Hardware optimization?

[Tom]

Hi everyone,

I come here to gain advice on my machine as at the moment it runs with standard BIOS settings and I want to slightly overclock it to get the most out of my hardware.

Here is my machine specs:

* ASUS PRIME TRX40-PRO S
* AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X
* Noctua NH U14S TR4-SP3, push-pull configuration (with one additional fan)
* Case: Be quiet! Silent Base 802, with 5 x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm Fans
* RAM: 128GB G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200MHz (4x32GB | 16-18-18-38)
* PSU: Corsair AX1600i
* MSI RTX 3060 Ventus 2X OC - 12GB GPU

Currently the cpu runs at 3100MHz and RAM frequency is 1333MHz.
But AMD claims a Max. Boost Clock of up to 4.3GHz, and G.Skills says that my RAM tested speed is 3200MHz ... I'm far from these values.

Can you tell me what's the best way to get closer to these values?

I've heard of PBO: what's the best way to enable it? By using AMD software 'Ryzen Master' in Windows? Or by tweaking BIOS settings first? Both?


Thanks a lot in advance for your help, much appreciated,

[Majeranek]

I don't think you'll be able to get any decent OC on that Noctua as the CPU will get really hot. However I'm very curious if you'll manage to do so as I have very similar configuration.

3100Mhz for the CPU is normal, it won't be able to clock 4,3GHz on all cores at the same time. However it's weird that the RAM frequency is 1333Mhz. Have you changed the XMP profiles?

[Tom]

Thanks @Majeranek,

XMP was not able on the BIOS, you were right: now that it's enable, my RAM runs at 3200MHz, thank you :))

Also, I tried to tweak some settings in the BIOS to overclcok the cpu a bit, but without success: the CPU frequency was stuck at 3.1GHz  :(

So I decided to load the BIOS Optimized Default settings, I re-enabled XMP (actually called DOCP on my BIOS) and I launched Windows: now surprisingly the CPU was hitting 3.8 GHz! Such a surprise as I didn't event touch PBO settings in the BIOS (but, prior to load BIOS Optimized Default settings, I played a bit with Ryzen Master and may be I switched to Auto-OC mode I don't remember, this could explain why the cpu was now running at 3.8GHz).

I launched Cinebench R20 and scored 28380 pts: a 20% performance gain compared to when the cpu was running at 3.1Ghz.
Here is what AMD Ryzen Master said while running Cinebench: CPU temp reached 95 deg Celsius (!), Peak speed 3,800 MHz, PPT hit 84% of 600W, CPU power hit 407W, SOC Power 37W, TDC (CPU) 93% of 400A and EDC (CPU) 100% of 470A.

Although I don't know what all these measures are (particularly PPT, SOC power, TDC and EDC), it seems pretty extreme, especially the cpu temperature reaching 95 deg Celsius which, to my understanding is the maximum the cpu can safely goes up to.

So then I looked for a way to decrease the cpu speed a bit, so that it runs in more acceptable temperature: I launched the Default configuration in Ryzen Master.
I launched Cinebench R20 and scored 23840 pts: a 2% performance gain only compared to when the cpu was running at 3.1Ghz.
And AMD Ryzen Master reported: CPU temp reached 62 deg Celsius, Peak speed 3,600 MHz, PPT hit 98% of 280W, CPU power hit 187W, SOC Power 30W, TDC (CPU) 83% of 215A and EDC (CPU) 96% of 300A.

These values are too low: more cpu power can be achieved without CPU temperature going too high.

To achieve that, I must find a way to tweak Ryzen Master somewhere between the "Default" and the "Auto-OC" configuration, as obviously, my Noctua doesn't cool the cpu enough to have it run in Auto-OC mode in the long term.

[Bzuco]

Just set fixed all core frequency and find lowest stable voltage for that frequency. Then you will get maximum from your CPU with your cooling solution.
Do not use voltage offset mode and single core turbo boost frequencies...it is not worth those extra 10-15% speed in single threaded tasks.
With fixed freqv. and fixed clocks it is much easier and more accurate to find stabile lowest voltage.

Test 10min. rendering and you will see how temperatures will rise. Try to keep it under 80°C. If you reach 90+°C, reduce the frequency by 100 mhz and again, find lowest voltage....or buy two tower cooler :)