Ryzen Overclocking
Ekeing out that extra inch of speed.
2017
was a big year for AMD. The release of the Ryzen series of processors really shook up the market. Finally PC enthusiasts had a compelling option after years of Intel domination. Four, six and eight core processors were cheaper than ever before and though they were not able to match Intel on single thread performance, Ryzen CPUs are highly competitive when multiple threads are needed.
One of the little bonuses provided by AMD is that all Ryzen processors have unlocked clock multipliers. Why settle for stock operation when overclocking is so easy? With a little bit of knowledge and an understanding of some of the jargon, overclocking is easier than ever. We’re here to take a look at Ryzen overclocking. How do you do it? Is it worth it? What sort of gains can you expect? Read on to find out.
No loNger relegated to the kids table
At the time of launch, there was an impression that the AM4 platform was a bit rushed, with BIOS issues apparent across a range of different motherboards. Fast forward a few months and we are now seeing the maturity and refinement that was initially lacking. Memory support was a significant weakness at launch whereas now DDR4-3000+ is mostly a walk in the park.
The key to this newfound maturity are the motherboards’ BIOS. AMD periodically releases new BIOS code it calls AGESA (AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture). The recent versions of this firmware contain a raft of improvements in performance and compatibility as well as bug fixes. It is recommended to check if your motherboard has any BIOS updates in order to get the most out of your Ryzen system. Check that your BIOS download has AGESA 1.0.0.6 or later. The vendor should specify this in the description.
Ryzen processors with a X suffix have a technology AMD calls Extended Frequency Range (XFR). XFR essentially allows the processor to increase its clock rate if there is thermal headroom. This means that a lot of the work is already done for you. If conditions allow, Ryzen can ‘turbo’ (to steal an Intel word) beyond its standard boost frequency. X series processors are already able to boost up to the 4GHz+ range under a light load so any manual overclocking gains will be relatively less. Ryzen processors with a lower ‘regular’ boost clock such as the 1700, 1600 and 1400 will be the ones that really benefit the most from overclocking towards the 4Ghz range. If you plan to OC, give the non X models a serious look. They are cheaper than their X siblings.
gettiNg ready
We have a Ryzen 5 1600X on hand for our testing as it represents a good sweet spot for value and performance with its 6 core/12 thread specification. Our test motherboard is a ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac. While this board will not set any OC world records, it is suitable for our more worldly OC adventures.
Our memory of choice is a set of G.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3866 2x8Gb. This is a super sexy kit that can easily run above 4000MHz though that is beyond Ryzen at this time. We are running the kit at DDR4-3200 1616-16-36 2T for our testing.
Cooling always plays a vital role when overclocking. Make sure you have a quality cooler. Forget about overclocking with the stock coolers. They get too hot too quickly.
Now that we’ve chosen our parts, it’s time to clock that sucker. There are two ways to overclock Ryzen. The first is through a Windows tool called AMD Ryzen Master, while the second and traditional way is through the motherboard BIOS. We’ll cover the BIOS method first.
NavigatiNg the UeFi bios
The ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac does not have the most fully featured BIOS, but unless you are dialling it in to the last MHz or competing for HWbot points, then it is quite a lovely little motherboard and it has all the key settings you will need.
The CPU frequency and voltage are the key settings. 1.4v is a
the 1700, 1600 and 1400 will be the ones that really benefit the most from overclocking towards the 4Ghz range
good voltage level to set and try for your maximum clock. Most Ryzen processors are capable of 3.9 to about 4.2Ghz, though 4.2 is somewhat rare unless you have a gem. As with all OC, always pay attention to temperatures. You should be fine into the 80s under full sustained load, but don’t go above this and ideally keep below 80c. Use a program like RealBench or prime95 to test for stability until you find your maximum, or a suitable level for your system spec. You can disable SMT mode (simultaneous multi-threading) if you can live with six cores and six threads instead of 12 threads. This will lower temperatures a little.
AMD recommends up to 1.4v with a capable CPU cooler and up to 1.45v if you want to push with suitable high end CPU cooling. Disclaimer: Do be aware that above 1.4v is generally not recommended for extended periods of time. As always with anything overclocking related, your results will vary.
Most AMD motherboards have support for XMP profiles. If you have a high speed kit, you can set it in the BIOS. A good base setting is DDR4-3000 or higher if your RAM is capable of it. These speeds were at the upper bound of what the platform was capable of at launch, but thanks to improvements, 3200Mhz should not present too much of an issue anymore. You may need to increase the SoC voltage to stabilise the internal memory controller at higher speeds. About 1.15 to 1.25v should be enough for most sane memory speeds.