5950X will not boost past 3.6 GHz

[Dadoni]

Hi guys, I bought a 5950X few days ago, before that I had a 3900X, worked flawlessly, got about 7.200 CB20 score with it.

 

Now, the 5950X, when idle-ing is hovering around 1.4V. But as soon as I start the multi-core CB test, the  voltage drops to 1.024V and the CPU/case fans spin even down and all the cores are hovering around 3.5-3.6 GHz. And I get around 8.500 CB20 score.

 

Motherboard is ASUS Tuf X570, ram is Kingston 128GB 3200MHz CL16, power supply is RMx850W, Gigabyte RTX 3090 etc. The cooler is a NH-D15 chromax.black. 

 

The BIOS is updated to the latest version & reset optimised defaults, only the DOCP is enabled. I even formatted my C: drive, installed a fresh copy of Win11 pro.

 

I am  getting nowhere near the Cinebench results that all the reviews of this CPU are getting. And it does not boost to around 4GHz all cores, like it's boosting in all the various reviews, it's stuck at 3.5-3.6GHz when in full load.

 

I contacted a friend who is also rocking a TUF X570 + 5950X, he is getting the SAME boost speeds and the same low Cinebench score, he wan't even aware of this!

 

So, am I  doing something wrong? I tried enabling PBO, with it it boosts over 4.2GHz with all core load and then I get the CB score similar to all the review sites. But I don't want to use PBO, since this is my work PC, and PBO voids the warranty (there has to be reason for this I guess). With my 3900X, it was really plug&play, just enable DOCP and you get the advertised performance. 

 

 

When looking at the Ryzen master bars on the top, I see that (without PBO) it is hitting the TDC (95A) and EDC limits (140A), those are maxed out at 100%. If I increase those two to 120A and 150A and increase the PPT to 165W then I am getting  ardound 26.000 CB23 points and an all-core boost to about 4.09 GHz, which is an OK score. But still, this is considered an overlclock, I am right? Since It's beyond the default specs. Is it safe to run this work PC with those limits increased (I am doing 3D graphics, so I do all-core  rendering few hours a day).

 

Thanks!

[PDifolco]

Really you shouldn't worry much about OCing it, a 5950X can go to 5GHz with no issue

I use a 5900X, push limits up to PPT 220/ TDC 150/ EDC 200, you should be even able to go higher with a 5950X, if you have enough cooling

You could also try Curve Optimizer, -15 all cores to be sure, that'll give you better thermals and clocks

PBO is good as well, I'm not sure how AMD can void a warranty vs their own software ?

[Origami Cactus]

All reviewers are getting those scores because they enable PBO.

IT DOESN'T VOID Warranty, because AMD has no way to check if it was enabled or not when you send the CPU in for warranty.

AMD advertised all the performance figures with the PBO enabled, so just enable it and enjoy it.
Even if your PC used the stock Intel cooler for some reason it wouldn't damage the CPU, the cpu would just run at the lowest speed that is inside the safe temp, no worries.

[BiotechBen]

I PBO my 2600X as standard, 3.95 all core boost @ 1.4675v and 112W, does video encoding rather well.

[gymleader]

You did install the AMD chipset drivers right? If so also make sure the balanced power profile is selected under power options.

 

Also reviews do not use PBO. A typical PBO 5950x is 29,000+ in multi core r23

 

 

[Dadoni]

I did install the latest AMD chipset drivers, all Windows updates installed. Tried both Win 10 and Win 11.

 

@gymleader- THIS, the reviews with PBO disabled are getting over 25.000 points in CB23. I just want to have the advertised performance, when all is on "stock". I am using a high-end cooler, a good X570 board, a good PSU, so that's why I am so confused why am I getting 20-30% lower performance than the rest of the guys. I still can't find the answer, is this AMD false advertising? 

 

@PDifolco - I did a slight curve undervolt, as per this video, I've set the undervolt value to 10, since this youtuber claims his 5950x managed to do only -12:

 

 

 

OK, so running this X570 TUF and this CPU everyday with those settings increased (TDC at 120A , EDC at 150A and the PPT at 165W) is fine for the long run and should not damage any of the components in my PC?

 

Thanks!

[PDifolco]

Seems you've removed all and every boost option, so you never goes past the standard  3.6GHz clock, instead of having 4.2 all cores boost without OC, then usually at least 4.5GHz all cores with any decent OC, and anything up to 5GHz with extreme OC

 

25K points in CBR23 with a 5950X is pretty bad already, as I got 22.5K with a 5900X you should get 30k...

[Dadoni]

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

Seems you've removed all and every boost option, so you never goes past the standard  3.6GHz clock, instead of having 4.2 all cores boost without OC, then usually at least 4.5GHz all cores with any decent OC, and anything up to 5GHz with extreme OC

 

25K points in CBR23 with a 5950X is pretty bad already, as I got 22.5K with a 5900X you should get 30k...

How do you mean that I have "removed" all the boost options? I literally have reset the BIOS to default and turned on DOCP. So, what did I remove and why it does not boost over 3.6GHz, what do you think?

[gymleader]

Temps are ok when you run cinebench at stock right? Check via Ryzen Master or hwinfo64. You may have a slightly bad cooler mount and there is a severe lack of thermal headroom.

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, Dadoni said:

How do you mean that I have "removed" all the boost options? I literally have reset the BIOS to default and turned on DOCP. So, what did I remove and why it does not boost over 3.6GHz, what do you think?

It's weird, Ryzens are supposed to auto boost indeeed ! Either cores are locked to 3.6GHz by BIOS or are defective, else the CPU thermally throttles even at base clocks, which means it's very badly cooled but then it should even have shut down...

[Dadoni]

So, without PBO, on full load, when it drops to about 3.6GHz on all cores, the temps are hovering around 58-62C (as said, cooled with NH-D15 and Noctuas termal paste). So the temps are definitely not a problem. I would also assume that something is defective, but a friend of mine who has the same TUF X570 board and a 5950X (different revision when compared to mine, checked via CPU-Z), he has the same issue. Around 3.6GHz on all cores when testing Cinebench. Attached is his CPU-z when using Cinebench multi-core load

[gymleader]

I remember there was some setting in the BIOS that stopped a CPU from boosting but since you reset defaults it's likely not enabled. I think it's something to do with virtualization or something but I forget.

 

One thing to try:

 

1: Download this: https://www.overclock.net/threads/corecycler-tool-for-testing-curve-optimizer-settings.1777398/

 

This will tell you if any of your cores are bad or acting weird/unstable.

 

2: Download hwinfo64 and run in sensor mode

 

3: Run core cycler from step 1 and check boost clocks as the program cycles through each core.

 

Your setup should look something like this: 

 

Boost clocks can be read from this part of hwinfo64 under the maximum column:

 

 

That's my 5950x on an Asus X570. If you're not seeing atleast 4,700 MHz then your CPU is defective or JUST borderline passed AMD's chip quality spec by its fingernails that they didnt even check to see if it would boost properly.

[Dadoni]

19 hours ago, gymleader said:

 

 

That's my 5950x on an Asus X570. If you're not seeing atleast 4,700 MHz then your CPU is defective or JUST borderline passed AMD's chip quality spec by its fingernails that they didnt even check to see if it would boost properly.

 

OK, I've been back to BIOS, did a reset there (load optimized defaults) and then turned on the DOCP for my 3200MHz CL16 ram.

 

Then I have run the test as per your description. Also, with those default settings, I've run CB23 multi-core test, attached here a screengrab of Ryzen Master, the TDC and EDC hit their limits, all-cores are kept at 3.6GHz, the temperature is around 60 C (you can see all that in RyzenMaster). The score is 23.500 points.

[gymleader]

Thanks for that.

 

This is very strange. Your core effective clock is stating 5.3 Ghz when there is no way. Usually if a CPU is functioning properly the effective clock value nearly matches the actual clock speed. Same in the cinebench screenshot. Apparently a 4.95 Ghz boost but an effective clock of 3.6-3.8 Ghz.

 

Also since you ran core cycler for 6 hours that's more than enough time for the chip to have hit the theoretical maximum of 1.500v but your CPU didn't go over 1.475v. I can't see what your actual sv12 tfn voltage was but usually it's lower than core vid reading so that's even stranger as it's likely in the 1.46v range.

 

If you're ok with doing another Windows install I can recommend another but one big change. Don't attach the ethernet/wireless during install. I've sometimes seen weirdness happen with Windows Update when you have an AMD CPU and ethernet plugged in. Windows will auto install some weird AMD drivers for some reason. My advice to you as a last hurrah would be a fresh install with all your drivers in a folder on the windows install usb stick. After you load into desktop immediately install the AMD chipset drivers then restart. Then do your audio, graphics etc. Then try running cinebench. This will likely not do anything but worth a try as it's the last thing I can think of.

 

Honestly this is going above my knowledge level to a point you might have to ask at the overclock net forums. Specifically in this section: https://www.overclock.net/forums/amd-cpus.10/

 

People there probably know more about Zen CPUS and voltage behaviour than some of the people that designed the chips. I am almost certain this is some major software misconfiguration soemwhere or the CPU is somehow weirdly broken on the hardware level. If you figure out what the issue is let me know I'd love to know.

[MrFrazzles]

On 4/15/2022 at 8:25 PM, Dadoni said:

 

OK, I've been back to BIOS, did a reset there (load optimized defaults) and then turned on the DOCP for my 3200MHz CL16 ram.

 

Then I have run the test as per your description. Also, with those default settings, I've run CB23 multi-core test, attached here a screengrab of Ryzen Master, the TDC and EDC hit their limits, all-cores are kept at 3.6GHz, the temperature is around 60 C (you can see all that in RyzenMaster). The score is 23.500 points.

Did you ever solve this problem? I'm having EXACTLY the same issues man.