Ryzen Overclocking Question/Theory

[suzerain_00]

So I had made a post to the forums a little while back trying to diagnose a system instability issue with my Ryzen 7 1700. It was (and still is) oc'd to 3.8 gHz at 1.28v. In the post, fellow forum members had mentioned to me that I should probably get an X370 motherboard, as I had (and still have) an AsRock AB350 Pro4 board. I appreciated the advice, but I wasn't really considering upgrading for two reasons; 1. I already have the board. 2. It still overclocks so why get another board? But something Fraser Cow said sparked my interest; "You are lucky, I have to crank the voltage up around 1.4 to get 3.85.". I only need 1.28v to get 3.8gHz, whereas Fraser 1.4v for a similar clock. After 1.3v, my system becomes too unstable, and my motherboard effectively doesn't allow anything past 1.35v. I'm wondering if I have somewhat of a "lucky chip", as from what I understand, 3.8gHz at 1.28v is pretty low on the voltage end for Ryzen 7. I can't clock any higher and I have a strong suspicion that it's due to a motherboard VRM limitation, rather than the CPU itself. So what I'm getting at is this; 1.28v is pretty low on voltage, my motherboard VRMs are limiting my voltage, would it be worth it to get an X370 board with better VRMs to try an get more juice out of my potentially "lucky" R7?

[SquintyG33Rs]

that's funny because that board has one of the better VRM for the B350 options

[Damascus]

4 minutes ago, SquintyG33Rs said:

that's funny because that board has one of the better VRM for the B350 options

Not really an achievement, a doubled 3 phase is still only 3*2 + 2.  Not great when compared to the best budget x370 (x370 prime pro) running a double 6 phase.

[SquintyG33Rs]

Just now, Damascus said:

Not really an achievement, a doubled 3 phase is still only 3*2 + 2.  Not great when compared to the best budget x370 (x370 prime pro) running a double 6 phase.

obviously yeah but we're talking b350 here. so you're not adding anything

[Damascus]

Just now, SquintyG33Rs said:

obviously yeah but we're talking b350 here. so you're not adding anything

I contributed the fact that a decent x370 will blow the board out of the water and you contributed the fact that the pro4 is good for a b350.  

 

If my my post isn’t contributing neither is yours.

 

(also I totally recommend getting an x370 board)

[SquintyG33Rs]

1 minute ago, Damascus said:

I contributed the fact that a decent x370 will blow the board out of the water and you contributed the fact that the pro4 is good for a b350.  

 

If my my post isn’t contributing neither is yours.

 

(also I totally recommend getting an x370 board)

but he already stated that in the original post

[Technomancer__]

I won't be worth the performance gain from a new board

The price / performance will be too low

[Damascus]

9 minutes ago, SquintyG33Rs said:

but he already stated that in the original post

Yes, and I was confirming it.  We both hit the obvious nails, lets move on

[Damascus]

4 minutes ago, Ethocreeper said:

I won't be worth the performance gain from a new board

The price / performance will be too low

But 4 jiggihertz!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!

[Technomancer__]

3 minutes ago, Damascus said:

But 4 jiggihertz!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!

Agnostic 4.1

So + 300mhz at most

Not worth it

[Damascus]

10 minutes ago, Ethocreeper said:

Agnostic 4.1

So + 300mhz at most

Not worth it

If OP can sell the pro4 for 80% market value I would say it’s worth it

[suzerain_00]

31 minutes ago, Ethocreeper said:

I won't be worth the performance gain from a new board

The price / performance will be too low

11 minutes ago, Damascus said:

If OP can sell the pro4 for 80% market value I would say it’s worth it

Okay so two contrasting ideas here, I think generally I'd agree that it's probably not that worth it just for a couple hundred mHz, but Damascus brings up an interesting idea of selling the board. Unfortunately I'm convinced that my city is nearly entirely console skrubs, so selling a motherboard would prove to be difficult. Also selling a motherboard on it's own is sort of strange. If my local market was actually more tech savvy I would actually do it. 

 

[suzerain_00]

I'll say this much, if the board dies to VRM overheating then I know what to do next  

[unknownmiscreant]

Is this the 1.5GHz issue? Or crashing? 1.5GHz is something to do with applying a large offset voltage. Buildzoid did a video about it.

[suzerain_00]

34 minutes ago, unknownmiscreant said:

Is this the 1.5GHz issue? Or crashing? 1.5GHz is something to do with applying a large offset voltage. Buildzoid did a video about it.

Not sure what you're referring to, can you give me a link to the Buildzoid video?

[unknownmiscreant]

2 hours ago, ExodusR said:

Not sure what you're referring to, can you give me a link to the Buildzoid video?

 

The CPU only runs at 1.55GHz when voltage offset is above a certain value.

[suzerain_00]

9 minutes ago, unknownmiscreant said:

 

The CPU only runs at 1.55GHz when voltage offset is above a certain value.

Wow, thanks for linking me this video, I'm not sure I would have even been aware of this if you hadn't of sent it my way. So currently, 3.8 gHz at 1.28v is fine, but I actually did encounter this issue back when I was setting up my overclock about a month ago. I think it happened at 1.32v or something. I'm going to have to look a little more in depth into this and see if I can find a similar option on my motherboard. Thanks again man, this is eye opening. 

[Jon Jon]

If you are sitting at 3.8ghz stable and you are content with the VRM temps on your board, then you are good.

 

Most Ryzen 7 chips will not see anything passed 3.8-3.9ghz anyway.

 

I personally run stable at 3.9ghz, could run 4ghz, but then I need to run at 1.425-1.45v consistently, which isn't worth the extra 100mhz.

 

It's interesting to see the voltage creep even on the lucky chips. Though you run find at 1.28v at 3.8ghz, you could very well end up requiring 1.4v for 3.9ghz.

 

Ryzen 7 is a weird breed.

 

I'd say stick it out, since if you really want that extra performance...that money can go towards Zen+.

 

[unknownmiscreant]

55 minutes ago, Jon Jon said:

If you are sitting at 3.8ghz stable and you are content with the VRM temps on your board, then you are good.

 

Most Ryzen 7 chips will not see anything passed 3.8-3.9ghz anyway.

 

I personally run stable at 3.9ghz, could run 4ghz, but then I need to run at 1.425-1.45v consistently, which isn't worth the extra 100mhz.

 

It's interesting to see the voltage creep even on the lucky chips. Though you run find at 1.28v at 3.8ghz, you could very well end up requiring 1.4v for 3.9ghz.

 

Ryzen 7 is a weird breed.

 

I'd say stick it out, since if you really want that extra performance...that money can go towards Zen+.

 

I run at 4GHz, 1.42v on a ryzen 7. I can run 4.05GHz, but it needs loads of voltage (1.45+ or something crazy.)