Adventures in Overclocking Ryzen 2200g - Lots of detail. Am I maxed out?

[ekimneems]

Hi all - I bought the 2200g because I heard it was the best bang for buck for an HTPC w/ budget gaming capabilities. But more than that, its overclocking capability made it a way better value than the 2400g which is $70 more. Every single guide I've watched or read has been easily achieving 1500mhz GPU and I struggled to get past that immensely. So after week of trying, I decided to start over and document everything in full. Did I do anything wrong? Have I reached the max of this chip and I've just lost the silicon lottery? Below are my findings

 

Guides Used

TechSpot - Budget Overclocking Guide: Ryzen 3 2200G https://www.techspot.com/article/1579-overclocking-guide-ryzen-3-2200g/
TweakTown - AMD Raven Ridge (2000-Series Zen APU) Overclocking Guide https://www.tweaktown.com/guides/8547/amd-raven-ridge-2000-series-zen-apu-overclocking-guide/index.html
Esports Ryzen 2200G Budget Gaming PC Build - How to setup and overclock it ! + Twitch Benchmarks - YouTube

 

System Build

* Ryzen 3 2200g
* Gigabyte GA-AB350M Gaming 3 (BIOS ver F23d, latest)
* Patriot Viper 2x4gb DDR4 - 3000mhz
* Noctua DH-D9L dual-tower cooler w/ fan
* SeaSonic 530W Bronze M2 PSU
* 3 120mm case fans
* Everything on QVL list for the motherboard

 

Test strategy
1. Used Ryzen Master only to experiment in the beginning to set targets for where to start. All steps performed below were done in BIOS only
2. All testing was done with the following BIOS settings
    - Cool N’ Quiet disabled
    - Core Performance Boost disabled
    - Global C-State disabled
3. Drivers were clean uninstalled via DDU in Safe Mode. Rebooted, then installed chipset drivers 18.40 and then GPU drivers 17.7 from AMD’s site
4. CPU first based on almost all guides I’ve read or watched
    - Start at 3.75ghz @ 1.3v and go up from there.
    - If test fails or system freezes/crashes, add 0.01v increment
    - If temp too high (over 80), reduce voltage
    - If pass, increase CPU by 25mhz and do steps #1 and #2 again
5. Memory next - also based on guides and forum posts
    - Minimum target 2933mhz at standard XMP timings
    - Use Ryzen DRAM Calculator here - [Ryzen DRAM Calculator 1.1.0 Beta 2 (overclocking DRAM on AM4) - Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community](http://www.overclock.net/forum/13-amd-general/1640919-ryzen-dram-calculator-1-1-0-beta-2-overclocking-dram-am4.html)
    - Test stability with OCCT and Memtest64 (overnight)
6. GPU last - and in my few weeks of trying to get this right, the most difficult by far, which completely contradicts what the guides are saying. A lot of people are getting 1500-1650mhz which seems crazy to me and maybe a number for the 2400g, but the guides do say 2200g
    - Start at 1200mhz (100mhz over base clock of 1100) @ SOC 1.1v GPU 1.2v  and go up from there
    - Perform quick test using OCCT GPU and Cinebench R15
    - Keep going up in increments, and same with above - increase voltage on freeze/crash, lower voltage if temp is too high (I never had any issues with temp, only crashing)

 

CPU Overclock Results

 

3.75 1.3v freeze
3.75 1.325v pass
3.77 1.325v freeze
3.77 1.375v  fail
3.77 1.34v pass
3.8 1.35v freeze
3.8 1.36v pass
3.825 1.36v freeze
3.825 1.375v pass
3.85 1.375v  freeze
3.85 1.38v freeze
3.85 1.4v pass

 

1. Dialed back by 50mhz for ensured extra stability = 3.8ghz @ 1.4v
2. Voltage readings from HWinfo64
    - vCore @ 0.0v offset = 1.4v initial reading
    - SOC @ 0.0v offset = 1.1v initial reading
3. Run full long test (OCCT 64-bit high load @ 30 min)
    - Max temp 75c, average 70c
    - VRM average 55c, everything else in HWinfo under 50c
    - vCore average = 1.385v
    - SOC average = 1.068v
4. PASS
5. Cinebench R15 OpenGL = 49 FPS

 

Mem Overclock

 

1. XMP Profile1 @ 3200mhz, 1.35v  = Clock speed doesn’t change at all but no errors, very strange. Even in BIOS, shows running at 2133mhz after saving and rebooting.
2. XMP Profile1 @ 2933mhz, 1.35v = Stable!
3. Cinebench R15 = 62 fps

4. I decided to pause here because 2933mhz was very acceptable to me to start, with a big 13 fps jump in Cinebench from this alone

 

GPU Overclock
 

1200, SOC 1.1,  GPU 1.2 = Stable (Quick Test)
1300, SOC 1.1, GPU 1.2 = Boots but Video TDR Failure
1300, SOC 1.2, GPU 1.2 = Stable (Quick Test)
1350, SOC 1.2, GPU 1.2 = Stable (Quick Test)
1400, SOC 1.2, GPU 1.2 = Crash on boot (Video TDR Failure)
1400, SOC 1.2, GPU 1.3 = Crash on boot (Video TDR Failure)
1300, SOC 1.2, GPU 1.3 = Full test - PASS

 

Cinebench R15 OpenGL = 67 fps

 

Results

 

CPU - 3.8ghz @ 1.4v vCore
RAM - 2933mhz w/ XMP Profile1
GPU - 1300mhz @ 1.3v
SOC - 1.2v (+0.1v offset)

 

GPU is the big disappointment here, as the biggest performance gains in gaming will be from RAM & GPU, not CPU. I have similar results turning off CPU OC back to Auto and only trying to OC GPU.

Ultimate goal here would be to get the GPU up to 1500 with the RAM at 3200 somehow, as CPU is fine stock.

 

Any ideas of how I should systematically approach next steps?

 

 

 

[Guest]

gigabyte b350 series mobos are just craptacular. I cant overclock my 1700 on my gigabyte board too over 3.6ghz, because the mobo doesnt give the cpu correct voltage.

[Jurrunio]

Maybe your VRMs are overheating. It's best testing with a thermal probe or thermometer (if it can read past 100C), since sensors read by software is less accurate. Not having heatsinks on top of the SOC VRMs (which power the GPU as well) sucks.

[ekimneems]

24 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Maybe your VRMs are overheating. It's best testing with a thermal probe or thermometer (if it can read past 100C), since sensors read by software is less accurate. Not having heatsinks on top of the SOC VRMs (which power the GPU as well) sucks.

I wish I had an opportunity to find out in HWInfo - any unstable OC setting basically just BSODs or freezes.

 

The reason it's so frustrating is because of how many people online are able to so easily overclock it - starting to think it's the board and I should've gotten a better one (but then it would be creeping closer to not being a budget build)

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, ekimneems said:

I wish I had an opportunity to find out in HWInfo - any unstable OC setting basically just BSODs or freezes.

 

The reason it's so frustrating is because of how many people online are able to so easily overclock it - starting to think it's the board and I should've gotten a better one (but then it would be creeping closer to not being a budget build)

Hwinfo does read temperature sensors. Check if any one of them creep up near 100C while overclocking.

 

Maybe because only people who get 1500 post their results online. I mean, Buildzoid from AHOC bought a premium RX 580, just to find that it doesnt want to reach 1500 with the stock BIOS

[ekimneems]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Hwinfo does read temperature sensors. Check if any one of them creep up near 100C while overclocking.

 

Maybe because only people who get 1500 post their results online. I mean, Buildzoid from AHOC bought a premium RX 580, just to find that it doesnt want to reach 1500 with the stock BIOS

With my stable configuration above (GPU 1300), running Cinebench OpenGL and OCCT GPU stress test, here are my temps.

 

 

[Jurrunio]

8 hours ago, ekimneems said:

With my stable configuration above (GPU 1300), running Cinebench OpenGL and OCCT GPU stress test, here are my temps.

Then you most likely lost the silicon lottery.

 

on a side note, your PSU is probably at the end of its lifespan. The 12V rail is getting awfully close to the upper limit of the ATX specification of 12.6V, especially considering it's from Seasonic.

[ekimneems]

12 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Then you most likely lost the silicon lottery.

 

on a side note, your PSU is probably at the end of its lifespan. The 12V rail is getting awfully close to the upper limit of the ATX specification of 12.6V, especially considering it's from Seasonic.

This is only a 3-week old build so that sounds weird. Could it be defective?

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, ekimneems said:

This is only a 3-week old build so that sounds weird. Could it be defective?

most likely yes. M12ii isnt that good of an unit in the first place (outdated group regulated design), but shouldnt be bad enough to do that.

 

Of course, it's also possible that it's the sensors on the motherboard playing up. You need a multimeter to check that though.