CPU Overclock Critique

Alexb770 · May 16, 2018

So I've been messing with overclocked for the first time these past two days and was wanting some feedback on it. I'm using a Ryzen 7 2700X, Corsair H60 liquid cooler, and EVGA Supernova NEX750B (yes, I know it's not a good PSU. I've been told that many times and will be changing it soon). My motherboard is an MSi B350 Gaming Plus and have 16GB of DDR4 rated at 2666MHz. The RAM has also been overclocked and is sitting at its rated speed and 1.2v. It was originally running at 2133MHz.

Something to note before I start, is that when I first started OC'ing, my BIOS numbers and Ryzen numbers weren't matching up. BIOS had my clock speed at 3.7 GHz (stock) and my voltage quite high (>1.4v, I don't remember the exact value). RM had my clock speed at 4075MHz but it was fluctuating, as well as my voltage which I believe was around 1.3v.

I tried several different combinations, eventually settling on 4.0 GHz (yes, I went down) at 1.35v. I wasn't happy with this as I felt my performance was actually lower than before I had begun changing things. This was based on eyeballing my frame counter in a few games I frequently play as well as what appeared to be stuttering that I didn't have before. Temps at these settings during the RM stress test never exceeded 75°C. This was measured with MSi Afterburner, but Ryzen Master never showed a temp higher than 66. Just thought I should note that discrepancy.

Today, I changed my clock speed to 4.1GHz and the voltage to 1.2v. I was expecting a blue screen, but after stress testing a few times with RM, it seemed as if it worked and my OC was good. I guess I was wrong because my computer has frozen twice with these settings. It didn't blue screen, just froze. I had to manually turn the computer off both times with the power button.

I'm assuming this is a problem with the voltage. Again, the voltage was over 1.4v when I started, but numerous people have said that is pretty high for stock, and my earlier OC of 4.0GHz@1.4v was stable, albeit a bit sluggish.

I'm currently running 4.1GHz@1.35v and have yet to freeze. Temps were identical to when I was running 4.0GHz@1.35v. Again, I'm mainly wondering if there are any issues I need to address hardware wise (PSU I know) as well as clock speed and voltage wise. I'd also like to know if my temps are okay. I've heard you don't need to worry until reaching the mid 80s to low 90s. The freezes also have me a bit concerned.

Lastly, sorry for the wall of text