Unusual performance spikes and temperature increases on this processor.
Unusual performance spikes and temperature increases on this processor.
So initially I switched from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 9 5900X. To my dismay, the improvements aren’t showing up much in games. Plus, I’m experiencing odd performance issues and overheating. Often, when I run anything on my system—even just sitting idle—I see my processor hit a maximum of 4900 MHz as reported by Ryzen Master. That causes my temp to spike to 70-80°C. When it doesn’t ramp up smoothly, my temp stays steady at 38-41°C, which is normal.
I’m using the Thermalrightassassin dual fan heat sync with TM9 thermal paste. I originally had TF7 for the 3600 but realized it was a great upgrade after some research. After installing the 5900X with TM7, I noticed big temperature jumps during idle. So I ordered TM9 from Amazon and applied it right away, making sure to follow instructions carefully. Even then, I added heat sync on the screw holes for the first time, which helped avoid air bubbles and likely improved cooling.
Now my idle temps are much more consistent, even when the CPU isn’t actively using high speeds. Anyone have any suggestions for why my CPU would jump from nothing to maximum GHz during normal tasks or not at all? Do you know of any reliable tests I can run to check CPU health? (I’m covered by a 3-year warranty since I bought it brand new directly from AMD.) Thanks!
EDIT: I should add more details that might help. My old 3600 ran on my X570 gaming edge Wi-Fi plus the stock BIOS that came with the motherboard. That BIOS didn’t support the 5900X, so I upgraded to a version that does. I kept the original BIOS while updating the BIOS for the new CPU. Once I switched the CPU, I downloaded the latest chipset drivers but didn’t remove the old ones. I thought it might be a driver conflict, so I used Revo Uninstaller to clean up any AMD-related files and dependencies with a moderate scan. After rebooting, Windows installed the default drivers, and then I reinstalled the newest 5900X chipset drivers. So far, I’m not sure if this helped much, but it seems like boost performance is more stable now. I’d love to run a benchmark test, but I don’t know a safe way to do that without risking further issues.)
Are there any noticeable problems due to temperature and boost settings? Is the system hitting temperatures above 95°C during intensive tasks or games? If not, it seems hardware isn’t likely the cause. For confirmation, you could perform a three-minute stress test using a free passmark trial: https://www.passmark.com/products/burnin...oc6QAXbTTM
I'm not hitting anything above 80C gaming. Yet I just ran a Cinebench 2024 10-minute multicore test and only achieved 626 points. That's 100 more than my Ryzen 5 3600, which is what I tested before switching it out. But when I compare with other users' results, this score is WAY lower than expected. I'm using Cinebench 2024 version 1.0 and reached temperatures around 89°C by the end of the test. In the latest tests from others, someone with a 5800X achieved 824!
You fixed the issue using a tip from Google. Just open msconfig, turn off the "Number of processors" setting, and restart the system. Now it displays all 12 cores, and your multicore Cinebench results improved—temps dropped from nearly 90°C to 75°C, and your score rose from 620 to 1093 on a balanced power plan. You didn’t realize you had performance mode off, but now your CPU is running correctly and efficiently. Great job! Thanks for your time.