread, it's important to provide complete system details. Please list your build specifications as follows: CPU, CPU cooler, Motherboard, RAM, SSD/HDD, GPU, PSU, Chassis, OS, Monitor. Include the age of the PSU along with its make and model. Also, mention the BIOS version for your motherboard at this time. You may also want to consider thermal management in your setup. Arctic offers several Liquid Freezer III models; which one do you have and how is it installed? Once we confirm your AIO configuration is correct, you can explore undervolting. If cooling performance is lacking, then undervolting might only be a temporary fix rather than a lasting solution. PBO settings differ per chip, and some users report no thermal problems despite enabling it, while others see increased temperatures. I thought it would be useful to cover this point—enabling PBO doesn't necessarily mean you're undervolting.
Apologies, here is the information you provided:
CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8ghz base boost
CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 A-RGB
Motherboard: Asus Rog Strix B550-F Gaming
Ram: 4x8 Corsair Vengeance (3200 Mhz)
SSD/HDD: Two Sata SSDs (256gb important, 1TB Crucial), a 2TB HDD (Seagate), and two NVMes (one Gen 3 XPG Gammix, one Gen 4 WD SN580 blue)
GPU: RTX 4070 TI Super
PSU: Cooler Master G Gold 750W V2
Chassis: Antec C3 ARGB Mid tower White
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Monitor: Dual monitors, primary (LG Ultragear 2k IPS, model not confirmed as "27GL850-B"), secondary (MSI Optix G27C4) full HD
The PSU has two extra RAM slots and the GPU was recently upgraded three days ago.
Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 A-RGB is installed as default; the radiator is on the case top.
I attempted Curve Optimizer with Ryzen Master and BIOS adjustments, but encountered issues. There are two instances of "Precision Boost Overdrive" in settings, so I set identical values. I used -21 and -25, but performance only reached 4.4 GHz under stress instead of the default 4.8 GHz.
I haven’t tried ECO mode yet, though I wonder if it should automatically switch to lower power (65W) to avoid performance drops or stability problems.
I wanted to inquire about ECO mode in general, not specifically with CO. From what I observed, ECO mode employs a similar method to PBO but reduces various parameters such as power and current, which could significantly impact performance.
I have a setup around 5700x, overclocked with +200 and undervolting, bringing it close to 5800x.
For lower clock speeds I apply -15 on the preferred core, -20 on the second core, and -30 on the rest.
I don’t rely on auto PBO but instead increase power limits so none of them hit their maximum under stress. It will operate just over 110W when stressed, around 60W during gaming.
Trying -30 as recommended by the optimizer caused WHEA errors.
My system will reach mid-70s under load and 60s during games, but I have a well-ventilated LianLi Lancool II Mesh with seven fans. It’s a bit excessive but keeps airflow strong.
If you were me, I’d go further into undervolting and skip PBO. Or monitor FPS with PBO enabled and disabled. I think the performance boosts are small compared to the cooling benefits.
It sets boundaries for power and voltage, yet if heating issues exist it further reduces performance. Ryzen reacts to core temperatures and uses microcode to modify voltage and power regardless of BIOS commands. ECO mode isn't a fixed solution; even when active, PBO settings can still be adjusted by microcode until limits are reached. This provides a solid foundation for tweaking. It's useful to check if temperatures are excessive. Don't base decisions solely on default readings from programs like HWinfo, as their polling periods are too long and miss short-term spikes. Microcode will detect these and adjust power, voltage, and boost performance accordingly.
You can try identifying your favorite core by stress testing your CPU and observing which core achieves the highest clock speed. You might want to check if turning off PBO limits you to around 4.2GHz, which is significantly lower than the previous maximum of 4.8GHz. Running under -25 in BIOS optimization didn’t seem to improve performance much, as you still reached 90 degrees under stress. Regarding undervolting, it seems to involve adjusting core voltage rather than using CO. The difference between your scores with and without optimization suggests the impact might be minimal. Lowering settings further with ECO could reduce performance even more, but you should expect a drop in score compared to less restricted settings.
In Ryzen Master the top choice is a gold star core, the next is silver.
Eco mode usually lowers it to 65 watts, meaning a standard 5700x. This might be a bit too much or not enough.
Your 5800x will perform better than my 5700x (which reaches up to 4850mhz). You should experiment with settings to get good temperatures and performance. I’d suggest aiming for real-life scenarios when checking benchmarks.
Ensure your BIOS is current and the Windows power mode is set to balanced.
I have PPT & EDC Set at 120, TDC at 80, PBO Scalar OFF, not sure how a 5800x will handle that.