Upgrading performance is a great goal Need advice on optimizing your setup? Let me know what you're working on!
Upgrading performance is a great goal Need advice on optimizing your setup? Let me know what you're working on!
Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying a pleasant day. This is my debut here, and I have a query about overclocking. I recently built my first PC with the following components: CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, Motherboard - MSI X570 MPG Gaming Plus, RAM - 32 GB at 3200 MHz, GPU - Radeon RX 6700XT, Power supply - 750W, monitor - 1080p at 165Hz (I prefer higher refresh rates but find 1440p costly), and I’m still learning.
The story: I’ve been fascinated by overclocking for a while, watching numerous videos and reading guides. I wanted to gather fresh insights and opinions. My CPU was manually overclocked to 4.6 GHz at 1.2V, and it’s performing stably so far—temperatures stay within safe limits after a 30-minute stress test (max 80°C) and 70°C during gaming.
I read that keeping voltage below 1.35V is generally safer for long-term health, but I’m curious how this holds up now. After searching, I couldn’t find recent discussions on whether raising the voltage further could cause damage. I tried using PBO with manual tuning, but it still generates more heat during games than my manual overclock settings. I might revisit PBO later if I feel confident, though it would take longer and requires more expertise.
TL;DR: What’s the best safe voltage to minimize CPU wear? My current setup is 4.6 GHz @ 1.2V, stable but I’m still in the testing stage. Any advice on pushing it higher without risking degradation?
In general, Ryzen overclocking isn't advisable since it sacrifices single-core gains and offers minimal multicore improvement. PBO tailors performance to specific tasks, making manual tweaks less impactful. My 5900X example shows it barely speeds up in Y-Cruncher while lagging in most other tests when compared to PBO with a mild optimizer and limits (it also struggles at 4.55GHz on CCD). Non-PBO overclocking is mainly useful for competitive benchmarking where stability isn't the priority. If you still wish to try it, Buildzoid at AHOC conducted some safe voltage tests on Ryzen 3000—checking the video is currently difficult due to mobile constraints.
Consider manual PBO settings and curve optimization more than just overclocking, or stick with stock if you prefer. For the curve optimizer, adjust your best two cores by a bit less than the rest to balance performance and stability.
Consider using PBO with Curve Optimizer or stick with stock settings. Don’t overclock your top two cores beyond what’s typical for them.
It varies by scenario, but generally you gain more from keeping most CPU power while applying negative voltage offset. The higher and longer the temps remain low, the better the performance improves naturally. Adding detailed tuning of RAM will maximize these gains. Keep in mind there are special situations where fixing the CPU clock speed helps, though those are rare.
Great to know you're planning to keep everything stock and focus on negative voltage offset. Are you turning off PBO? I haven't delved deeply into overclocking RAM yet—just tried it once after a brief research session and my PC crashed immediately. I increased the speed in Ryzen Master from 1600 to 1800 and had to clear CMOS afterward to fix the issue. I'm a bit hesitant, but I'll give it another go after learning more.
PBO limits are simpler to configure. Try values like 80, 80, 120 for TDC, EDC, PPT respectively, then adjust by 10 and run a test. Keep TDC close to EDC if you prefer efficiency. For the curve optimizer, I've encountered enough problems that I wouldn't suggest tweaking it for beginners—it's nearly impossible to stress test properly. A good approach is to apply -10 across all cores for stability and a slight performance boost, but only test real-world use to check for crashes. If you're aiming for per-core tuning, reduce the negative offset more for weaker cores since they have the least buffer. RAM overclocking is extremely challenging. The Ryzen 5000 platform is the most manageable for this task, though it does affect performance noticeably. There are many resources available if you'd like guidance, and a few memory overclockers here are happy to assist.
Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks for working through the curve optimizer and PBO—I saw a significant performance boost compared to manual tuning. I’ve adjusted my fans, now having three intake fronts, two exhausts, one rear and one top rear, which improves airflow while gaming. I’m planning to explore RAM overclocking soon. My chip appears to be a Samsung C or B, but I’m not 100% certain. Could you share any tips or guides on RAM overclocking? That would be really helpful.
Generally speaking, if it doesn't say what Samsung die it is and has an 8Gb densift, it's either B die, C die, or D die. If you're not in a B die bin, assume it's probably gonna be C die, though hope that it's D die. C die is the most annoying IC you can get since it's very picky about what it likes. Here's a guy going over roughly what to expect with C die and why it's so annoying.